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26-05-2015, 16:12

An Overview

At Alexandria, as elsewhere, the establishment of each cult had to correspond at the outset with the presence of a community of worshipers. But it cannot be said that a cult remained the exclusive property of the community that gave it birth. Over the course of time religious ‘‘clienteles’’ diversified. In a polytheistic system, where no religion claims a ‘‘truth’’ greater than that of the others, it is permissible for individuals to respect and place their trust in various gods, without for a moment renouncing their first allegiance. From the Ptolemaic era onwards there are many examples from the chora of acts of devotion by Greeks (or in any case people who defined themselves as such) towards Egyptian gods in their most traditional form. There is no reason to think that things happened differently in Alexandria.

At the foundation of the city the first immigrants must have brought their cults with them. Soldiers stationed at Schedia at the end of the fourth century BC made a dedication to Athena Polias; dedications to Apollo, to Artemis (OGIS 18) and to Zeus (OGIS 6 5) date from the first half of the third century. The cult of Zeus was well established under Ptolemy III: two priests were attached to him and he had a sacred precinct (temenos) and altars. A statue of Zeus Soter was placed on the top of Pharos. The politeuma of soldiers of Alexandria made a dedication to him towards the end of the first century BC (SEG 20.499). The Dioscuri were there too, something not at all surprising in a city to which maritime activity was important. The members of a religious association devoted to their cult (Dioskouriastai) made a dedication to them that associated them with the royal couple, Ptolemy III (r. 246-222 BC) and Berenice. Members of the dynastic cult (Synbasilistai) made another dedication to them (BSAA 42, 34).



 

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