Social Dynamics between Egyptian, Greek and Mixed Communities: Center and Periphery in the Formation of the Sarapis Cult
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | In this paper, the origin of the god Sarapis is understood as a cultural process that can be chronicled through iconography and inscriptions from about the 6th century BC to the onset of Ptolemaic dynasty. Archaeological evidence implies that the name and the contours of the god Sarapis were formed in close relation to social dynamics between Egyptian population and Greek immigrants. The topic of the formation of the cult of Sarapis can be elucidated with the help of the network theory whose terminology and analytical apparatus are developed for the study of social dynamics. In this case, one of the edges of the "Greek civilization" network will be investigated. In the perspective of the network theory, these edges are called "middle grounds". Any network is maintained by the data flow between its nodes. In social context, data traffic between the nodes is determined by migration. However, middle grounds are not full-fledged nodes. Rather, they are contact zones between cultures where we can see cultural transmission in progress. With these theoretical assumptions it is possible to formulate two following hypotheses: 1) The data traffic through Memphis as the middle ground, where we can situate the beginnings of the cult of Sarapis, was increased by the presence of Alexander the Great; 2) Ptolemy I Soter transformed Memphis and Alexandria from middle grounds to strong nodes allowing initially local product to spread across the whole ancient Mediterranean network. |
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