The Library of Alexandria was the centre of knowledge in the ancient world. Ancient scholars would come from all over to learn about science, mathematics, medicine, and history. The library was built as part of the Mouseion shortly after the death of Alexander the Great, the founder of the city, who had wanted to create an institution dedicated to the Nine Muses. Construction of the Musaeum began in 295 BCE, under the reign of Ptolemy I Soter. When finished, the library was separated into two different parts, known as the Biblion and the Museion. The Biblion was where books were stored and the Museion was where scholars would teach their students. Scholars today estimate that at its peak, the Library of Alexandria held around 400,000 scrolls, which is the equivalent of 100,000 books. What the library may have looked like remains a mystery. Only one written description of the library remains. As described by the Greek geographer Strabo, "The Museum is a part of the palaces. It has a public walk and a place furnished with seats, and a large hall, in which the men of learning, who belong to the Museum, take their common meal. This community possesses also property in common; and a priest, formerly appointed by the kings, but at present by Caesar, presides over the Museum". Unlike other libraries in the ancient world, the goal of the Library of Alexandria was to create a 'universal library', containing texts from all over the world, not just from its own region. This idea of a universal library was very attractive to foreign scholars, because it meant that they could study texts from all over the world in one location. However, the problem with a universal library is that texts from far away places were not easy to obtain. In an attempt to create the universal library, the Ptolemaic kings sent scholars all over the ancient world on a mission to collect important books from far away places. In addition to this, ships that arrived in the Port of Alexandria were forced to hand over their books. Although the task of creating one universal library was impossible at the time, the Library of Alexandria was by far the largest library in the ancient world. Today, because of how connected the world is, the task of creating a universal library has become much more possible. The Library of Congress, the world's largest library, contains 170 million items, including 39 million books.