Alexandria’s Graeco-Roman Museum finally reopens

We are all familiar with the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which holds many treasures from the Egyptian dynasties, including the world-famous gold mask of Tutankhamun. 

However, few people are aware of the Graeco-Roman Museum with its 40,000 artifacts from the Greek and Roman eras. It has been closed since 2005 for renovation and finally reopened. It covers artwork from before the foundation of Alexandria by Alexander in 331 BC, the ensuing Ptolemaic Dynasty that ended with Cleopatra in 30 BC, and the Roman occupation up to the Muslim conquest of 641 AD. 

The newly arranged collection is presented in an up-to-date manner, as shown in this short video.

The most recent statues and artifacts to enter this museum are those recovered by Franck Goddio and his team during underwater excavations in the broad Nile estuary, particularly from Thonis-Heracleion. 

Noteworthy is, for instance, the stele discovered at Thonis-Heracleion in 2000, displayed next to its twin, uncovered in Naucratis in 1899. It is quite unique to find two identical inscriptions holding a decree of Nectanebo I. They state that the pharaoh raised subsidies for the temple using the taxes levied from Greek trade and manufacturing in Thonis and Naucratis. The steles also confirm that Thonis and Heracleion were respectively the Egyptian and the Greek names for the same town “at the entrance of the sea of the Greeks”. 

Another striking addition from Thonis-Heracleion is the statue of a Ptolemaic queen, 2.20 meters high, made of black granodiorite and dated to the 2^nd century BC. It is attributed to either Cleopatra Selene II (185-180) or Cleopatra III (116-115 BC) and is executed in a mix of Greek and Egyptian styles. Alternatively, it could represent Cleopatra Thea, the queen consort of three Syrian kings of the Seleucid Empire between 150 and 125 BC. 

A new acquisition of the Graeco-Roman Museum is the so-called Neilos-bust, an astonishingly well-preserved rendition of the god of the Nile in greywacke (a variety of hard sandstone). It was found in the temple area of the Nile’s Canopus. 

In-depth research by Franck Goddio revealed that Graeco-Egyptian statues in this dark Egyptian stone were probably made in specialist workshops in Alexandria. The Nile bust is of particularly high-quality greywacke. 

Of an entirely different order is the Naos of the Decades, a small chapel-like shrine for statues of the divinities at the most sacred place of the temple. During Franck Goddio’s underwater exploration of the Bay of Abukir, he discovered walls of this exceptional naos, parts of which were already at the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria and the Louvre in Paris. 

The Naos of the Decades was a shrine to Shu, the god of air, which predated the Ptolemaic era by more than fifty years. The most remarkable feature may well be the calendar engraved on the outside surfaces of its walls. The Egyptians divided the year into sections of ten days or decades, 36 in all - represented here by 36 squares - making a total of 360 days. A 37^th square was added for the five days to complete the year. Each square showed a text of an astrological nature about the influence of the stars and Shu on daily life during the specific period of ten days. One such text tells how Shu created the sky and the stars and placed himself between the sky and the earth to separate them. 

The Greek sphere of influence did not die with Alexander. In the first stage, it lived on as Hellenism from the Mediterranean to India, after which Greek art and customs gradually fused and mixed with those of the newly formed kingdoms and civilizations. In Egypt, Hellenism officially ended with the death of Cleopatra, when many concepts and ideas were continued by the Romans. The Parthian and Bactrian Kings did the same in the East. Greek remained the lingua franca in antiquity and helped to spread Christianity until the Islamic conquest in the 7^th century AD took over.

[Pictures from Franck Goddio's site]

Another aspect of Alexander’s personality?

Life is full of surprises and Alexander’s life is no exception. Our best sources are extant books by Arrian, Diodorus, Curtius, Plutarch, and Justin, but contemporary documents are far more difficult to find (see: Eyewitness accounts of Alexander's life). Alexander’s Royal Journals carefully kept by Callisthenes and Eumenes have not survived, except for some rare fragments whose origins cannot be verified with certainty.

Browsing through Robinson’s book, The History of Alexander the Great and the Ephemerides of Alexander’s Expedition, I was intrigued by the few lines that survived Ephippus’ writing. 

Ephippus of Olynthus was a historian and contemporary of Alexander. It is unclear whether this man is the same as Ephippus of Chalcis, mentioned by Arrian as one of the superintendents Alexander installed in Egypt. The reason to link both names is that the city of Olynthus is part of Chalcis. Otherwise, our Ephippus may well have lived at the king’s court or shortly after his death. 

