Greeks in Egypt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Greeks had a thriving presence in Egypt from the ancient times up to today.
Contents |
[edit] Antiquity
Greeks have been living in Egypt since the ancient times. Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BCE, wrote that the Greeks were the first foreigners that ever lived in Egypt.[1] Diodorus Siculus attested that Rhodian Actis, one of the Heliadae built the city of Heliopolis before the cataclysm; likewise the Athenians built Sais. While all Greek cities were destroyed during the cataclysm, the Egyptian cities including Heliopolis and Sais survived.[2]
[edit] Hellenistic times
[edit] Rule of Alexander the Great (332-323 BCE)
Alexander the Great conquered Egypt at an early stage of his great journey of conquests. He respected the pharaonic religions and customs and he was declared by the priest, Pharaoh of Egypt. He established the city of Alexandria. After his death, in 323 BCE, his enormous empire was divided among his generals. Egypt was given to Ptolemy I Soter, whose descendants would give Egypt her final royal dynasty - a glittering one, albeit largely Greek in flavour. Its capital was the city of Alexandria. Ptolemy added legitimacy to his rule in Egypt by acquiring Alexander's body. He intercepted the embalmed corpse on its way to burial, brought it to Egypt and placed it in a golden coffin in Alexandria. It would remain one of the famous sights of the town for many years, until probably destroyed in riots in the 3rd century.[3]
[edit] The Ptolemaic inheritance (323-30 BCE)
The initial objective of Ptolemy's reign is to establish firm and broad boundaries to his newly-acquired kingdom. That led to almost continuous warfare against other leading members of Alexander's circle. At times he held Cyprus and even parts of mainland Greece. When these conflicts were over, he is firmly in control of Egypt and has strong claims (disputed by the Seleucid dynasty) to Palestine. He calls himself king of Egypt from 306 BCE. By the time he abdicates in 285 BCE, in favour of one of his sons, the Ptolemaic dynasty is secure. Ptolemy and his descendants show respect to Egypt's most cherished traditions - those of religion - and turn them to their own advantage. Alexandria becomes the centre of the Greek and Hellenistic world and the epicentre of international commerce, art and sciences. The Lighthouse of Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World while during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Library of Alexandria was the biggest library in the world until it was destroyed. The last Pharaoh was a Greek princess, Cleopatra VII. Cleopatra is twenty-one when she first meets Julius Caesar, in 48 BCE, and twenty-eight when she first meets Mark Antony, in 41 BCE. She is thirty-nine when she applies the asp to her breast in 30 BCE, a year after the battle of Actium. With her defeat, the Roman Empire achieves a new completeness - encompassing the entire Mediterranean. Egypt will remain under Roman control for the next six centuries.[3]
[edit] Modern times
[edit] Greek communities
In 1843 the Greek community of Alexandria was founded. In 1907 the official census showed that there were 62,973 Greeks living in Egypt. At about 1940 Greeks were numbered at about 250,000. In Alexandria, Greeks lived around the area of the Church and monastery of Agios Savvas. In the same area there was a quest house for passing by Greeks, a Greek hospital and later a Greek school. The Orthodox bishop was based in Damietta and his cathedral was the church of Agios Nikolaos.
In Cairo, the Greek community was founded in 1856. Greek population stayed in three main neighbourhoods Tzouonia, Haret el Roum (Street of the Greeks) and in Hamzaoui. In the Street of Greeks, near the church of Saint Marcus, earlier used to be the patriarchate. In Old Cairo still survives the old monastery of Saint George. The monastery is surrounded by a huge wall and on top of it stands a magnificent stone tower. Within its walls there is a Greek hospital, a school and senior and poor people houses. Apart from these two main communities there were also the Greek communities of El Mansurah, founded in 1860, the Port Said Greek community, founded in 1870, the community of Tanta in 1880, the community of Zayazik in 1870]. There were fifteen smaller communities across Egypt and mainly around Cairo and Alexandria. In Upper Egypt the oldest ancient Greek community is the one of Minia which was founded in 1862.
