Changes in Urban and Sacred Landscapes of Memphis in the Third to the Fourth Centuries ad and the Eclipse of the Divine Apis Bulls
Memphis served as a main royal residence and the military, administrative, and economic capital of Egypt for much of its history. The city’s gradual decline had begun already under the Ptolemies, whose true capital was at Alexandria, and important changes in administrative practice during the Roman...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2018
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| In: |
The journal of Egyptian archaeology
Year: 2018, Volume: 104, Issue: 2, Pages: 195-204 |
| Further subjects: | B
sacred landscape
B Memphite cults B third / fourth century ad B Memphis B Divine Apis bull |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Memphis served as a main royal residence and the military, administrative, and economic capital of Egypt for much of its history. The city’s gradual decline had begun already under the Ptolemies, whose true capital was at Alexandria, and important changes in administrative practice during the Roman period diminished its traditional status further. The god Ptah and his earthly manifestation, the divine Apis bull, certainly continued to enjoy both religious and socio-political importance until the first decades of the third century ad at the latest, as will be discussed in the article. Given the fragmentary and haphazard nature of surviving evidence on the site, it is almost impossible to trace a coherent history of traditional Memphite cults beyond this date. This article aims to discuss the decline of the divine Apis bulls in the context of broader historical developments of the third to the fourth centuries ad. |
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| ISSN: | 2514-0582 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of Egyptian archaeology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0307513319856863 |