OCTAVIAN WAS NAMED AS EGYPTIAN PHARAOH AT PHILAE

 

A newly translated Roman victory stele from the Temple of Isis at Philae shows Octavian’s name inscribed in a cartouche – proof that the Roman ruler was also viewed as an Egyptian pharaoh.

It is generally believed that Octavian was never crowned as pharaoh, although Egypt became part of his domain. The stele was erected in April 29 BC. Octavian became “Augustus” two years later, in 27 BC. The stele, which notes the end of Ptolemaic and Ethiopian rule in Egypt, was erected by the priests at the Temple of Isis and was commissioned by Octavian’s appointed prefect in Egypt, Gaius Cornelius Gallus.

The new translation was recently published in The Trilingual Stela of C. Cornelius Gallus from Philae. Professor Martina Minas-Nerpal, of Swansea University in Wales, was a part of the team who worked on the translation. “The name of Octavian is written in a cartouche - he’s treated as any other Egyptian king,” she said. “They had to have an acting pharaoh – the only acting pharaoh (possible) under Octavian was Octavian,” she said. “The priests needed to see him as a pharaoh otherwise their understanding of the world would have collapsed… He (Octavian) needed to have a calm province and the key element to keeping the province calm were the priests – they were key to the population.”

The Ptolemaic kings of Egypt used a similar strategy in order to relate to the traditional Egyptian kingship theology, especially strong in southern Egypt, where Philae is located.

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