|
After Ptolemy I's takeover of Egypt, he managed to seize Alexander's
corpse on its way back to Macedonia. Ptolemy just realized the political
importance of the corpse and wanted to have it buried in Egypt.
The body was finally buried in an unknown place in the Egyptian
land, a puzzle that historians are trying to solve nowadays.
Ptolemy I |
Ptolemy took the new city Alexandria
as his capital. And in his reign Alexandria started to become the
pearl of ancient world. It was in the center of the most civilized
nations at that period, marked by the combination of Hellenic and
Egyptian cultures. Alexandria attracted scholars from all over the
world. Ptolemy I founded in Alexandria its famous ancient library,
Bibliotecha Alexandria, in a successful attempt to collect the essence
of the world culture. The fate of the library cannot be determined.
Under the sponsorship of UNESCO, a new library was recently established
to mark the ancient glory and recall the memory of the old library.
It was opened at 16 October 2002.
Ptolemy started to build the Pharos ,
the famous lighthouse of Alexandria, that later became on of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Pharos |
Ptolemy realized that the best way to strengthen his control for Egypt
is to be one of them. So he respected the Egyptian religions and worshipped
the same gods that Egyptians used to worship, thus ensuring the Egyptian
popular support for him.
Generally, the Ptolemies mingled the Hellenic and Pharaonic styles;
They appeared on coins in an entirely Hellenic style while being shown
on temple reliefs with full Pharaonic trappings, just as ancient Pharaohs
were doing.
Ptolemy I also introduced a new God, Serapis ,
whose character combines features of Egyptian gods Osiris,
Apis
and those of the Greek gods.
Other Greek cities were established throughout the country. Moreover,
the Greek language was introduced and became the dominant language
among intellectuals. However the Egyptian population continued to
use their own language.
An immaginary scene of Bibliotecha Alexandria
|
|
