Story of Hypatia of Alexandria: About this publication and Hypatia of Alexandria What Hypatia wrote and said in these crystal clear eternal statements Tortured and killed by a mob of fundamentalist monks in 416 A.C. Then they burned her remains and her books. The crowd surrounded the patriarch Cyril and named him ‘the new Theophilus’; because he had "destroyed the last remains of idolatry in the city". After the murder of Hypatia the scholars began to leave the schools of Alexandria. This marked the beginning of the decline of Alexandria as a major center of ancient learning. Right now, one of the greatest libraries in the world is opened in Alexandria. It shall become the spiritual center of the Islamic world. One book can poison the souls. A thousand books make - if necessary - an equilibrium of poisons and counterpoisons. A million books are the greatest and healthiest thing for mankind. Alexandria restarts its glory. back to Raphael's School of Athens Tortured and killed by a mob of fundamentalist monks in 416 A.C. Cyril, a leader among the Christians, and Orestes, the civil governor, became political rivals as church and state fought for control. Orestes was a friend of Hypatia. Rumors started that Hypatia and her teachings were to blame for religious conflicts. Her eloquence and authority had attained such influence that Christians started to fear for their church. In the spring of 415 CE., the situation reached a tragic conclusion when a band of Christian monks seized Hypatia on the street, tore her clothes off, beat her, and dragged her body to a church where they mutilated her flesh with sharp tiles and oyster shells until she died.