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Alexander
in Egypt
Alexander
III of Macedon (356-323 BC), better known as 'Alexander
the Great', spent several months in Egypt as part of his
on-going campaign against the mighty Persian Empire of
Darius III. After conquering Persia's naval bases all
along the coastline of Asia Minor and Syria-Palestine,
Alexander marched south into Egypt where he remained for
some six months.
Although generally regarded as little more than an eccentric
diversion, Alexander's Egyptian sojourn was essential
to his future plans. He needed a strong coastal base for
both strategic and commercial purposes, from which he
could not only communicate across the Mediterranean but
which could also handle the highly lucrative sea-borne
trade network he wanted to divert from Phoenicia. With
naval reinforcements following his progress down the coast,
his Macedonian army covered the hazardous 130 mile distance
in just one week to reach the heavily fortified coastal
town of Pelusium in late October 332 BC.
His reputation going before him, Alexander was met by
Egypt's Persian governor Mazaces. With no armed forces
and no likelihood of any assistance following the defeated
Darius' swift departure back east to Persia, Mazaces simply
handed over the treasury's 800 talents and "all the
royal furniture". In return he was kept on as part
of the new administration together with the new governor
Cleomenes, who was made responsible for finance and created
the royal mint around 331 BC. Cleomenes was a hard-headed,
unscrupulous businessman who quickly amassed a personal
fortune of 8,000 talents during his career as governor.
Yet he remained loyal to Alexander with whom he kept up
a regular correspondence, sending him such delicacies
as smoked quail by the thousand.
After installing a garrison at the key defensive site
of Pelusium, Alexander ordered his fleet to sail south
up the Nile to the traditional capital Memphis (Ineb-hedj)
at the apex of the Delta where he himself would arrive
by land at the head of his troops. Passing by the ancient
religious site of Heliopolis (Iunu) with its vast white
temples and obelisks, Egypt made an enormous impression
on both the Macedonian troops and their 24 year old leader.
Brought up with his formidable mother Olympias' tales
of Egyptian gods, the religious-minded Alexander must
have been completely dumbstruck in a land so steeped in
ritual, where priests held enormous power wielded inside
temples not built to human scale. Passing by the great
pyramids of Giza, still gleaming in their shining white
limestone, he finally reached Memphis to a genuinely rapturous
reception.
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Greek
travellers had actually been visiting Egypt for centuries,
many of them setting up trading colonies or acting as mercenaries.
Others such as the historian Herodotus and philosopher Plato
came to study a culture they regarded with awe as the cradle
of civilisation, their knowledge almost certainly part of
Alexander's education. Yet for almost 200 years Egypt had
been occupied by Persia who had incorporated it into the growing
empire, and assuming the Egyptian crown by right of conquest
the Persian king had ruled in absentia through a satrap, exploiting
its vast grain reserves and taxing its people. The Persians
showed relatively little respect for the ancient traditions
and were deeply unpopular. The Egyptians had rebelled so often
that parts of the country remained virtually independent.
Alexander was therefore hailed as Saviour and Liberator, and
as the people's choice and legitimate heir he was offered
the double crown of the Two Lands. Anointed as pharaoh in
Memphis on 14 November 332 BC, the culmination of his coronation
was the climactic moment when the high priest named him 'son
of the gods' according to traditions dating back almost 3,000
years. This title deeply affected him, and Olympias' references
to him being the son of Zeus must have filled his mind; indeed,
there were even scenes of the king of the gods Amun ('Zeus')
impregnating selected queens with the heir to the throne!
In a world where the gods were perceived as living entities
and were considered a part of everyday life, Alexander must
now have began to believe in his own divinity as a fact rather
than a simple exercise of propaganda.
Always a devout man who began each day with sacrifices to
the gods, Alexander had no difficulty worshipping the Egyptian
deities. Equating their gods with his own, he worshipped the
Egyptian Amun as a form of Zeus. At the Memphite necropolis
of Sakkara the new pharaoh offered sacrifices to the Apis
bull, cult animal of the creator god Ptah, followed by Greek-style
games and literary contests in which performers from all over
the Greek world took part in a multi-cultural extravaganza.
These kinds of events mark the beginnings of Hellenism in
their blending of Greek practices and local traditions, and
Egypt and Greece would successfully co-exist for the next
3 centuries.
Ever so keen to discuss philosophy, hich the Greeks believed
to have originated in Egypt, Alexander attended lectures given
by the Egyptian philosopher Psammon. Wholeheartedly agreeing
with his teaching that "all men are ruled by god, because
in every case that element which imposes itself and achieves
mastery is divine", Alexander also drew on his own experiences,
when he added that whilst god is indeed the father of all
mankind "it is the noblest and best whom he makes his
own" (Plutarch).
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Alexander in Egypt
