Soldier, Priest, and God : A Life of Alexander the Great

Whatever we may think of Alexander--whether Great or only lucky, a civilizer or a sociopath--most people do not regard him as a religious leader. And yet religion permeated all aspects of his career. When he used religion astutely, he and his army prospered. In Egypt, he performed the ceremonies needed to be pharaoh, and thus became a god as well as a priest. Babylon surrendered to him partly because he agreed to become a sacred king. When Alexander disregarded religion, he and his army suffered. In Iran, for instance, where he refused to be crowned and even destroyed a shrine, resistance against him mounted. In India, he killed Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus by the hundreds of thousands until his officers, men he regarded as religious companians, rebelled against him and forced him to abandon his campaign of conquest. Although he never fully recovered from this last disappointment, he continued to perform his priestly duties in the rest of his empire. As far as we know, the last time he rose from his bed was to perform a sacrifice. Ancient writers knew little about Near Eastern religions, no doubt due to the difficulty of travel to Babylon, India, and the interior of Egypt. Yet details of these exotic religions can be found in other ancient sources, including Greek, and in the last thirty years, knowledge of Alexander's time in the Near East has increased. Egyptologists and Assyriologists have written the first thorough accounts of Alexander's religious doings in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Recent archaeological work has also allowed scholars to uncover new aspects of Macedonian religious policy. Soldier, Priest, and God , the first religious biography of Alexander, incorporates this recent scholarship to provide a vivid and unique portrait of a remarkable leader. Whatever we may think of Alexander?whether Great or only lucky, a civilizer or a sociopath?most people do not regard him as a religious leader. And yet religion permeated all aspects of his career. When he used religion astutely, he and his army prospered. In Egypt, he performed the ceremonies needed to be pharaoh, and thus became a god as well as a priest. Babylon surrendered to him partly because he agreed to become a sacred king. When Alexander disregarded religion, he and his army suffered. In Iran, for instance, where he refused to be crowned and even destroyed a shrine, resistance against him mounted. In India, he killed Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus by the hundreds of thousands until his officers, men he regarded as religious companians, rebelled against him and forced him to abandon his campaign of conquest. Although he never fully recovered from this last disappointment, he continued to perform his priestly duties in the rest of his empire. As far as we know, the last time he rose from his bed was to perform a sacrifice.0Ancient writers knew little about Near Eastern religions, no doubt due to the difficulty of travel to Babylon, India, and the interior of Egypt. Yet details of these exotic religions can be found in other ancient sources, including Greek, and in the last thirty years, knowledge of Alexander's time in the Near East has increased. Egyptologists and Assyriologists have written the first thorough accounts of Alexander's religious doings in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Recent archaeological work has also allowed scholars to uncover new aspects of Macedonian religious policy. Soldier, Priest, and God, the first religious biography of Alexander, incorporates this recent scholarship to provide a vivid and unique portrait of a remarkable leader Cover 1 Soldier, Priest and God: A Life of Alexander the Great 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 14 1: The Mediterranean Comes of Age 20 2: A Macedonian Priest-King 44 3: The S-Curve 60 4: The Throne of Tyre 80 5: The Throne of Egypt 104 6: The Throne of Babylon 126 7: A Vacant Throne 152 8: Sogdian In-laws 176 9: Self-Defeat 200 10: Persian In-Laws 224 11: The Waters of Life 244 12: Dead Men and a Living King 264 Chronology 278 A Glossary of Gods and Lesser Beings 280 Appendix 1: Acts of Sacrifice and Related Rituals 286 Appendix 1a: Occasional Acts of Sacrifice, Including Libations 286 Appendix 1b: Omens and Oracles 293 Appendix 2: Acts of Supplication 296 Appendix 3: Formal Meetings of Alexander’s Companions 299 Notes 308 Introduction 308 Chapter 1: The Mediterranean Comes of Age 310 Chapter 2: A Macedonian Priest-King 317 Chapter 3: The S-Curve 321 Chapter 4: The Throne of Tyre 326 Chapter 5: The Throne of Egypt 331 Chapter 6: The Throne of Babylon 336 Chapter 7: A Vacant Throne 343 Chapter 8: Sogdian In-laws 348 Chapter 9: Self-Defeat 354 Chapter 10: Persian In-laws 361 Chapter 11: The Waters of Life 366 Chapter 12: Dead Men and a Living King 374 Appendices 378 Bibliography 380 Travel Writers and Geographers 382 General Bibliography 383 Index 412 This Is The First Life Of Alexander The Great To Explore His Religious Experience, To Put His Experience In Egypt And Asia On A Par With His Macedonian Upbringing And Greek Education, And To Explain How The European Conqueror Became A Moslem Saint-- The Mediterranean Comes Of Age -- A Macedonian Priest-king -- The S-curve -- The Throne Of Tyre -- The Throne Of Egypt -- The Throne Of Babylon -- A Vacant Throne -- Sogdian In-laws -- Self-defeat -- Persian In-laws -- The Waters Of Life -- Dead Men And A Living King. F.s. Naiden. Maps On Endpapers. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Soldier, Priest, and God is the first life of Alexander the Great to explore his religious experience. F. S. Naiden puts Alexander the Great's experience in Egypt and Asia on a par with his Macedonian upbringing and Greek education and explains how the European conqueror became a Muslim saint.