The contribution of the Greek population in the financial life of Egypt was very important. It was the Greek agriculturists and farmers that first systematically and with scientific planning, have cultivated cotton and tobacco. They improved the quantity and quality of the production and have dominated the cotton and tobacco commerce doing large exports. Notable families that dominated the commerce of tobacco were the Salvagos, Benakis, Rodochanakis and Zervoudachis.[4] The tobacco breeds used for the cigarettes manufacturing was purely of Greek origin. A thriving commerce between Greece and Egypt was thus established. Other areas of interest for the Greek Egyptians were the fus, food, winery, soap, wood craft, typing industries. The first banks in Egypt were created by Greeks like the Bank of Alexandria, the Anglo-Egyptian bank (Sunadinos family) and the General Bank of Alexandria. There were many Greek theatres and cinemas. Major Greek newspapers were Ta grammata (Γράμματα) and Nea Zoi (Νέα Ζωή).[5] The Greek community in Egypt has produced numerous artists, writers, diplomats and politicians. The most famous of them was the poet Konstantinos Kavafis.
During the Balkan wars, the Greek communities of Egypt had sent volunteers, funded hospitals and have accommodated families of the soldiers. During the World War II (1940 - 1945), more than 7,000 Greeks fought within the coalition army of Middle East. 142 people died while their financial contribution reached 2,500 million Egyptian liras.[6] After the Suez Crisis the British and French laborers left while the Greeks stayed.[7]
[edit] Patriarchate of Alexandria
[edit] Egyptiot Greek benefactors
The emergence of a Greek aristocracy that consisted of rich industrialists, commercants and bankers has led to the great legacy of Egyptiot Greek philanthropism. These benefactors have donated large amounts for the building of schools, academies, hospitals and institutions in both Egypt and their mother land Greece. Mihail Tositsas has donated large amounts for the building of the Athens University, the Amalio Orphanage and the Athens Polytechnic. His wife Eleni Tositsa has donated the land for the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. George Averoff has also helped for the building of the National Technical University of Athens, the Evelpidon Military Academy and the donation of the Greek cruiser Georgios Averof to the Hellenic Navy. Emmanouel Benakis has helped for the building of the National Gallery of Athens while his son Antonis Benakis was the founder of the Benaki Museum. Other major benefactors include Nikolaos Stournaris, Theodoros Kotsikas, Nestoras Tsanaklis, Konstantinos Horemis, Stefanos Delta, Penelope Delta, Pantazis Vassanis and Vassilis Sivitanidis.[4]
[edit] Exodus
The exodus of Greeks from Egypt started during and after the revolution of 1952. With the establishment of the new sovereign regime of Gamal Abdel Nasser and the subsequent nationalisation of many industries from 1957 and afterwards, thousands Greeks had to abandon the country. Many of them have immigrated to Australia, the United States and Greece. Many Greek schools, churches, small communities and institutions have subsequently closed. The Nasser regime was a major disaster for the Greek diaspora which afterwards has dwindled from many thousands to a handful. The dangerous situation in the Middle East has also deteriorated the conditions for the Greeks that stayed back in Egypt. It is estimated that between 1957 - 1962 almost 70% of the Egyptiot Greeks have left the country.
[edit] Today
Today the Greek community numbers officially about 3,000 people although the real number is much higher since many Greeks have changed their nationality to Egyptian. In Alexandria, apart from the patriarchate, there is a patriarchical theology school that opened recently after 480 years being closed. Saint Nicolas church and several other buildings in Alexandria have been recently renovated by the Greek Government and the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation. During the last decade, there has been a new interest from the Egyptian government for a diplomatic rapprochement with Greece and this has positively affected the Greek diaspora. The diaspora has received official visits of many Greek politicians. Greek economic relationships have been blossoming between Greece and Egypt. Egypt has been recently the epicentre of major Greek investments in banking, tourism, paper and oil industry and many others. This might be the beginning of a new era for the Greek community in Egypt.
[edit] Notable Greeks from Egypt
|
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Α΄ Η διαχρονική πορεία του ελληνισμού στην Αφρική
- ^ The Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus, Book V,57.
- ^ a b History of EGYPT
- ^ a b kathimerini.gr | Αιγυπτιώτης Eλληνισμός· κοιτίδα ευεργετισμού
- ^ Noctoc: The Greeks Of Egypt-Οι Ελληνεσ Τησ Αιγυπτου-اليونانيون في مصر
- ^ Η προσφορά του Ελληνισμού της Αιγύπτου στο Β΄Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο
- ^ Αρχαία Αίγυπτος
[edit] External links
- The Greek community of Alexandria official website
- Egyptian Hellenism Department-Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive
- Greeks in Egypt-Greek communities Blog
- Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa
- Neo Fos online newspaper of the Greek community in Egypt
- Greek presence in Egypt-in Greek
|
|||||||||||
