The sun., 1901-10-06
IA

| Than twenty-five hundred years lh"N
we're present AZ the foundation OF the city
| by Alexander th. Great tIJ2 u e.. and they
| constituted very large fraction uf the
| population under Alexander suctesspfs
4 s.para'" section of the city was assigned
20 them bv he firs, Ptolrmics. ~ that they
| might not be hindered IN the observance
| OF their laws 10y continual contact with
ih" pagan populaiion Of the FIVE dis
| tricts into which Alexandria was divided
! two were d-nominsied JrWish districts
hecau-e the majority - their Inhabitants
were Jews The site Of the ancient Jewish
/ quarter can he ni-d with some approach
/ to accuracy. bat AZ times RESTRICTION Il"
| that quarter was uoi strictly enforced
! fnr. curding to Philo, there were many
! Jewish dwellings scattered throughout th"
J city JoSephus testifr- that. when the
/ Romans took Irp-session Of Egypt, neiih"f
4 the first ts-ar nor his succeS-pt- suffered
the rights which had been lest owed upon
/ the Jews hv Alexander and the PtOl"mi"s
+ io bc diminished There j. 10 doubt that
under he Roman Empir" ~" Jews "nJov"d
7 q grral"r degree of polii ical Independence
. in tcxaudria than elsewhere While the
/ lew i-h iuhabii anti of other cities - th"
| empire formed private 'suci-lie, ipr ~
/ igiau- ptrIsn-..- nr else b,,caur a corpora
4 ',nu Of Foreigners. ike The Egyptian and
d pnun'ian merchants iu IN" large com
iur,cial c"u.rrs. thoS- ~ Al"Naudria CON
-itltcd an ndrpeudent political "pm-
I uuuitv. .id- by side With that 81 th"
h"I'h'u pnpulaiiou.
rho autlor "f the article iu THE ercvclo-
/ pasiig points ont. hv wav - cuntras' 60
ihc alleged modern disincliua'iou 80 the
lows io n,htarv service. that they wer"
often c'rplpved a- soldiers IN EgyT'. and
",cu a'tR'nsd 80 h,gh military positions
ptri-uy | T. laid to Lave di>trbu'~'l o,U1
.lcWi~l soldiers oyrr tiir land as garri~ou-
piulemy VI and his ouusor'. Cleopatra
cft -tt-teSl their whole kingdom ~ jews,
and the generals- s-iu-chicf of tho army
wei. tine two JcwS. Onia~ and ho~,th~us
Another Cleopatra. their daughter. IA .
war " hich she Wayed against her -un,
aI-o appointcd two Jews a. generals IN
hsi army Under the Romans rich Jews
occasionally held the office ~ alaharcu.
which must not he confoundrd With thn'
of tho jewish cthna arch it was n civic trIst.
and probably identical with that ~ 'h"
,rabarch the chief 'ay collector on tho
Arabian ur eastern shore 81 the Nil' such
an "A 80 could hc fll"d only hv one Who
had large capital bat II also provided a
source from which great profits might hc
drawn n. revolt uf the Egyptian jews
under TraIRu wa- att"ndeSi hy enormous
loss II lifc A. first the jews hal the adj
vantage over tho Gr~eks who In = haiti"
uut sid" tine gates ~ Alexandria Wet"
beaten. aud compelled to retreat within
IN. gates ~ th" city. but here they gained
the upy.r hand and nas-aCr"d III" Jewish
Inhabitants The city its"if must have
suffered considerably from th"-" con
tcniions lot Hairian found 1t necessary
To restore II m grea par
o'Wiihstsnding ~" contrast between
the views 10 lif,' held bN th" lsraelite- on
IA. one hand and ih. pasans On the other.
the influence ~ llell-uism did not fail tu
impress a peculiar stamp upon the in
teliectuAl development Of the Alex andtian
Jews Now here else. indeed did the com
min glug of the Jewish religious teachings
with the spirit Of Hellenism 60 80 far a.
ia Alexandria. though her" a. elScN here
IN. jews remained true In all essentials
to the religion ~ their for~father-. Ian"
their bre,hren In Palestine. they assembled
IN the synagogue every sabbath to hear
DO" reading of the Law and the Prophets
and Tor the other rel lgiuus services The
author 90 the article IA this encyclopedia
has little doubt that the Alex andrian Jews
observed the new monn and the annual
festivities m the same manner ~ did their
co-relgionists elsewhere. Nerv little trust
worthy information - a. hand conccrn-
ing the part taken by the Alexandrians |
in tho cult 81 the Jewish temple Al Leon
topolis u IL pronounced probable that
,hev offered sacrifices there without In |
the least neglecting their duties toward |
the Temple AZ Jerusalem. Philo remarks
Incidentally that be- himself proc~cded |
20 the patcrnal sanctuary un JrrusalenD |
a. delegate to pray and to sacrifice.
Nevertheless, although the religion OF |
their forrfathers was faithfully followed, |
the Jews ~ Alexandria imbibed to a great !
degree the culture Of the Greeks Not |
many generations after the founding of !
the community the Torah was translated |
into Greek u was read In Greek IN the !
.ynagogucs. indeed. this was the language |
chief Ia uSs In this service Greek must. |
therefore have i-s'n tho Ncrnac,Ilar of |
the lover cla-se. also. The circumstances |
under which the Septuagini Greek version |
Of the Hebrew Scriptures was made will |
40 doubt II, discussed at length in another |
volume of this encyclopedia u u known |
that tho higher classes Of Jews studied |
Greek literature Ia tho schools and read |
Homer. the tragic pp~ts, Plato, Aristotle |
and the Stoics This intimat" sccuAint- |
anc- With Greek literature naturally had !
a profound en~c, upon the Alessndrian |
Israelt-- They became Greeks. how
ever. without c-asing to L. Jews Under !
Hellenic influence the Jews of Alexandria |
pr,.duc,-d In their Turn an extensive and |
Nari-d literature Among them were phil |
o-ntsherS and historians well "pic |
and dramatic Tucis u .. wcll known that |
Philo. tho chief representative" - the Jew
i-h l,eiandriAn philosophy. undertook '" |
hntiaunis- l-Wtsh revelation With Gr--a 1
-t--pliative thouEhi Thai Philo's phil
,y-,s,Nv can t-r drscril~i in its essentials /
~ltlrnui uamins snv specifically le~ish |
constituents has l---u d~-fa~i the br-i
if,.af ~ 80 thoFuushne-~ With ~hich hs /
had t-.rpfn~ saturated ~iih ti'e dominant
H.lirnir ia-ss - ass das tlsoash him-rf i
silA ruoiri IL judaism lie had ~ h0sOs !