In my opinion The Great Library is one of the crucial Wonders to build early on in Civ. I have definitely rage quit many times because some other civilization completed it first. Its science boost is essential to getting a lead or, depending on the difficulty, keeping pace with the opponents. Knowledge is power and the Great Library leads to great power.

In real life the library might not be so powerful but it most definitely still great. The Great Library of Alexandria has the largest reading room of all libraries in the world and can hold up to 3,000 visitors in just the reading room. Its shelves contain over 3 million books and has room for up to 5 million. Nikki loves libraries and her eyes literally lit up upon entry. The place is huge and has more than just books. There are art galleries, a planetarium, and a museum. And for the lover of architecture the building itself is pretty impressive. Since the ancient library was destroyed long ago a new modern one has been built in its place. The roof of the reading room is angled just so with skylights so that the whole room is filled with natural light without having any direct sunlight so that books and art aren’t damaged.

When going to the library I suggest paying the extra fees for entry into the rare book collection; it was amazing. Most of the rare books are ancient religious texts from various religions. Unfortunately many of them are reproductions (in exquisite detail) since the actual books and artifacts were pillaged by many other countries long ago.

Sadly many of Egypt’s ancient treasures are housed in foreign lands and will likely never rest on Egyptian soil again. However if you wish to see many of the splendors of ancient Egypt and even the ancient library you can visit the current library’s website (http://www.bibalex.org/en/default). This site is seriously cool. The Great Library has indexed where Egyptian artifacts are held across the world and you can search for them by various methods: age, material, subject, title, etc. Also you can virtually read many ancient tomes page by page through the website.

Another great thing about the library is that it is right across the bay from where the Great Lighthouse once stood so you can easily visit two pieces of ancient history all in one afternoon!