He is known as the author of a lost pamphlet “On the death (or funeral) of Alexander and Hephaistion,” as mentioned by Athenaeus of Naucratis, who lived about the end of the 2^nd/beginning of the 3^rd century AD. The document held an account of the burial of Hephaistion and Alexander as well as of the king’s death. 

Robinson is quoting Athenaeus in several separate issues, shedding a different light on Alexander than what other, usually Greek, sources tell us. 

According to Ephippus, Alexander spent one hundred minas on a dinner with his friends, i.e., sixty or seventy of them. It seems the author is reacting to some critics about Alexander’s expenses compared to those of the Persian king, who spent four hundred talents for his 15,000 invites. Converting the currencies, however, both expenditures come to the same amount per capita.

Another observation made by Ephippus is that the Macedonians never understood how to drink in moderation, but drank a lot of wine at the beginning of a feast. The case of Proteas of Macedonia, who was a sturdy guy, is highlighted because he drank a great deal all his life. Alexander, Ephippus said, once ordered a six-quart cup of wine, and after a drink, toasted Proteas, thereby extending a challenge to him. Proteas took the cup, sang praises to his king, and drank the rest of the wine under the wide applause of those present. A little later, Proteas ordered another such cup, toasted the king, and took a drink. Alexander then (accepting the challenge) took it but could not hold it, falling back on his cushion and dropping the cup from his hands. The king fell ill and died. 

This scene inspired Oliver Stone in his Alexander movie during a scene played in India. However, this is not how the king died, and the text puts serious question marks behind the assumption that Ephippus lived at Alexander's court at the time of his death. The truth about Alexander’s death, for me, lies elsewhere as I discussed on previous occasions (see: A personal approach to the cause of death for Alexander).

Regarding the luxury of Alexander, Ephippus tells us that the king had a golden throne, and couches with silver feet “on which he used to sit and transact business with his companions”. These couches are known from the Susa wedding party, but the link is not made in this text. 

Ephippus continues by stating that Alexander also wore “sacred vestments”, such as the purple robe, cloven sandals, and horns of Ammon as if he were a god. At times, he would imitate Artemis, wearing her dress while driving his chariot. Alexander also had a Persian robe and displayed the bow and javelin of the goddess above his shoulder. Sometimes, he dressed as Hermes, and sitting with his friends, he wore the god’s sandals and the petasus, holding the caduceus in his hand. In everyday use, he would appear wearing a purple riding cloak and a purple tunic with white stripes, and the Macedonian causia holding the royal diadem. Referring to Heracles, Alexander would wear a lion’s skin and carry the god’s club. 

To my own astonishment, Ephippus also says that Alexander used to have the floor sprinkled with perfumes and fragrant wine, while incense and myrrh were burnt in his presence. If this is true, I presume it would happen only while the king resided in one of the Persian palaces? The bystanders are said to remain silent out of fear of his violence, “with no regard for human life.” 

Athenaeus further quotes Ephippus, saying that Alexander arranged a festival for Dionysus at Ecbatana. He does not tell us when this sacrifice occurred but I would assume it was in 324 BC, maybe around the death of Hephaistion. 

The local satrap Satrabates had invited all the troops (just try to picture the scene!) for his lavish feast, and many speeches of praise and flattery were made to impress Alexander. As in Samarkand, some of these praises turned into insolence. However, with the king’s complicity one of his armorers totally went overboard by having the herald announce that he, Gorgus, would shower the son of Ammon with 3,000 gold coins; and whenever Alexander would besiege Athens, he would add 10,000 full suits of armor and as many catapults and other missiles needed for the war. 

Such words clearly illustrate how preposterous and absurd these flatteries of Alexander were! Freedom of speech? 

Shifting through Ephippus' lines, it is difficult and even impossible to determine what is correct and what is not. As always, opinions are divided. Ephippus’ version of the facts is examined in detail by Antony Spawforth in his article The Pamphleteer Ephippus, King Alexander and the Persian Royal Hunt.

Getting around in the Nile Delta

Speaking of the Nile Delta, we obviously mean the embouchure of the river Nile where its waters mingle with those of the Mediterranean Sea. 

The problem, however, is to picture the ancient cities and harbors along that coastline. There are several elements to be taken into account. 

