BIBLICAL LIBRARIES
portal according to Diodorus the inscription, "The hospital of the soul," and which further had on its portal the effigy of Seshait with the inscription, "The lady of libraries." The reference to the records and scribes of the records, masters of the books, houses of books and the like, multiplied, and, while some of these refer to registry offices as offices, rather than archives, and some of the masters may be teachers, rather than librarians, they point as a whole to the existence of a great quantity of book collections at that time. Whether, therefore, the Exodus occurred before 1400 or after 1225 or both it can equally be said that during the whole life time of those who left Egypt at the Exodus there were probably libraries in all palaces and temples, and the temple libraries were by no means confined to sacred writings or the palace to secular. There were also at least archives or record offices not only in the royal treasury of
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