Museums

Abstract

The etymological origins of the term “museum” derive from the Greek Mouseion , the shrine of the Muses who presided over the arts and sciences. What is broadly defined as the first museum, the Library of Alexandria, flourished in the three centuries before the Common Era and housed primarily texts on papyrus rolls whose interpretation by a community of scholars offered a better understanding of what was then the ancient world. Though this forum was more a philosophical academy based on an archive of documents than a repository of artifacts intended for display, it thrived on the ethos of education and discovery through the exploration of world history. This research function has remained a fixture throughout the evolution of museums and reflects the modern museum value of learning through the study and display of material culture.