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Greco Roman
THE MACEDONIAN DOMINATION & PTOLEMIC EGYPT
(332 B.C – 30 A.D)
After the defeat of Darius III, Alexander the great entered Egypt
he was welcomed as the son of the god Amun and he was immediately
accepted
As the new king of the country. He founded a new city on the shores of
the Mediterranean, the first of many cities to bear the name of
Alexandria which became the capital and with its famous library a major
cultural center of Mediteranea. He also set about restoring all the
damage done by the second Persian occupation.
Alexander was followed by his brother Philip Arrihidaeus on the throne of Egypt he was killed in 317 B.C
Alexander’s son from Persian wife Roxane became Alexander IV was suppose to be the King of Egypt
But he and his mother were killed in 311 B.C
Under the Ptolemic Kings both the Egyptian and Greek cultures expanded and trade with the West flourished.
As the power of Rome increased Ptolemy VI ‘180-145’ B.C placed himself under its patronage.
Roman & Byzantine
Internal family strife gradually weakened the Ptolemic dynasty and Cleopatra VIII daughter of Ptolemy XII
Allied herself to Julius Ceaser whom she claimed as the father of her son ‘Caesarion’ her dreams of becoming
The Queen of the Mediterranean world were lost with the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C
Cleopatra then entered a new with Anthony but the couple were defeated at Actium by Octavias and retreated
To Egypt pursed by Octavian on his arrival to Alexandria in 30 B.C they both committed suicide.
During the first centuries A.D., Egypt was very slowly being converted
to this new religion. Soon, the old temples would be closed and
converted into monasteries or churches. The images of old gods and
kings, meant to preserve the creation, were considered as demonic by
the christians and were destroyed. The papyri that were kept in the
temples’ libraries were proved an interesting fuel to help the burning
down of the temples.
When the Roman Empire was divided into two parts and Egypt became a
part of the Byzantine Empire, most of its population had converted to
Christianity. The only temple with an ancient cult was the temple of
Isis on the Island of Philae.
Although this last Egyptian temple had coexisted peacefully with the new Christian cult
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