Religion and beliefs
Religion & beliefs
The underwater excavations in the Eastern Port of Alexandria have revealed the remarkable remains of statues which allow the religious world of ancient city to be outlined. The torso of the god Hermes is a beautiful example of the talent of the sculptors of the Hellenistic period (SCA 532). Preserved almost complete, the statue of a priest clutching the vase containing the relic of Osiris seems to express a feeling of almost tender piety for the saviour god who revives the initiates of Isis (SCA 449). In the vast area of the basileia on the waterfront, a colossal Caesarion (SCA 88) and two classical sphinxes (SCA 450, 451) are in the Pharaonic style, but were carved in granite in the Greco-Roman period. They demonstrated the divine power of the sovereign in front of the courtly and religious buildings. Various modifications were made at the time to adapt the institutional worship of sovereigns to the meeting of Greek and Egyptian gods. In the same area stands the gigantic head of a monumental sphinx with a rapacious face, an image embodying, in all likelihood, a universal protector god who was especially mentioned and invoked by the theologians and magicians of Roman Egypt (SCA 541). Further on two animal statues, a Hellenistic granite snake (SCA 543) and a typically Egyptian limestone ibis (SCA 87), were found, probably near their original location, representing two gods who were especially venerated in Alexandria: the first the Good Genius – Agathodaimon – on whom depended the fate of the city, the second, the master of knowledge and wisdom – Thoth, alias Hermes Trismegistus.
Jean Yoyotte has shown that these findings must clearly be collated with other divine effigies that have already been found in the contiguous parts of the same area, today backfilled under the Corniche. We should not try to estimate the number of temples in this area from the number of statues of gods. In the Egyptian and Greek traditions the patron of each temple hosted the images and worship of other deities. A secondary cult could even be instituted of these ‘resident gods’ or synnaoi, some being offered for the devotion of the local population. One can readily imagine that the sphinx-falcon with open ears, the Good Genius of the city and the Master Thoth-Hermes were installed in the open parts of large buildings or chapel annexes. The three previously mentioned sculptures found in the ruins of the same part of Antirhodos strongly suggest the following hypothesis: the two sphinxes and the granite priest representing Osiris as a canopic vase would have been placed in a chapel, similar perhaps to the small Serapeum erected in front of the facade of the temple of Luxor under Hadrian.
Source : D. Fabre, ‘Cults and Rituals’, in F. Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Egypt’s Sunken Treasures. Catalogue of the exhibition. Munich, 2008, p. 146, 152-157, after the studies of Pr. Jean Yoyotte: J. Yoyotte, ‘A Colossal Shpinx with Falcon’s Head’, ‘Pharaonica’, in F. Goddio, et al., Alexandria, the Submerged Royal Quarters, Periplus, London, 1998, p.195-198, 199-244.
The statuary and other objects reflecting the religious world of ancient Alexandria recently found in the Portus Magnus will soon be presented in their archaeological context in F Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus, Underwater archeology in the Eastern Port of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming.
Jean Yoyotte has shown that these findings must clearly be collated with other divine effigies that have already been found in the contiguous parts of the same area, today backfilled under the Corniche. We should not try to estimate the number of temples in this area from the number of statues of gods. In the Egyptian and Greek traditions the patron of each temple hosted the images and worship of other deities. A secondary cult could even be instituted of these ‘resident gods’ or synnaoi, some being offered for the devotion of the local population. One can readily imagine that the sphinx-falcon with open ears, the Good Genius of the city and the Master Thoth-Hermes were installed in the open parts of large buildings or chapel annexes. The three previously mentioned sculptures found in the ruins of the same part of Antirhodos strongly suggest the following hypothesis: the two sphinxes and the granite priest representing Osiris as a canopic vase would have been placed in a chapel, similar perhaps to the small Serapeum erected in front of the facade of the temple of Luxor under Hadrian.
Source : D. Fabre, ‘Cults and Rituals’, in F. Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Egypt’s Sunken Treasures. Catalogue of the exhibition. Munich, 2008, p. 146, 152-157, after the studies of Pr. Jean Yoyotte: J. Yoyotte, ‘A Colossal Shpinx with Falcon’s Head’, ‘Pharaonica’, in F. Goddio, et al., Alexandria, the Submerged Royal Quarters, Periplus, London, 1998, p.195-198, 199-244.
The statuary and other objects reflecting the religious world of ancient Alexandria recently found in the Portus Magnus will soon be presented in their archaeological context in F Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus, Underwater archeology in the Eastern Port of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming.