"The Ptolemaic rulers who inherited Egypt after the untimely death of Alexander the Great governed successfully for three centuries mainly because they were politically and culturally accommodating: they ruled both as Greeks and Pharaohs, and respected local traditions. The Romans did likewise; and although the emperors left Egypt to be controlled by governors while they resided in far off Rome, they had themselves depicted as Pharaohs on temple walls and observed seasonal and national festive occasions, and Romans in Egypt were buried in the traditional manner. Even after the introduction of Christianity to Egypt in the fourth century, when the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire launched a war on paganism, many of Egypt's most enduring traditions survived". See the Al Ahram Weekly article for more.
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