Historically, we best know the role played by Alexandria and Pelusium, situated on opposite sides of the Delta, roughly 250 kilometers apart. 

[From Pinterest]

Pelusium, about 30 kilometers south of modern Port Said, was looking to the East. This city was the entrance gate for conquerors coming from the east. Alexander entered Egypt through Pelusium, as did the Hittites and Persians before him. For the Egyptian pharaohs, it was their gateway to the lands on the eastern Mediterranean. The city played an essential role as a transit station for the goods coming from and going to the lands around the Red Sea (see: The fame of elusive Pelusium). 

Alexander founded Alexandria after he returned from visiting the oracle in Siwah. It arose on the most westerly end of the Delta, on the Canopic Branch of the Nile. The city was intentionally oriented towards Crete and Greece, creating a close trading route with its homeland.

The Greeks had already established thriving trade emporiums in the area. Best known is Naucratis, settled as early as the 7th century BC (see: Egypt, land of the free for ancient Greeks?) As mighty Egypt allowed them to operate a lucrative business, even granting them special privileges, Naucratis eventually became a melting pot of Greek and Egyptian art and culture where they lived in harmony with each other. In its heyday, it was home to at least 16,000 people who appear to have lived in high-rise buildings three to six floors high, not unlike the mud-brick houses we encounter today in Yemen. 

Archaeological research has found proof that the Canopic Branch of the Nile was navigable all the way down to the heart of the city. However, Herodotus gave us the impression that the freight from the ships arriving from the Mediterranean was to be transshipped into barges which would sail to reach Naucratis (see: An update about Naucratis). 

A look at the above map illustrates that vessels heading for the harbor of Naucratis had to sail an extra distance from the Mediterranean. Alexandria was obviously more accessible. 

[Mosaic from Madaba, Jordan, showing the Nile with Pelusium]

Another major port was Heracleion, which the ancient Egyptians called Thonis, founded back in the 8th century BC. Known more commonly as Thonis-Heracleion, the site has been discovered under ten meters of mud near modern Abukir Bay (see: Heracleion, an ancient Greek port in Egypt, and Underwater excavation at Heracleion still ongoing). The above map shows Thonis/Thanis on a more easterly branch of the Nile, closer to Pelusium. Recent excavations have exposed 64 ancient, beautifully preserved shipwrecks and more than 700 anchors. Heracleion reached its peak between the 6th and the 4th century BC. 

Halfway between Alexandria and El-Alamein, Ptolemy II Philadelphus founded Taposiris Magna around 280-270 BC. The harbor played a significant role in the trading route for the goods from the east arriving over Lake Mareotis and overland from the Cyrenaica (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks). Alexandria, built on the headland between the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Mareotis, claimed taxes on the goods that transited through the city until the 7th century AD at least (see: Taposiris Magna in Egypt). 

The Egyptians founded the city of Marea, as highlighted on the map, in the 7^th century BC. It actually lies on the southern shore of Lake Mareotis, modern Lake Maryut, and 45 kilometers southwest of Alexandria. Speaking of strategic locations! 

The last major city in the Nile Delta is Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, which Alexander saw in full glory with its countless temples and at least 30 towering obelisks. The sunrise over Heliopolis must have been a sight for sore eyes when the first sunrays hit the golden pyramidal point on the obelisks (see: Buried secrets of Heliopolis)! 

This religious center was a meeting place where the priests studied philosophy, astronomy, and theology. Many Greeks, like Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, and Solon, consulted the available library that contained the entire history of Egypt. This seat of learning was eventually moved to Alexandria once the city was completed. 

For centuries, every single Pharaoh made it to the sacred city of Heliopolis, where the gods would confer their power. When Alexander, who fully understood the importance of this ritual, followed suit, he was accepted by the Egyptians as their new Pharaoh.

Peculiar history of Pharos (modern Hvar)

It is common knowledge that from the 8th century BC onward, the Greeks set out to establish colonies or trading ports around the Mediterranean Sea.

Magna Graecia (see: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy), which includes southern Italy and Sicily, may be one of the most striking examples, but we tend to forget the lands on the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea, which eventually were also absorbed by the Roman Empire.

[Picture from Visit World Heritage]

One such rare and little-known colony is Pharos, situated on the modern island of Hvar off the coast of Croatia. These Greek settlers came from the island of Paros, and Diodorus tells us that this occurred in 384 BC. Dionysios, the tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, lent a helping hand if only to increase his influence further north. 

