Lost Treasures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lost Treasures - Essay Example The Mayan civilization is another group who would have been a great influence to more modern societies had their literature been available to us today. Mayans are believed to have been an outstanding group of people in Central America during the Spanish era of conquests. Despite having no skill or knowledge of the wheel or metal tools, they were able to build temples and pyramids. Artifacts also reveal a system of writing, mathematics and astrology which can be considered advanced for the Mayans during that time. The PopulVuh is a sample of Mayan literature. It is a book believed to have been used by the Mayans to answer questions regarding creation and the earth. Unfortunately, it is only one of three Mayan books that is believed to exist and survive the test of time. Because of this, insight on the Mayan’s systems are hard to understand. Before the invention of the dawn of printing, literary pieces were handwritten. Ancient studies reveal that the early men used to depict th eir lives on cave walls, rocks or leaves. As such, these works of our ancestors risk being damaged or lost due to natural or man-made disasters. Other reasons for the loss may also be theft and the author’s own doing. One example of this is the destruction of the library in Alexandria where it is believed, thousands upon thousands of ancient writings were destroyed. The city in Egypt was founded by Alexander the Great while the Museum or Royal Library of Alexandria was founded by Alexander’s successor, Ptolomy II Soter in 283 BC. (Chesser)... Because of this, insight on the Mayan’s systems are hard to understand. Before the invention of the dawn of printing, literary pieces were handwritten. Ancient studies reveal that the early men used to depict their lives on cave walls, rocks or leaves. As such, these works of our ancestors risk being damaged or lost due to natural or man-made disasters. Other reasons for the loss may also be theft and the author’s own doing. One example of this is the destruction of the library in Alexandria where it is believed, thousands upon thousands of ancient writings were destroyed. The city in Egypt was founded by Alexander the Great while the Museum or Royal Library of Alexandria was founded by Alexander’s successor, Ptolomy II Soter in 283 BC. (Chesser) It is believed that the Royal Library of Alexandria contained literature from Assyria, Greece, Persia, Egypt, India and other places (Chesser) and so there is great disappointment and regret as to its destruction. Until today, unfortunately, there are just speculations based on existing literary works that refer to the library and the reason why it was destroyed. Historians refer to a few incidents in ancient times that may have caused the loss of literary work in Alexandria. One of these was a fire during the reign of Julius Ceasar. It is said that Ceasar had ordered a fire on the enemy Egyptian fleet at Alexandria’s harbor. Sadly, the part of the city where the Library was located accidentally got caught in the flames and burned down. Another reason was supposedly the conversion of the Library into a Christian Church during Theophilus’ reign of Alexandria. Moslem Caliph Omar was also blamed for the destruction of the Library when the Moslems conquered Alexandria in 640