Religious life in Roman Egypt
Where the poet Juvenal mentions in one of his poems about the worship of the Egyptians and their gods that transformed the form of animals, he also mentioned the hatred of the Egyptians, such as Augustus' refusal to visit the calf Apis, as for the poet (Plutarchus and Dion Cassius), who describe the Egyptians as more jealous of their local gods.
The inscriptions and papyrus showed that in the first three centuries B.C. the cultures of the Egyptians differed in religion and deities, where the ancient Egyptian gods and Greek deities present in Egypt since the Ptolemaic rule and the new Roman gods and these three religions met each other, but each had its own special status.
The Romans adapted to the mixed religious beliefs of Egypt and Greece. An inscription found in the eastern desert on the way to Coptus in the year 11 AD where the inscription on a stone plate mentions the name of the god (Ban) the god of the soul that inhabits the beast of the desert and the prairie, and on the other side of the stone tablet the image of the Egyptian god (Min), the god of reproduction and fertility among the Egyptians, was also known as (Him).
There is a papyrus (discourse) dating from the second to the third century A.D. It refers to the founding Greek deities (Demeter), the Roman priest called (Marcus Aurelius) (Apollonius), and the Egyptian existing god (Synciva) to present sacrifices. Fifth century BC Similarities between the deity (Demeter) and the Egyptian deity (Isis).
It is noticeable that mixed temples appeared in the Egyptian villages where the housing and material elements that would allow them to build a new temple did not exist. Therefore, the ancient Egyptian temples mixed with the new gods, and this intermingling between the three religions was widely evident in the regional capitals because the inhabitants of the regional capitals worshiped the gods Greek to boast and show off to prove their Hellenistic heritage.
Most of the intermingling between the Egyptian and Greek deities
It was represented by these gods (Athena) and they were encountered in the Egyptian gods (Theiris) and the god (Zeus), and he met him (Amon) in the Egyptian deity and the god (Hermes), and he encountered (Thoth) in the ancient Egyptian gods, and the image of mixed deities was when Ptolemy created Lagos Worshiping the god (Serapis), a deity that is a mixture of the Greek and Egyptian deities, in order to symbolize the unity and equality between the two cultures.
This new religion achieved great success among the Egyptians and the Greeks, as Serapis began to take the characteristics of other deities such as (Zeus and the Nile god) in some other places.
One of the most popular rituals was the worship of the tender goddess Isis, the giver of life, which spread in the Mediterranean basin and took with it the center of worship in Rome. In Italy she was called the beloved of the god, in Rome, she was called the warrior, in Canopus, she was called the god of arts, in Perrospolis she was called the leader of the fleet, in Naqratis she was called the pregnant virgin, in Hermopolis she was called the holy queen, and in Tanis, she was called the same strength.
Roman deities and their Greek equivalents
On the part of the Romans, multiple names for the one God is rejected because this is not obstinate and causes confusion, as the temples were for the common deities, such as these temples (the great temple in Auxerenchus), which is the temple of Serapis and Athena Theseus, and when the Romans came to Egypt, they added a trinity that was far from the Capitol hills, they were the gods ( Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva) and Jupiter was the father of heaven, the great Roman gods, and his parallels for Greece are the god, Zeus, while the god Juno, who is the sister and wife of Jupiter, is the goddess of light and birth, and her parallel in the Greek gods, the god Hera, and also Minerva, who is the god of reason, wisdom, and skills, parallel to the god Athena in Greece.
But then more widespread rituals appeared within the Roman state in Egypt, which is the worship of the Roman emperors, where the idea of the emperor or the gods became continuous in his life and after his death, and this worship included the family of the emperor and in the year 19 AD when he visited (Hermaticus) the son of a sister and the son of the adoption of the emperor (Piraeus) In Egypt he received such venerable appearances as gods, but politely rejected them.
There is also a papyrus dating back to the first 6 months of the year 215 AD in the Temple of Jupiter (Capitolineus) located in (Arsinoe), in which a large statue of the Emperor (Caracalla) and the Egyptian God (Sabek) was found, and the papyrus contains details of feasts and celebrations.
On the succession of the new emperor, the coronation was celebrated in the state in order to sell it so that this day becomes a holiday that is celebrated annually. An example of this is the papyrus of the speech of the year 193 AD on the ascension of the emperor (Publius Helvius) Pertinax Augustus, and the speech was directed to the people of Alexandria to celebrate.
And there were popular celebrations for the Egyptians, which was the worship of animals, such as the god (Apis) the crocodile, and each place or village had its own god, such as the crocodile, a special temple for him in Arsinoe (Sohos) in Greek as for the Egyptian (Sabak).
Temple management
Priests:
The priests were for the Egyptians a closed class, and no one was allowed to enter it, but in Greece the matter was different, anyone was allowed to be a priest like the Greek orator (Isocrates), but the Romans welcomed this closure due to the spread of the spirit of division between the classes of society, and this is evidenced by the supervision of the private treasury over affairs. Religious in Egypt and any ordinary person can supervise the Greek temples, so there is no priest class in the cities and capitals of the regions in Egypt, so an annual official was chosen to supervise the temples from residents of the cities and capitals of Egypt and he held the title of the high priest and in fact, he was a civil supervisor, but he kept the title even after his removal He is called (a former priest).