Unlike other Greek settlements on the Dalmatian coast like Dubrovnik and Zadar, Pharos survived the centuries in a most peculiar shape in the plains surrounding modern Stari Grad. 

At first glance, we see fields of olive trees, vines, and other crops in parcels separated by low walls or streets and paths. Yet, the attentive eye will notice that all these fields are drawn in a correct grit pattern that seems inspired by the Hippodamian plan of ancient cities. Careful measurements reveal that this flat plain which covers an area of approximately 6 x 3.5 kilometers, counts 75 units each in a constant size of 181m x 905m. Each such plot was in turn subdivided in five square parcels of 181m x 181m, corresponding to a field that could be tended by a single family. Interestingly the basic unit of 181 meters equals the length of a Greek stadium of about 180 meters, which, based on the limited excavations of these lands, links the foundation to Greek Pharos in 384 BC. 

It is pretty amazing to find that today’s farmers in this part of Croatia still respect the old boundaries and plow the same land as their ancestors did nearly 2,500 years ago. It transpires that the Greek system was so efficient that it did not require any change or adaptation over the centuries and never fell out of use.

Underscoring the Greek ownership is a boundary stone from the 4th or 3rd century BC that was recovered in the area, carrying the inscription “Oros Mathios Pytheo,” in other words, “border [of the land of] Mathios [son of] Pytheas.” Another record containing a redistribution of lands dates from shortly after the Roman conquest in 218 BC. 

The Greek colonization has been repeatedly discussed in previous blogs besides the abovementioned one about Magna Graecia. More examples can be found at The many colonies of Miletus treating mainly about the area around the Black Sea, and Egypt, the land of the free for ancient Greeks focusing on the Greek city of Naucratis.

High stakes at Corinth

When Philip was proclaimed leader of all the Greeks at Corinth, he was clever enough to insert a clause in the treaty-making his title hereditary. Each state had individually sworn not to harm any other member of the Common Peace and not to interfere in their internal affairs. They also had sworn not to become allies with any foreign power that could damage any member of the Treaty. No member could undertake any operation that might endanger the peace or overthrow its constitution. The then assembled council or synedrion at Corinth was the final authority to settle any dispute between individuals or between member states. They had to help each other if one of the members was attacked but were not allowed to accept support from foreign powers.

This means that after the assassination of Philip in 336 BC, it was one of Alexander’s priorities to be accepted and confirmed as Hegemon of this League of Corinth.

Walking around the impressive remains of Corinth, crowned by the Temple of Apollo, which Alexander saw in all its glory, makes you wonder where these meetings took place. The most obvious location would be the theatre rebuilt early 4^th century BC on the foundations of an older one from the 5^th century BC. This theater could seat around 15,000 spectators, but there is very little left of this building. There is also a Bouleuterion behind the Agora to consider, but this turns out to be a Roman construction that didn’t exist in Philip’s days.

The Lechaion Street, which connected the center of Corinth to the western harbor of the same name, is one of the highlights of the city. In recent years, expert divers have been exploring the very harbor of Lechaion to expose the infrastructure of this important port city, locating two monumental piers built of ashlar blocks next to a smaller dock. They also found a canal entrance leading into Lechaion’s three inner harbors, as well as a breakwater.

Lechaion was only one of Corinth’s harbors, as the city strategically straddles the isthmus between mainland Greece and the Peloponnesus (less than 6 kilometers wide), which means that it needed both an eastern and a western harbor. Lechaion, on the Gulf of Corinth, served the western sea routes to Italy, Sicily, and beyond to Spain. The harbor of Kenchreai gave access to the Saronic Gulf from where the ships sailed to and from the Aegean, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt. Goods could be transported overland from one port to the other as lightweight ships were hauled using a platform along the road connecting Lechaion to Kenchreai. This was before Nero planned to dig a canal meant to link both sides, a plan that eventually materialized two thousand years later. The remains of Kenchreai Street are not as impressive as Lechaion Street, which is tucked away behind the shops of the Agora, but both were familiar to Alexander.

The Temple of Apollo certainly is the main landmark. It is built in Doric order, counting 6x15 columns, seven of which are still standing and define the skyline of Corinth. Rather unique is the fact that the columns are monolithic and stand more than seven meters tall. It is here that the slight convex floor to support the temple’s columns has been implemented for the first time, antedating the much-praised concept for the Parthenon in Athens! There is no trace of the bronze statue of Apollo that once stood inside the temple, as mentioned by Pausanias.

