• The Acropolis is a citadel on a mountain above the city of Athens which holds the remains of several famous historical monuments.
• Pericles in the 5th century BCE constructed the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea.

The surviving Ancient Greek Monuments

• Parthenon
• Erechtheion
• Propylaea or Acropolis of Athens (Monumental Gateway)
• Temple of Athena Nike
• Stoa of Eumenes
• Asclepieion
• Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus

Acropolis, Athens

• Heliopolis, means ‘City of the Sun’, and was the capital of the 13th Nome of Lower Egypt. It is one of Egypt’s oldest cities.
• It was the capital and spiritual centre of Lower Egypt, whilst Thebes was the capital and the spiritual centre of Upper Egypt.

The Archeological Site

• The site of ancient Heliopolis is located in the suburbs of modern Cairo.
• The site was first excavated by the Italian Egyptologist E. Sciaparelli between 1903-4 CE, and by the British Archeologist Flinders Petrie in 1912 CE.

The Great Temple of Atum

• Heliopolis was the centre of worship of Atum, the Sun God (Ra).
• Macrobius (c.400 CE) in (Saturnalia.i.23) wrote that when Alexander the Great passed through Baalbeck, the Syrian Heliopolis, the priests were sent from the Great Temple of Ra-Atum in Heliopolis.
• The Temple of Ra-Atum is now an Archeological site.

Seat of learning in Ancient Egypt

• The Temple had an extensive library, and Heliopolis was famous for its schools of Astronomy and Philosophy. Plato, Pythagorus and Solon all studied there.
• Under the Greeks, the seat of learning was moved to Alexandria, and by the time Strabo (c.64 BCE – 24 CE) visited Heliopolis, the only inhabitants were priests.

Manetho

• Manetho was the Chief Priest of Heliopolis.
• He wrote the history of the Dynasties of the Pharaohs of Egypt.

Heliopolis, suburb of Cairo

• Charax Spasinou was a Port City, also known as Alexandria, which was the capital city of a small State called Characene, located on the Persian Gulf in modern Kuwait.
• It was founded in 324 BCE by Alexander the Great.

History

• Charax Spasinou was originally on the coast of the Persian Gulf in what is now modern Kuwait.
• However, silt from the rivers, had already made it an inland city by the time of Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE). He described it as already being 120 miles (193km) inland, and located on a piece of land between where the Tigris and Karkheh rivers united.

Port

• Charax was an important and wealthy Port, with ships arriving from the city of Gerrha in the Persian Gulf, India, Egypt and other far flung countries.
• Charax acted as the seaport for the inland cities of Ctesiphon and Seleucia on the Euphrates and Shushtar, on the river Karun.
• Charax was the centre of trade through Arabia, controlled by the Nabataeans until 106 CE.
• Its trading partner was Gerrha, another city in Arabia, further down the coast of the  Persian Gulf.
• After 117 CE, Charax continued to be independent, but under Persian influence. It was still minting coins until 715 CE.
• The sources for the history of Charax is derived from ancient authors and also from the coins produced by its Mint.

Notable Visitors and Residents

• Strabo (c.64 BCE – 24 CE)
  • He refers to the city as an Emporium, meaning a trading station.
• Isidore of Charax ( c.24 BCE)
  • He was a Parthian Geographer from Charax, who wrote ‘Parthian Stations’ around c. 24 BCE. This was an Itinerary of the Road through Parthia from Antioch to India using the Caravan stations.
• Gan Ying (97 CE)
  • He was an Envoy sent from China, who visited Charax intending to reach Egypt and Rome, but was persuaded to return to China by the Parthians. Charax Spasinou was known to the Chinese as Tiaozhi.
• Trajan (116 CE)
  • In 116 CE Trajan annexed the city, and observed the ships departing for India.

Its Location today

• Excavations started on the ruins of Charax in 2016 in Naysan.
• This is located at Naysan Tell, near Al-Bubsairy, on the Shatt al-Arab, Iraq, at the confluence of the Tigris and Karkheh Rivers.

Charax Spasinou, Al-Bubsairy, Basra, Iraq