Priests in Egyptian temples:
They were specific priests and a hereditary class that had some helpers appearing in the celebrations, where it is mentioned that the celebrations of Egyptians could reach 150 days a year, such as a celebration in the wealth of (Socnobionius), the island of the crocodile god Parsinoy, and when Augustus entered Egypt, he took control of the Egyptian priest class and reduced its wealth to reduce its influence The well-known politician between her struggle between the ruling king and the priests, therefore he reduced the number of priests and their properties in the fiefdoms of the temples and formed a committee to review their properties and financial records and punish them by not working in any job other than religious matters, but it led to the complaints of priests such as in 153 AD in Alexandria, but it did not bear a fruit because it is isolated local and an example is also general 4 AD, Governor of Egypt (Gaius Tauranius) Decree of purification of the priestly centuries.
Imposing taxes on the priests, as there were some of them forbidden from imposing taxes on them and the compulsory work, and the number of priests in the temple was proportional to the population of each region, for example, the region (Arsinoe), the crocodile temple, in which 3 priests served with one of the assistants, and the region (Karanis) 104 priests and a region (Nitones) 8 priests.
The clothes and figures of the priests
Egyptian priests have always shaved heads and not wearing woolen clothes or linen clothes only, and they practice the practice of circumcision only under the supervision of the administration in accordance with the law of the public treasury and making sure that the child who practices circumcision is a native son, adopted or a foundling, and the law forbids them to be circumcised and become priests.
The position of priests was hereditary and the absence of an heir was sold for the highest price, and the temples were different in construction, and it was a mixture of Egyptian and Greek influence, such as the Temple of Edfu, and the worshipers of the Nile River were basic worship as it symbolized giving in conjunction with Isis, which was also symbolic of giving life.
There was a celebration of the Nile at its height in the month of Coptic (Baounah) on June 12 corresponding to 19 June. This day is considered sacred by the Christians, and the celebration is still ongoing.
As for incantations, amulets, and superstitions, many of them appeared after the spread of Christianity and the favors of the prophecy.
Christianity
Christianity spread in Egypt, beginning with the city of Alexandria, in which the synagogue of Jews was published only when the Jews' preoccupation with trade made them a closed group when Christianity began to spread.
The first church in Egypt is the Church of St. Mark in the year 65 AD, who wrote the first Gospel and is considered Raul Patriarch, now the Bishop of the Church of Alexandria, and in the year 3 AD, each church has two bishops in the capitals of the regions.
The beginning of the Jewish conflict with the Christians in the Roman era
As the Jewish religion was spread throughout the Roman Empire, and this conflict began in the first century AD in the year 49 AD when the Emperor (Claudius) began to expel the Jews from Rome because they spread anxiety at the instigation of (Christus) who smelled good.
The number of Christians began to increase dramatically in the second to the third century AD when they faced great events such as persecution by the Roman emperors and administration, but in Egypt, it was to some extent a few because it is a tolerant society and the image that was conveyed about severe persecution is extremely exaggerated.
The first decree by the emperors to persecute the emperor in AD 249 which lasted for ten years, when every man and woman participated in pagan worship and obtained a testimony for this. The rejection led to the death of many, like the Alexandrian scholar (Origen), and the persecution continued until the death of (Decius) in a battle against the Goths. To conquer the empire.
And when (Galilin) took over Rome, persecution decreased from time to time because of the preoccupation with the competitors for the throne. This situation in Egypt and the Christians came back freely until persecution returned again with great ease.
In the era of (Diocletian), an era unlike any other, to which the Coptic Church in Egypt and Abyssinia was exposed. Until the year 300 AD, Egypt was a pagan country, but in 330 AD, the majority of Egypt became the religion of Christianity.
In the era of the Emperor (Constantine) the policy of religious tolerance, and also during the reign of the Emperor (Theodosius the First) (371-395) AD, Christianity is a tolerant religion.
The Coptic Language
Al-Tarikh was established by Aan from 250-350 A.D. Its letters are the letters of the Greek language, in addition to about 6-7 letters of the Coptic language (democrat). The Coptic calendar starts on August 29, 287, corresponding to the month of Tut in the Egyptian year.
Christian celebrations
They participated in it in Roman Egypt, such as the coronation of the emperor, the inauguration of the throne, and the victory. The Greek cities assessed the celebrations in the gymnasium. Their religious games and beliefs were held continuously with their literary works. The celebrations of the region’s capitals were the same celebrations of the Greeks because they were Hellenists and the sacrifice was made to the gods. There are associations for these dancers and artists.
There was an association for athletes such as (Heracles), which was centered in Rome all over the empire. The most famous sport for the Romans was wrestling, and they used poets, artists, and actors, and incense was also used in temples.