I. SURVEY OF HELLENISTIC, ROMAN & BYZANTINE PERIODS

• Chronological framework

• Hellenistic Period (332-30 BC)
• Macedonian Dynasty (332-304 BC)
• Conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great (king of Macedonia)
• Foundation of Alexandria
• Cleomenes of Naukratis
• Ptolemaic Dynasty (304-30 BC)
• Ptolemy declares himself king ca. 304 BC
• Evidence of dissent among Egyptians over Ptolemaic rule
• Revolts in Thebes (207/206 BC)
• Haronnophris
• Chaonnophris
• Demotic Chronicle (3rd century BC)
• Oracle of the Potter (130-115 BC)
• How did Ptolemaic rulers try to appease native Egyptian tradition?
• Rosetta Stone
• Decree passed by council of priests
• First anniversary of Ptolemy V's coronation (196 BC)
• Adoption of pharaonic titles
• Relief from cult chapel of Ptolemy I (Tuna el-Gebel)
• Paying respects to Egyptian gods
• Relief of Ptolemy VII (Edfu)
• Construction of traditional Egyptian temples
• Temple of Isis (Philae)
• Christian re-use in Byzantine Period
• Excavations of town of Bacchias (Umm el-Atl)
• Located in Fayum Oasis
• Dates to Ptolemaic & Roman Periods
• Initially excavated by Grenfell & Hunt (1896)
• More recent excavations (1990's) by Italian archaeologists (Universities of Bologna & Lecce)
• Layout of town
• Mud-brick houses
• Centrally located temple
• Built mainly of unbaked brick
• Dedicated to local crocodile god, Sokanobkonneus
• Papyri found in temple
• Greek tax receipt from 1st century BC aids in identification of god associated with temple (Passage I)
• Demotic papyrus roll (Room S)

• Decline of Ptolemaic Dynasty

• Roman Period (30 BC-330 AD)
• Administrative & bureaucratic reorganization

• Roman emperors appear on native monuments as traditional Egyptian kings
• Relief from Esna showing Trajan

• Problems of excessive taxation & official coercion (late 1st century AD)

• Popularity of Egyptian cults
• Cult of Sarapis

• Mummy portraits
• Survival & adaptation of ancestral Egyptian rituals in Roman Egypt
• Portrait of Eutyches (2nd century AD)
• Painted using encaustic technique
• Originated in Classical Greece (4th/5th centuries BC)
• Well known style in Greco-Roman Egypt

• Rise of Christianity

• Excavated sites from Roman Period
• Karanis
• Agricultural village
• Fayum Oasis
• University of Michigan excavations (1925-1935)
• Five levels of occupation (Levels A-E)
• Site occupied from mid 3rd century BC until end of 5th century AD
• Nature of the archaeological investigations by Michigan team
• Kellis
• Agricultural village
• Dakhleh Oasis
• Roman Period (1st-4th centuries AD)
• International team of archaeologists organized through Monash University in Australia
• Site unusually well preserved
• Evidence for complex multicultural society
• Greek, Roman, Egyptian, & Christian
• Text finds in Kellis
• Active Manichaean community
• Mani (3rd century)
• Manichaeism
• Important element in Egyptian Christianity
• Combines elements of gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, & Christianity
• Struggle of good against evil
• Perpetual war between Light & Dark
• Teachings spread to Egypt
• Manichaean texts in Greek, Coptic, & Syriac

• Byzantine Period (330-642 AD)
• Constantine establishes new capital at Constantinople in Byzantium (330 BC)

• Christianity becomes official state religion

• Egyptian church involved in theological disputes with established churches at Rome & Constantinople
• Splits off from established churches in 451 AD
• Monophysite doctrine

• Egyptian monasticism
• Key figures:
• Antony (4th century)
• Pachomius (4th century)
• Shenute (5th century)
• Monastic communities
• Monastery of Epiphanius
• Located in Western Thebes
• Flourished in 6th/7th centuries
• Architectural features
• Nucleus (Tomb of Dagi)
• East Buildings
• Tower
• Outlying Cells A, B, C
• Numerous text finds (papyri & ostraca)
• columbia.apis 1001: possible exercise in Coptic letter writing
• columbia.apis 1377: possible exercise in Greek letter writing
• columbia.apis70: religious text in Greek
• columbia.apis 1018: religious text in Coptic