346 River of Heavenbeyond the dawn. FESTIVALSand rituals celebrated the
sacred cultic traditions, cosmic or historical, of the time
when the sacred was manifested. Rituals were religious
renewals, the demonstrations of the divine.
River of Heaven A waterway called the Celestial
Stream, the Celestial River, or the Spiritual Nile, the River
of Heaven was the counterpart of the actual Nile and was
believed to enter the earthly sphere on the ELEPHANTINE
Island, at ASWAN. The River of Heaven was depicted in
the mortuary texts and was associated with the god RÉ’s
nightly sojourn. This Nile flowed through the TUAT, the
land beyond the grave.
Roau (Ro-an, Roen, Ra-an)(fl. 15th century B.C.E.)
Priestly official of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He served TUTHMOSIS III(r. 1479–1425 B.C.E.) as the chief
steward of AMUN. Roau was in charge of the mortuary
complex of Queen AH’HOTEP(1), the mother of ’AHMOSE,
the founder of the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.) and
the Eighteenth Dynasty. Queen Ah’hotep’s cult was still
active in the reign of Tuthmosis III, and he erected a
shrine in her honor. Tuthmosis III donated a tomb to
Roau as a reward for his services.
Rodis (Rhodopis)(fl. seventh or sixth century B.C.E.)
Greek woman living in Naukratis, Egypt, called one of the
most beautiful women of the world
NAUKRATIS, founded in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
(664–525 B.C.E.), was the residence of Greek merchants
and traders on the Canopic branch of the Nile. Rodis, a
resident of the city, was heralded in legend as one of the
most beautiful women of all time. As a result of her
charms she was the center of attention and had Greek
and Egyptian suitors.
Rome One of the most powerful of the ancient states,
Rome emerged from a small, rural community in Italy to
conquer most of the Mediterranean world and to bring to
an end the long pharaonic history of Egypt in 30 B.C.E.
The first significant involvement of Rome in the
affairs of Egypt occurred in 170 B.C.E. when the strife
between Egypt and Syria (under King ANTIOCHUS IV)
ended with both sides appealing to the Romans to decide
who should be the rightful claimant to the throne. The
two candidates were PTOLEMY VIII EUERGETES II (the
favorite of the Egyptians) and PTOLEMY VI PHILOMETOR
(the nephew and favorite of Antiochus IV). The Roman
Senate decided to split the rule of the country, so that
Philometor reigned in MEMPHISand Euergetes controlled
ALEXANDRIA. This state of affairs proved unsatisfactory to
the Egyptians, who wasted no time upon Antiochus’s
departure back to Syria to rise up against Philometor.
Antiochus responded by marching on Egypt with an
army. The Egyptians appealed once more to Rome.
The Roman Senate dispatched a three-man commis-
sion to Egypt, and in 168 there occurred the famous
encounter between Antiochus IV and Papillius Laenas at
Eleusis just outside of Alexandria. Laenas gave Antiochus
the terms of the Senate: the Syrians must depart Egypt or
there would be war. Laenas then used a stick to draw a
circle in the sand around Antiochus’s feet and demanded
an answer before he set foot out of the ring. The Syrian
agreed to the Senate’s demands, and Ptolemy VI was
installed as ruler of all Egypt; Ptolemy VIII was made
king of Cyrenaica.
Rome now stood as the supreme arbiter of Egyptian
affairs. Thus, when PTOLEMY XII NEOS DIONYSIUS was
driven from Egypt in 58 B.C.E. he fled to Rome. After pay-
ing extensive bribes and cultivating the political favor of
Julius CAESAR, Ptolemy XII returned to Egypt and was
reinstated with the assistance of three Roman legions.
The remainder of his reign was as a virtual client of
Rome, and Ptolemy left provision in his will for the
Romans to have oversight over the transition of power to
his children, CLEOPATRA VIIand PTOLEMY XIII.
The bitter political struggle between Cleopatra and
her brother went largely unnoticed by the Romans
owing to their own civil war. In 48 B.C.E., however, fol-
lowing the defeat of POMPEYthe Great by Julius Caesar
at the battle of Pharsalus, Pompey fled to Egypt and
what he hoped would be the sanctuary of the court of
Ptolemy. The Roman general was immediately assassi-
nated by a cabal of Egyptian courtiers, and his head was
given as a gift to Caesar upon the dictator’s arrival in
Alexandria.
Caesar decided the dispute between Ptolemy and
Cleopatra in favor of the queen, and Ptolemy died in the
fighting that followed. In a famous romance, Caesar and
Cleopatra became lovers and produced PTOLEMY XV CAE-
SARION. Following Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C.E.,
Cleopatra established a relationship with Marc ANTONY.
Their political and personal alliance culminated in the
war with Caesar’s nephew, Octavian (the future AUGUS-
TUS) and the battle of ACTIUMin 31 B.C.E. The defeat of
the Egyptian fleet and army opened the door for the
Roman conquest of Egypt. Cleopatra committed suicide
in famed fashion by stinging herself with an asp, and
Marc Antony died on his own sword. Octavian, the future
Augustus, entered Alexandria on August 1, 30 B.C.E.
Henceforth, until the Arab conquest in 641 C.E., Egypt
remained a territory of the Roman Empire and then the
Byzantine Empire.romis This was an Egyptian term for “true humans,”
also called piromis.These were the intellectual or artistic
members of the Egyptian society, as contrasted with the
alien or peasant classes of the various nomes or
provinces.
See also SOCIAL EVOLUTION IN EGYPT.