Another unmistakable feature in Corinth is the Fountain of Peirene, built in the late 6^th century BC and enhanced many times, especially by the Romans in the 2^nd century AD. Much older, and probably built together with the Temple of Apollo, is the adjacent Fountain of Glauke, an inelegant cube of about 7.5 meters. Inside is a succession of reservoirs with a total capacity of approximately 527 m3. Water management in antiquity was far more sophisticated than generally admitted.

Since its early beginning, Corinth was a booming trading hub in the eastern Mediterranean and has a lot to tell. For more than one thousand years, roughly from the 6^th century BC till the 6^th century AD, the city was at the center of all trade carried out by its mixed population of Greeks, Romans, and Jews, and later by early Christians as well. The importance of this city cannot be stressed enough, and few people know about the many colonies Corinth founded all over the Mediterranean. As early as 733 BC, the first such colonies were established at Corcyra (Corfu) and Syracuse (Sicily). Less than a century later, many more settlements followed, like Epidamnus (Dϋrres) and Apollonia (Fier), both in Illyria, modern Albania, as well as Potidaea in Chalcidice, Greece. Corinth was also one of the co-founders of Naucratis in ancient Egypt. These facts alone prove the overall importance of the city, which rivaled Athens and Thebes.

It is not difficult to imagine the hustle and bustle of people in Alexander’s days, merchants talking feverishly with buyers and sellers, while seafarers were seeking the distractions common to every port - temples, taverns, and brothels are the same all over the world. Sacrifices to the local and foreign gods were being made to thank them for their safe arrival and to pray for a safe journey onward. Corinth certainly was no exception.

If the story is true, it was here that Alexander met Diogenes (see: Alexander meeting Diogenes in Corinth). This Cynic philosopher originated from the Black Sea and died in Corinth the same year as Alexander, in 323 BC. Diogenes’ own writings have not survived, but were known by his disciple Onesicritus, who accompanied Alexander on his Asian campaigns. It may be thanks to him and Ptolemy that his philosophy slipped into the later Alexander Romance.

An update about Naucratis

So far, Naucratis has been put on the map as a trade emporium that the Greeks established in the Nile Delta as early as the 7^th century BC (see: Egypt, land of the free for ancient Greeks?)

Where earlier excavations led to the belief that Naucratis occupied only a small area, it has recently been established that the city was at least twice the original assumed size.

[A stele from the site of Thonis-Heracleion (picture) matches one from Naukratis]

In the 5^th century BC, Herodotus tells us that Naucratis was the main link in the trade between Egypt and other countries around the Mediterranean. In its heyday, it was home to at least 16,000 people who appear to have lived in high-rise buildings of three to six floors, not unlike the mud-brick houses we encounter today in Yemen. It was a cosmopolitan city with Greek temples and sanctuaries (Herodotus even mentions a Hellenion).

Thanks to its lively trade, goods, and cultures mixed and mingled. Grain, papyrus, and perfumes from the Egyptian hinterland were exchanged for silver, wine, and oil from mainland Greece, Phoenicia, and the Isle of Cyprus. Amphorae, cooking pots, and statuettes in both Egyptian and Greek fashion have been recovered, generally dating to the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC. Ritual terracotta figurines offered during the local festival related to the inundation of the Nile have been found, as well as statuettes of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of the sky, women, and love.

Major digs have unearthed a wide range of objects, among which are rare wooden remains of Greek ships. Further archaeological research has found proof that the Canopic Branch of the Nile was navigable all the way down to the heart of the city, although Herodotus gave us the impression that the freight from the ships arriving from the Mediterranean was to be transhipped into barges which would sail the river to reach Naucratis.

As a comparison for its importance, Naucratis has been called the Hong Kong of its time. I guess that says it all.

It will be interesting to visit the British Museum later this year as they’ll feature a special exhibition, Sunken Cities, Egypt’s lost world, which will give us a better insight into that underwater world. The exhibition will run from 19 May until 27 November 2016.

Miletus, more than a city

When writing about Miletus, it is obvious to tackle the remains of that once so great city and to place them in their historical context – in my case, especially around Alexander the Great (see: Miletus, Alexander's first siege in Asia). But Miletus is much more than just a city of stone; it actually produced many of the brightest minds of antiquity.

