Roman Egypt: Ancient Melting Pot
With Rome's annexation of Egypt in 30 BC, the Greeks lost
their position as a the country's ruling elite. Now bureaucrats but not
rulers, increasingly they adopted the mores of the native Egyptians.
The Egyptians, always at the bottom of the social hierarchy, were
taxed even more by the Romans than by the Greeks. Worse yet, with
the whole country reduced to the personal fiefdom of an absentee
landlord called 'caesar', they were bereft
of their pharaonic god-king.
Deeply religious, they were forced into a religious revisionism
to find a new godhead for their ancient 'theology'.
Into the heady mix went the Jews, for centuries a volatile minority,
especially in Alexandria. Infused by emigres after the fall of
the Temple in 70, the whole Jewish community had been decimated
following the rebellion of 115-117, but then a new wave of Jewish
migrants and slaves arrived in Egypt after the war in Palestine
of 135.
Among all these displaced and disorientated races moved the agents
of diverse cults and 'mystery religions', competing for membership
and stealing each others ideas. The most successful cult of all
– the supreme example of syncretism – was Christianity.
The
Greeks create a God: Serapis
The
first Greek pharaoh wanted a single, composite god
to bring together his diverse subjects. In a 'classic'
example of the process of syncretism, the character
and characteristics of several earlier gods were
rolled into one, the god Serapis.
In
the 3rd century BC, the worship of Serapis became
a State sponsored cult throughout Egypt. With the
Roman conquest, the cult spread throughout the Empire.
|
Osiris Osiris
was a major Egyptian deity and king of the Underworld. He
began his long career as a god of agriculture and
nature during the 5th dynasty (2465 - 2323 BC).
Apis |
Hades
Greek
god of the Underworld
|
Dionysus
Greek
god of agriculture and wine
|
Serapis
Greco-Egyptian
version of Zeus
"This
fortunate usurper was introduced into the throne
and bed of Osiris." (Gibbon)
|
Basket
(or 'Bushel') on his head indicates a plentiful
harvest.
|
Apis, was the god of Memphis.
A bull was chosen for the distinctive marks on
its body and was considered to have been born by
a virgin cow impregnated by the local creator god
Ptah. The local trinity was Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.
|
Serapis
The new
god embodied aspects of many earlier deities, including
the Egyptian Osiris and Apis and
the Greek Dionysus and Hades. The
Ptolemies intended that the new god should have universal
appeal in an increasingly cosmopolitan country. In
consequence, Serapis had more than 200 localised
names, including (according to correspondence
of Emperor Hadrian) Christ!
Major temples
of the god were built at Alexandria and Memphis.
The Sarapeum in Alexandria was one of the grandest
monuments of pagan civilization. This vast complex
of buildings itself blended Egyptian 'gigantism'
with the grace and beauty of the Hellenic.
Of all
the Pharaonic /Greek gods Serapis survived the longest,
well into the Roman period.
In fusing
the character of so many earlier gods into Serapis the
practice of virtual monotheism was established
in Alexandria over several hundred years.
|
|
 |
Horned Altar – to the god Serapis!
Greek island of Delos, centre of the Ionian Confederacy,
3rd century BC |
Yahweh's
Altar?
"And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught
hold on the horns of the altar."
1 Kings 1:50 |
Syncretism – The
Greeks of Egypt Go Native
From
the reign of the first Ptolemy in the 4th century
BC the Greeks planted Hellenic culture in Egypt.
But far from Hellenizing this ancient land, to a
great extent the Greeks were Egyptianized by the
conquered. This process accelerated after the Roman
takeover when the Greeks lost their dominant position.
|
Alexandrian
oil lamp (2nd century BC).
Within,
the Greek goddess Aphrodite bathes. Guarding the
portal, Greek columns but with cobras and Horus-head
capitals!
|
Egyptian
mummy, Roman/Greek corpse.
Faiyum,
Egypt (3rd century AD)
|
Cremation
Out!
1st
- 4th century AD
The Egyptian
Greeks, who traditionally had believed in immortality
only of the soul, abandon cremation and
adopted Egyptian mummification – in the optimistic
belief in a resurrection of the body, a
notion that fed into early Christianity.
The portraiture
affixed to their mummies shows Roman clothes
and jewellery but stylistically is Greek.
|
Hedging
Their Bets
A funereal
plaque honouring both Greek and Egyptian
myth:
Above,
pure pharaonic – Anubis, Isis, Nephthys
readying a corpse for the afterlife.
Below,
pure Greek – Hades abducts Persephone,
Artemis with bow, Athena with lance, Aphrodite
(Catacombs
of Kom es-Shoqafa, 1st century AD).
|
 |
 |
Death
rites
A Greek
sarcophagus (vines and satyrs of Dionysus) with Egyptian
backdrop (Anubis, Horus and Thoth).
(Catacomb
of Kom es-Shoqafa, Alexandria)
|
|
|
The
Romans create a God: Antinous
Hadrian,
a deeply pious man, interpreted the drowning of his
lover in religious terms. According to Egyptian tradition,
the death in the Nile had been a 'saving sacrifice',
ensuring the continued well-being of Hadrian himself.
The corpse of Antinous was not cremated but embalmed.
Shortly
after, in the 130s AD, the worship of Antinous became
a State sponsored cult throughout the empire. Meanwhile,
Christian scribes are writing their gospels ...
|
Antinous:
Nice
Greek boy...
Lover of the Emperor Hadrian, drowns in the Nile
in 130. He is deified
by the distraught Hadrian who has an entire city – Antinoopolis – built
in his honour.
|
...
becomes Roman god
|
...
becomes Egyptian god
|
...
becomes Christ
The cult of Antinous was folded into a more determined
Christianity in the 4th century.
4th
century Antinous, with Cross in one hand – and
the grapes of Dionysus in the other!
(Stele
from Antinoopolis, Staatliche Museen, Berlin)
|
6th/7th
century Coptic Christ
Clothed – but
compare to Antinous above!
|
 |
|
And the Christians Destroy A God ...
The
huge statue of Serapis and his temple were torn down by
a rampaging
Christian mob in 391, making way for the new tenant – Jesus
Christ.
Theophilus,
Bishop of Alexandria, stands on top of the sanctuary
of Serapis(whose head is visible lower left), inviting
a monk opposite to throw stones
(4th century Alexandrian World Chronicle)
|
|
Copyright © 2004
by Kenneth Humphreys.
Copying is freely permitted, provided credit is given to the author and no
material herein is sold for profit.
|
