Shirin S's List: Greco-Roman Culture

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  The Alexandrians were assiduous about documenting their daily lives through their inscriptions, and many of the inscriptions were carved in marble or other valuable forms of stone. Inscriptions of this sort were specified only for the decoration of palaces.     Limestone was the most common material in Alexandria for sculpturing statues and heads; marble was difficult to obtain, therefore it was used only at the demand of wealthy people.     Busts and heads of Ptolemaic kings were carved in marble, also statues of deities and various animals. Marble carving flourished in the era of the Ptolemies, and the heads of Alexander the Great and the first three Ptolemies were carved in this stone.

     

• The Ptolemies wished to appear to the Egyptians like real pharaohs; they acknowledged the Egyptian religion as the official one, and allowed the Egyptians to worship their ancient gods. They followed the example of the pharaohs in the way they presented their offerings to the gods. They also endowed the temples with lands and funding.
• When Ptolemy the First saw that the wealth of Egypt depended on the participation of both Egyptians and Greeks in helping the economic progress of the country, he found that it was necessary to integrate the Greek and Egyptian religions so that they could all share in the worship of the gods. Ptolemy formed a committee of Egyptian and Greek scholars to carry out his concept. The committee decided that the new religion would have at its core, a triad consisting of Isis, her son Harpocrates and Serapis, the latter was originally an Egyptian deity called Osir-Apis, but the Greeks gave him the new name.
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  This triad was introduced to the Greeks in a Greek way and to the Egyptians in an Egyptian way. The difference between them was not clear, for Serapis was represented in the form of a vigorous man, who resembled the god Zeus. While Ptolemy the First established the worship of Serapis, it was Ptolemy the Third who constructed the great temple for this deity in Alexandria.     The new cult spread successfully in Egypt, and also all round the Mediterranean. However, the success of the cult should be measured by how much it thrived and fulfilled the purpose for which it was established.

     

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  Stelae are upright slabs generally in the shape of a rectangle and often rounded at the top.  
• The Roman funerary stelae are usually decorated with funerary scenes; for instance, the dead person reclining on a couch with a cup in his right hand, and in front of him a table with a funerary repast.

• Ptolemy the First began his rule in 323 BC. after Alexander's death and initially deputised for his successors but later assumed the crown. The Ptolemies were good administrators and realized the importance of the religion. They rebuilt or restored many of the ancient temples in the pharaonic style.
• Greek citizens of the provincial capitals continued to practice the custom of getting rid of unwanted children. The Egyptians, whose beliefs prohibited them from killing children, often rescued children who were left out to die. The law allowed them to adopt such foundlings or to take them as slaves.
• When Cleopatra committed suicide and Octavian made Egypt a Roman province in 30 BC. things began to change although Greek remained the administrative language and the Romans had no reason to alter the efficient Greek system of administration. There was a thriving trade in glass, papyrus, jewelry and linen. However, Egypt was looked upon as the breadbasket of Rome and most of the harvest was immediately shipped out of the country.  
  
• As the economic prosperity of Rome declined, life for the Egyptians became very much harder. Poverty was widespread and the number of insolvencies increased; even the middle class suffered. The peasants were in worse condition, for they lost their small possessions, and became hirelings working for a minimum wage on state farms. Taxes were a heavy burden, prices rose and the coinage was debased. The peasants abandoned their work because they could no longer survive on the wages they were paid. They turned to robbery to survive, wandering in the cities and provinces. Villages, which were once populated, became deserted.

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  Music began to be influenced by Greek tastes during the Ptolemaic period, and Greek musical instruments, such as the flute, the lyre and the rebeck became popular. Nevertheless, Egyptian instruments like the harp and the sistrum continued to be used. New instruments appeared in this period as well, for example the bronze bells and the Pan pipes.  
• During the Greco-Roman period, books were written about ancient music, which provide us with precise information about the practice of music and the lives of the musicians. There were also attempts to define the elements of the ancient music.
• People in this era had new priorities and the theater no longer satisfied their intellectual requirements, however, they found what they sought in Greek novels, which were full of love themes and romance. Romantic stories gained a large number of interested readers specially Alexandrian women. Romanticism appeared in the works of artists and men of letters; thus artists started to depict passion and love in their works, and authors wrote romantic literature.

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• Alexandrian women in Greco-Roman times were beautiful, intelligent, and elegant. They followed the latest in fashion and cosmetics and took good care of themselves. This was easy to do because Alexandria was a big commercial center that captured the world's interest in culture and trade and offered a lot of luxury as in the theater.  
  

• Egyptian children were entertained with many games that suited them at various ages; some of these games satisfied their need for activity and amusement, others excited their imagination.  
  
