THE GREEK PERIOD
This may well be however the first known application to literary collections, possibly to any library.
Another great Alexandrian library of the Greek period was connected with the temple of Serapis. It contained 42,000 volumes. Its place in the excavated Serapeion has not been determined. Whether the later Hadrian and Nana archival libraries were associated with either of these libraries, as sometimes said, does not appear—probably not. The Nana was probably connected with the Isis temple. There were no doubt many minor libraries in Alexandria.
Besides the library at Alexandria two libraries of this period having connection with Jewish history are directly evidenced. There is every reason to suppose also from the statements of Josephus and various minor circumstances confirming Talmudic accounts that public archives, temple libraries, and very many private
[165]
