Ancient Egypt: Ptolemic Processions
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Unit: Ancient Egypt
Theme: Ptolemic Processions
Introduction
The Ptolemaic dynasty, sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 to 30 BC. The Ptolemaic was the last dynasty of ancient Egypt.
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Learning Objectives
- Understand the importance of the Ptolemaic dynasty
- Explain the meaning of the procession of shrines
- Gain an awareness of the excess of wealth displayed by processions
- Experience the staging of a procession
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Main Lesson
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Alexander the Great
Alexander
III of Macedon (356 BC - 323 BC) commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of
the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. A member of the Argead dynasty, he
was born in Pella—a city in Ancient Greece—in 356 BC.
Ptolemaic Dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty, the Thirty-third dynasty of Egypt, sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 to 30 BC.
Ptolemy I Soter ("Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great of the Kingdom of Macedon in northern Greece who became ruler of Egypt, part of Alexander's former empire. Ptolemy was pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 305/304 BC to his death. He was the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt until the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC, turning the country into a Hellenistic kingdom and Alexandria into a center of Greek culture.
Question 1
Why was the Ptolemaic Dynasty important?
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Lord of the Imagination Scene from the movie "Pharaoh" "A thousand of years ago, on the dessert, on a land situated on the shores of the lower Nile, there was established a great empire ruledby a pharaoh, half god, half man, son of Osiris. But to this day,
power still makes millions of people imagine what it was."This is a fragment of the Polish film Pharao (1966), directed by Jerzy Kawalerwicz, (1922 - 2007) adapted from the eponymous novel by the Polish writer Bolesław Prus. In 1967, it was nominatedfor an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was alsoentered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.
Question 2
What is your reaction to the way royal Egypt is represented here?
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Egyptian Processions
Procession of Shrines
LINK
The Manners and Customs of Ancient Egyptians
John Gardner Wilkinson by
(Pages 270 - 276)
Questions 3
Based on the description by Diodorus Silicus
By Unknown author - http://www.alexanderstomb.com/main/imageslibrary/alexander/index.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=649351
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Roman-era procession for Dionysus
LINK
The Great Spectacle and Procession of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 285 BCE
(5th paragraph)
Question 4
This
procession could be described as an excess of wealth. Speculate about the
possible reasons for these display of wealth to take place?
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Joyeuse magnificences
A series of lavish and spectacular court entertainments, sometimes called magnificences, were laid on by Catherine de' Medici, the queen consort of France from 1547 to 1559 and queen mother from 1559 until her death in 1589. As wife of Henry II of France, Catherine showed interest in the arts and theatre, but it was not until she attained real political and financial power as queen mother that she began the series of tournaments and entertainments that dazzled her contemporaries and continue to fascinate scholars. Biographer Leonie Frieda suggests that "Catherine, more than anyone, inaugurated the fantastic entertainments for which later French monarchs also became renowned".[1]
One of the Joyeuse magnificences was the Ballet Comique de la Reine, devised and presented by Queen Louise, who directed her own team of writers and musicians. The text was by Nicolas de La Chesnaye, the music by the Sieur de Beaulieu, the sets by Jacques Patin, and the overall director was Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx.[1]
The theme of the entertainment was an invocation of cosmic forces to come to the aid of the monarchy, which at that time was threatened by the rebellion not only of Huguenots but of many Catholic nobles. Men were shown as reduced to beasts by Circe, who held court in a garden at one end of the hall. Louise and her ladies danced ballets, and the Four Cardinal Virtues appealed to the gods to descend to earth and defeat the powers of Circe. With a thunderclap, Jupiter descended sitting on an eagle, accompanied by "the most learned and excellent music that had ever been sung or heard". Jupiter transferred Circe's power to the royal family, protected France from the horrors of civil war, and blessed King Henry with the wisdom to govern. At the end of the show, Catherine de' Medici made Queen Louise give Henry a gold medal depicting a dolphin. The gesture expressed Catherine's desire that the couple would have a male heir (a dauphin) to continue the dynasty.
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Procession Elements
The procession described bellow has been extracted from the accounts provided by Christian theologian and philosopher Clement of Alexandria. Many elements may be used to make a procession more significant than just "people walking in the same direction":
1. A special mode of transport, such as a ceremonial barge, elephant howdah, horse-drawn carriage, or a palanquin carried on the shoulders of others. Cleopatra's arrival to seduce Mark Antony on a perfumed barge has taken on legendary proportion.
2. Criers may march before the procession, yelling to clear the way for it.
3. Order of precedence: even without showy display, a group of people walking forward may be said to form a procession if their order and placement clearly visualize a hierarchy or symbiotic relationship. For instance, one's nearness to the king or others of high rank had important political connotations when the royal family walked to or from the palace.
4. Bearers of banners, fans, icons, treasure, or other eye-catching items, or leading exotic animals. This was a very important part of Roman triumphs, as booty gave the Roman populace visual proof of the warrior's success. Scent, provided by flower bearers or censers of incense.
5. Skilled performers, such as acrobats or dancers.
6. Special costume: traditionally, the costumes of acolytes, footmen, ceremonial guards, or slaves help show off the wealth of the person staging a procession.
7. Special lighting: candlelight vigils for the deceased or to show political solidarity often include a candlelit procession.
8. The dispensing of gifts, at one time often food or money.
ACTIVITY
Thoth was the god of the moon, sacred texts, mathematics, the sciences, magic, messenger and recorder of the deities, master of knowledge, and patron of scribes. His Egyptian name was Djehuty, which means “He who is like the Ibis.” He was depicted as an ibis bird or a baboon.
Hat Hor, also called Hat-Hor (actually Hor-hat), is a possible pharaoh or king of Dynasty 0 (Predynastic Period), who ruled circa 3250 BC.
STUDENTS' WORK
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