How much knowledge was actually lost in the Mongolian siege of Baghdad and the destruction of the many libraries and House of Wisdom in 1258?

by datGuy0309

This question was influenced by this meme which makes a pretty dubious sounding claim.

DanKensington

The problem here is that "did loss of [x library or other storehouse of information] lead to loss of information" is, by itself, a premise that doesn't work. Single, catastrophic events may be dramatic to read about after the fact, but they are not the cause of losing texts or knowledge. I commend to your attention u/XenophonTheAthenian's post on that museum on the Nile Delta, which is the most frequent subject of such queries; Xenophon addresses not merely the loss of the Alexandrine institution but also how we do lose texts. u/rakony here specifically addresses the House of Wisdom.