Turkey - Ancient city of Epheses "Celsus Library" The library was built in 117 AD as a monumental tomb for Gaius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, the governor of the province of Asia, from his son Galius Julius Aquila. The grave of Celsus was beneath the ground floor, across the entrance and there was a statue of Athena over it because Athena was the goddess of wisdom. Scrolls of manuscripts were kept in cupboards in niches on the walls. There were double walls behind the bookcases to prevent them from the extremes of temperature and humidity. The capacity of the library was more than 12,000 scrolls. It was the third richest library in ancient times after the Alexandra and Pergamum. The facade of the library has two stories, with Corinthian style columns on the ground floor and three entrances to the building. There was also an auditorium which was for lectures or presentations.