The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world.Famous for having been burned, thus resulting in the loss of many scrolls and books, it has become a symbol of "knowledge and culture destroyed." Although there is a tradition of the burning of the Library at Alexandria, the library may have suffered several fires or acts of destruction, of varying degrees, over many years. Different cultures may have blamed each other throughout history, or distanced their ancestors from responsibility, and therefore leaving conflicting and inconclusive fragments from ancient sources on the exact details of the destruction. Experts differ on when books in the actual library were destroyed. Manuscripts were probably burned in stages over eight centuries.