be identified; this is the case with most of the temples. The great temple of Sarapis,
the prestige of which was immense until its destruction at the end of the fourth
century AD, has left only the most meager traces (McKenzie 2004; Rowe 1946). On
the other hand, the cemeteries, which have been quite systematically excavated since
the end of the nineteenth century, have provided a great deal of evidence, not only
about funerary practices, but about industry and the economy (Adriani 1936, 1940,
1952; Breccia 1912; Empereur and Nenna 2003). Lively images of religious life in
the hellenistic and Roman periods are offered by the rich iconographic material in the
Alexandrian museums: stelae, statues, and terracotta and bronze figurines.
An Overview
At Alexandria, as elsewhere, the establishment of each cult had to correspond at the
outset with the presence of a community of worshipers. But it cannot be said that a
cult remained the exclusive property of the community that gave it birth. Over the
course of time religious ‘‘clienteles’’ diversified. In a polytheistic system, where no
religion claims a ‘‘truth’’ greater than that of the others, it is permissible for individ-
uals to respect and place their trust in various gods, without for a moment renoun-
cing their first allegiance. From the Ptolemaic era onwards there are many examples
from thecho ̄raof acts of devotion by Greeks (or in any case people who defined
themselves as such) towards Egyptian gods in their most traditional form. There is no
reason to think that things happened differently in Alexandria.
At the foundation of the city the first immigrants must have brought their cults
with them. Soldiers stationed at Schedia at the end of the fourth century BC made a
dedication to Athena Polias; dedications to Apollo, to Artemis (OGIS18) and to
Zeus (OGIS65) date from the first half of the third century. The cult of Zeus was well
established under Ptolemy III: two priests were attached to him and he had a sacred
precinct (temenos) and altars. A statue of Zeus Soter was placed on the top of Pharos.
Thepoliteumaof soldiers of Alexandria made a dedication to him towards the end of
the first century BC (SEG20.499). The Dioscuri were there too, something not at all
surprising in a city to which maritime activity was important. The members of a
religious association devoted to their cult (Dioskouriastai) made a dedication to them
that associated them with the royal couple, Ptolemy III (r. 246–222 BC) and
Berenice. Members of the dynastic cult (Synbasilistai) made another dedication to
them (BSAA42, 34).
Demeter
These isolated documents cannot testify to the existence of established and enduring
cults (except in the case of Zeus). However, three Greek deities benefited from a
privileged position at Alexandria. The first is Demeter. The foundation of her temple,
the Thesmophorion, has to go back at least to the time of Philadelphus; her festivals,
the De ̄me ̄tria and the Thesmophoria, are mentioned in the Zenon Archive (P.Cair.
Zen. 59028;P.Col. Zen. 19). Terracotta figurines representing young women carrying
cult objects, amongst them a piglet, may represent a ritual of the Thesmophoria: the
The Religious System at Alexandria 255