• There were also toys made of clay that were suited to both boys and girls. The ancients have left us some of these games and toys, which indicate how much the family cared for the children. Boys were interested in toy horses made of clay, as by instinct they imagine themselves to be riding on a horse. The girl preferred to play with a doll, also made of clay, holding it in her arms and keeping it with her in bed, as by nature she has the mother instinct. There were forms of animals made of clay, and it is believed that they belonged to rural areas, because toys expressed the community in which they were produced.

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  The Ptolemaic rulers took care of the youth. They established cultural and athletic clubs, called gymnasiums, as a place to be educated in the arts and sciences so the youth would be ready for jobs.  
   
• There was contact between Alexandria and Greek cities especially so that Alexandrians could gain experience in the field of teaching women. Women started getting jobs just like men with some of the same responsibilities.  
   
  Relations between men and women were reported to be less complicated and more natural than before. Women started clubs and participated at the gymnasiums, although on a smaller scale than the men. There also were "women only" clubs in Athens and Alexandria.

• Many of the books of science and humanities had been written prior to the founding of the Library of Alexandria and the Museion. From the frequency of use of the word "library" in Greek, it is probable that quantities of books were written, sold, collected, and critiqued at least since the fifth century BC.
• During this period, many libraries, big and small, private and public, existed. What was new in the third century BC was the emergence of a category of scientists and researchers who were affiliated with the library and were dedicated to its service.  
   
  The library became a gathering place for all the intellectuals of the sections of the Museion

• Although cremation violated Egyptian beliefs, some of the Greeks who lived in Egypt cremated the corpses of their dead. Funerary urns, or what were known as "hydria," were used to hold the ashes of the deceased. Hydrias were distinguished by their colors; they were painted in crimson, red and black; the bodies and necks of the urns were usually decorated with geometrical or floral patterns; sometimes with animals, birds or legendary themes. The neck of the urn was sometimes decorated with an artificial flower garland and gilded leaves.  
   
  Inscriptions on the hydria gave information about the deceased person, for instance his name and his occupation. The urns were sealed with white gypsum that bore the seal of the factory that produced it. The hydrias are dated from the beginning of the Ptolemaic period and up to the end of the first century BC.

• Bronze was used to make household utensils, weaponry, and many articles of daily use. During the Greco-Roman period in Egypt, kitchen utensils were made of bronze. It also became popular in the arts and for religious rituals because statues representing the different gods could be made of cast bronze.  
   
  There are many bronze statues of both Greek and Ancient Egyptian deities including Aphrodite, Hercules, Harpocrates (Horus the Child), Osiris, and Isis, the mother goddess, who was often portrayed suckling her son, Horus.

• The people of both the Greek and Roman periods in Egypt left a wealth of antique pieces, by means of which we can rediscover the creativity of the Egyptians in various branches of the arts, manufacture and handicrafts, all of which highlight their way of life. These pieces demonstrate that Egyptian civilization at that time was rich with history, art, prominent personalities and religious beliefs. It was a civilization that lasted for a thousand years.

• Alexandria was a school of Greek sculpture with special characteristics that were different from other Hellenistic schools of art. A study of Ptolemaic sculpture demonstrates that most of the pieces that were made in Alexandria, were Greek in style, but despite this, pieces have mixed elements. For instance, the piece that represents the heads of Alexander the Great are in the Greek style, but are made of granite or basalt; both materials were considered to be outlandish in Greek art. Also, a statue that portrays a king or a queen from the Ptolemaic dynasty is sculptured in the Egyptian style. 
   
  The mixing of elements, or of manufacture, cannot be considered as evidence of the blending of Egyptian and Greek styles. It was a natural result of the Egyptians and the Greeks living in the same environment; it was also a result of the artist's ability to react to the environment in which he lives.  
  
• Most of the valuable works of sculpture that have survived from the Ptolemaic era demonstrate the greatness of this art in the statues, the heads and the busts. The Greeks kept their sculpture pure and unmixed. This is obvious from the sculptures, which mostly portrayed Greek gods as well as women and men in Greek costume and perfectly depicted the physical details and movement in most of them. 
   
  In the Roman period, there was a strong tendency for the sculptor to make an exact portrait of his subject. Alexandrian artists could freely express their talents in this style and their school, which was distinguished by its purely Greek characteristics, influenced their works.  
  
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  Studies of the sculpture of Roman Egypt indicate that many of the works created by the artists of that time were influenced by the Greek style, in the matter of elements and features. In most of the works of that time there are obvious attempts, even though they were not fully developed, to combine the Egyptian and Greek styles. These attempts increased with the passing of time, as a natural result of the increased mingling of the Egyptians and the Greeks. This combined art was a transitional stage that led to Coptic art.

     

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• According to Hawass, the Bahariya mummies show a blending of Egyptian and Greco-Roman cultures.   

    Though mummified in the traditional Egyptian fashion, as many as 40 mummies are buried in a single tomb, and do not follow the Egyptian custom of facing east. Many of the mummies clutch a coin in their hand to pay the ferryman to the underworld, a Greco-Roman tradition.