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Volume 14 issue 1 October 2013

ANCIENT EGYPT explores the WORLD WIDE WEB ...

EGYPT AND THE ROMAN WORLD

This month’s NETFISHING continues its look at the history of Egypt by seeing what the World Wide Web has to say about Egypt when it formed a part of the Roman World.

After the victory of OCTAVIAN in 30 BC, Egypt became an accepted part of the Roman Empire and was governed, in many ways, like any other province. There were exceptions, however, as technically Egypt always remained ‘the personal private property of the Emperor’ and thus authority was never handed over to the Senate of Rome. As such, it was the Emperor who personally appointed a ‘Prefect’ to govern the country, and this person answered only to the Emperor and not to the Senate of Rome.

In addition, being aware that the wealth of Egypt could be used to raise an army against his authority, access to Egypt was very strictly controlled. Members of the Roman nobility were allowed to travel to Egypt only with the express written permission of the Emperor himself.

In Egypt, the Emperor was depicted in the traditional manner of a pharaoh (although he actually resided in Rome). As was normal in the provinces, Egyptian religion and traditions were maintained, and the Emperor ensured his support among the priesthood by funding extensions and impressive building works at many Egyptian temples. As an additional incentive, the priesthood was exempted from taxation (as were librarians in Alexandria!), and so the élite of Egyptian society sided strongly with Roman rule. Refer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt_(Roman_province)

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/regy/hd_regy.htm

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/romanegypt1.asp

http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/roman/background.html

http://www.youregypt.com/ehistory/history/roman/

Egypt was seen as the granary of Rome and every year a fleet of vessels would sail from Alexandria carrying the grain harvest across the Mediterranean to feed the population of Rome. Agriculture remained the most important source of revenue in Egypt, and was still the main source of employment, with the majority of the population working on the land much as they had done in pharaonic times. One of the main centres of production, in Roman times, was the fertile Fayum area, centred around lake Moeris, to the West of the Nile. The shores of the lake were studded with agricultural settlements such as the town of Karanis, which has been extensively excavated, shedding new light on the lives of ordinary Egyptians during the Roman Period.

Refer:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/karanis.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanis

http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/Karanis83/KaranisExcavation/KaranisExcavation.html

http://www.gigalresearch.com/uk/publications-karanis.php

In the Fayum area many Egyptians and Greek settlers were buried and mummified in the Egyptian style but it is apparent that many had aspirations to become Roman citizens. A part of their burial provisions now incorporated a painted wooden ‘mummy portrait’, which was used in place of the traditional Egyptian ‘death mask’. This idea seems to be based on the Roman custom of ancestor worship, with the panels showing what the deceased looked like in life, and these painted panels clearly show that the inhabitants of the Fayum fashioned their hair in the Roman style and adopted Roman style of dress. Indeed the paintings are so detailed that Roman historians can often date them to within a thirty year window based on the style of attire prevalent in Rome, and the time lag after which this style arrived in Egypt.

Refer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayum_mummy_portraits

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mportarticle.htm

http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/exhibitions/2000/ancient-faces-mummy-portraits-from-roman-egypt

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie/collections/objects/hawara-mummy-portraits

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/547951

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/547856

http://www.pinterest.com/EllenJayeBenson/fayum-mummy-portraits/

Although the ‘mummy portraits’ show Roman influence in Egypt, the trend was not entirely one way. The Egyptian goddess Isis was adopted by Roman sailors as a protective deity (for she had travelled around the world looking for the dismembered parts of her husband, Osiris) and her cult reached Rome, where it became a ‘Mystery Cult’, strange and exotic, offering both resurrection and an afterlife to its followers. The Cult of Isis became an international one with temples in London, York and even on Hadrian’s wall – the very edge of the Roman Empire. It existed until the advent of Christianity, when a ‘new religion’ took its place.

Refer:

http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/royaltyr/AncientCities/web/rel%20372%20project/ISIS.htm

http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Projects/Reln91/Gender/isis.htm

http://www.unrv.com/culture/isis.php

http://www.stephan-matthiesen.de/en/texts-blog/history/80-oriental-and-mystery-cults-in-pompeii.html

http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/chapters/12CULTS.htm

NOTE: This brings to an end the series of Netfishing’s dealing with the history of Ancient Egypt. However, in view of recent discoveries regarding the chronology of the Predynastic Period, and as things constantly change on the Web, it has been decided to update Netfishing by looking afresh at the earliest periods of Egyptian history – starting in the next issue.

Victor Blunden

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