Miletus greatly surpassed the other cities on the Aegean coastline of Ionia and founded as many as thirty (or ninety, depending on the sources) cities around the Black Sea, the Hellespont, and the Sea of Marmara. The city also possessed a trading post in Naucratis, the Greek settlement on the Nile delta dating from the seventh century BC. This created envy among the Persians, who, after the defeat at Plataea in 479 BC, took their revenge by thoroughly destroying Miletus.

The city bounced back and was flourishing once again by the middle of the fifth century BC. Thanks to its busy and prosperous harbors, Miletus came into contact with older and more advanced civilizations, such as that of Egypt, from which they copied the idea of dividing the year into twelve equal parts. From Mesopotamia, they obtained the gnomon or shadow marker, which led to the first sundials that divided the day into twelve parts as customary in Babylon. Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility, was recognized by the Greeks as Aphrodite and used to identify the bright Venus star we all know. This means that there was a wealth of knowledge available to Miletus and to the rest of the Greek world, the extent of which we can only guess.

But returning to Miletus, the best-known citizen is probably Hippodamus of Miletus, a town planner but also a physician, mathematician, meteorologist, and philosopher, who lived in the fifth century BC. As opposed to confusing and chaotically built cities like Athens, Hippodamus introduced us to city planning with order and clarity, creating wide and straight streets crossing each other at right angles. Many cities around the Mediterranean were built by him or according to his grid plan, later to be known as the Hippodamian Plan. The harbor of Piraeus was one of his first works, but he was also involved in the new city of Rhodes and the reconstruction of Miletus after the Persian destruction. Examples of later dates are, for instance, the cities of Olynthus and Pella in Greece. Hippodamus’ ideal city would be inhabited by 10,000 male citizens, which would correspond to a total of 50,000 people when including women, children, and slaves. It would typically have a large central area that soon became the Agora, surrounded by neighborhoods of 240 m2 blocks of houses with an upper floor and separated by an outer wall, all facing south. Aristotle tells us that Hippodamus’ cities were meant to be divided into three classes: for the soldiers, artisans, and common citizens, just like the land was divided into sacred, public, and private. Yet Hippodamus must have been the hippie of his time with his long hair (not shown in his picture), and expensive ornaments, yet wearing the same clothes in winter as he did in summer.

Isn’t it amazing that today, 2,500 years later, modern cities like Manhattan or Denver were built based on the same principles of what urban architects meanwhile call the checkerboard plan?

Another great name is Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece who lived a good century earlier, from ca. 625 to 547 BC. He is considered the father of philosophy and is supposed to have calculated the height of Egypt’s pyramids by pacing off their shadow at the moment when their height was equal to their shadow. Thales is credited with inventing geometry, literally meaning “land measurement,” but actually a branch of abstract mathematics. He was also a philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, reaching into theology with his concept that all things are full of god. Thales speculated on the nature of matter; he believed there was an arche or fundamental substance that always endured. He claimed that the principle was water simply because the earth rests on water (the general belief was that the earth was surrounded by an ocean).

His friend, Anaximander of Miletus (ca 610-ca 545 BC) declared, however, that the arche could not be water because it could not give rise to its opposite, fire. He even went so far as to state that none of the elements (water, earth, fire, air) could be arche for the same reason. Anaximander seems to have been the first to publish a treatise on nature. He also wrote about astronomy, as apparently he was the first to use the gnomon to determine solstices, time, seasons, and equinoxes; he also published a work on geography with the first map of the inhabited world. According to Anaximander, the earth had a cylindrical form and was at the center of the universe.

Anaximenes of Miletus was a younger contemporary and pupil of Anaximander. His theory was that the prime substance was pneuma, i.e., breath or air, which assumes various forms through its eternal motion. He provided a theory of change that was supported by observation. Rarefied air becomes fire, condensed it becomes first wind, then clouds, and after further condensation water, then earth, and eventually stones. Anaximenes thought that the earth was flat and floated upon the air like a leaf.

These four men by themselves alone prove that Alexander not only took walls and buildings when entering Miletus but many bastions of knowledge, and I am sure that these were not the only ones that were available at that time, for there is still so much of that knowledge that has not come to us.

[Pictures of the personalities are from Wikipedia]
[Click here to see the full picture album of Miletus]