Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [55]
After declining for centuries, the glories of the pharaohs finally ended in 332 BCE, when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and added it to his empire. When Alexander died in 323 BCE, his generals divided his empire, and one of them, Ptolemy, gained control of Egypt. In about 305 BCE, he founded a dynasty known as the Ptolemies, which spread Greek culture in Egypt, with Alexandria becoming Egypt’s capital and central city. Famed for its magnificent library and museum, Alexandria emerged as one of the greatest cultural centers of the ancient world. The dynasty of the Ptolemies (305–30 BCE) claimed the title of pharaoh and treated the Egyptian gods respectfully, but the ancient connection between the ruler of Egypt and the gods had finally ended.
In 30 BCE, Egypt’s ability to produce vast surpluses of grain made it a great prize in the intrigues that created the Roman Empire. The period included one of the most extraordinary chapters of history, the brief reign of Cleopatra—the last of the Ptolemies—and her involvement with two of Rome’s most powerful men, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. As Caesar’s lover, Cleopatra went to Rome and was there when he was assassinated in 44 BCE. She returned to Egypt, had her brother killed, and placed her son—fathered by Caesar, she claimed—on the Egyptian throne. She then became involved with Mark Antony, coruler of Rome. Antony and Cleopatra hoped that their combined armies could win control of Rome against Octavian, Julius Caesar’s nephew and heir and another coruler of Rome. In the sea Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, the navy of Antony and Cleopatra lost to Octavian’s fleet. The famed lovers later separately committed suicide, and Octavian, who would be renamed Augustus and complete the transformation of Rome from republic to empire, made Egypt a province of Rome, which ruled it for the next four centuries. Rome’s control of Egypt gradually weakened after 395 CE, when the Roman Empire split into Eastern and Western parts. By 642 CE, Muslims from Arabia had conquered Egypt.
Having faded from its glory and majesty, the three-thousand-year empire saw its lights dim. Did its history and beliefs matter? Did the great civilization make a difference? Unquestionably, the answer is “Yes.”
Aside from its obvious artistic, cultural, and technical achievements, Egypt had great impact on its neighbors and later conquerors, including Greece and Rome, which both assimilated aspects of Egyptian religion, art, and architecture.
There is also considerable evidence that Egyptian writings may have influenced the Bible, aside from the stories of Joseph and Moses. A series of Egyptian moral precepts called the Wisdom of Amenenope (c. 1400 BCE), one of the most famous instructional texts in ancient Egypt, has very close parallels to the biblical Book of Proverbs.
Perhaps most significant for world history is the overlooked role of Egypt in the history of Christianity, which took root in Egypt at a very early date. By the end of the second century, Christianity was already well established in the Nile Valley, and soon came to replace the old religion of the gods.
In The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Richard H. Wilkinson concludes: “The spread of the religion was aided by the fact that many aspects