Join us on a Quest for ancient Alexandria

For seven hundred years the greatest center of learning and culture in the ancient world. The city was a brilliant crucible in which the civilizations of ancient Greece and Egypt intermingled and absorbed streams of wisdom from throughout the known world. Its legendary Library and Museum made it possible for many of history’s greatest philosophers, scholars, and scientists to flourish and for the city to become the cradle of Hermeticism, Gnosticism and Neoplatonism. Alexandria is a city filled with compelling personalities, from its founder, Alexander the Great, to Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs. Its long list of influential thinkers includes the great Jewish philosopher Philo, the Gnostic Christian Clement, the Neo-Platonist Ammonius Saccas and Plotinus, and finally the noble and tragic Hypatia, last of the pagan lovers of wisdom.

The allure and fascination of Alexandria charmed countless generations of philosophers and writers drawn through the centuries to this supreme meeting place of ideas and peoples. Alexandria was the archetypal cosmopolis and it was here that philosophers gave shape to a more brilliant and complete understanding of the world, filled with both science and mystery, to which we today are all indebted.

Our goal will be to bring vividly to life the profound and beautiful ancient worldview that emerged in antiquity’s most influential center of culture and esoteric wisdom, the authentic birthplace of the Western mind.

The conference also includes expeditions to sacred sites in and around Alexandria and evenings featuring music and poetry of the city. We meet each day along the Corniche at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the contemporary successor to the ancient library, close to the site of its illustrious predecessor and the perfect starting point from which to contemplate the genius and enduring influence

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All Roads Lead to Alexandria

No better emblem of ancient Alexandria could there be than the Lighthouse on Pharos Island. An ambience unique in history made Alexandria “the city that questioned everything”, and seekers from far and wide were drawn by its bright beacon to probe the nature of soul, body and world as never before. They blazed spiritual and scientific trails that have defined the Western quest ever since. Old Alexandria lives on in the rising spirit of the new, in the evocative physical remnants of the past, and as an image of compelling possibilities. For the pursuer of deepest truth, all roads led – and lead – to Alexandria.

Alexandria, the Cosmo polis:

Global Community, Then and Now

The Greek philosophers had spoken of the Cosmo polis, the “world-city” in which all individuals are related to one another, regardless of country, race, or religion. But with the coming of the Hellenistic age, the idea of global civilization became a tangible reality, and Alexandria its most significant expression — a meeting point between East and West, philosophies and religions, and disparate cultures. Once again, we find ourselves in a global community. But what makes for a genuine world community, and how is the ancient idea relevant for our own times? And in a time of conflict, is there a higher unity that can foster harmony between different religions?

The Ancient Library of Alexandria:

Cultural Interchange and Originality

The founding of the Great Library and Mouseion in Alexandria by Ptolemy I began a period of intensive cultural interchange which coincided with the emergence of a concept of universal knowledge. The original achievements of the Ptolemaic period included the works of Euclid in mathematics, Aristarchus of Samos in the formulation of the heliocentric theory in astronomy, and Eratosthenes’ brilliant measurement of the polar circumference of the earth. And the coexistence of both Greek and Egyptian medical traditions led to a virtual revolution in medical knowledge. Perhaps, as Strabo observed, the natural interchange of diverse backgrounds explains much of the originality of Alexandrian scholarship.

Hermeticism as a Philosophy of Hope

The Hermetic philosophy represents the intellectual, philosophical and reflective tradition of ancient Egypt. It reached us through the Corpus Hermeticum, manuscripts collected in the city of Alexandria in the second and third centuries. Its enduring legacy is reflected in the work of major European figures of science, philosophy, art and literature and its tendency to emerge at times when humanity is faced with difficulties and uncertainties. Its appeal in our post-modern era stems from our disillusionment with the reductionist view of science and also our rejection of a religious extremism that threatens humanistic values. Hermetism on the other hand preaches no religious dogma but offers instead harmony, reconciliation and transformation.

Greco-Egyptian Oracles

For at least a thousand years, the people living around the ancient Mediterranean turned to oracles, often located in ancient temples, for spiritual, personal and civic advice and guidance. The Egyptians had many oracular temples, including oracles of the gods Horus, Thoth, Serapis and the goddess Isis. Oracles of Isis and Serapis were particularly common and became widespread throughout the Mediterranean. An oracle of Serapis was established in Alexandria by Ptolemy III. Egyptian Oracles, like their Greek counterparts, often used dream incubation to obtain oracles from the gods and cult statues of the gods in their oracular practices.

Alexandria

Crossroads of Judaism, Hellenism, Gnosticism, and Christianity

Alexandria around the time of Christ opened a new age of infinite possibilities— of paths taken and not taken. During this period, Jewish philosophers like Philo, so-called gnostics like Basilides and Valentinus, Neoplatonists like Plotinus, and Christian theologians like Clement and Origen rubbed shoulders with Egyptian priests, Gymnosophists from India, and alchemical adepts. Out of this mix Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Hermeticism would arise. This talk aims to evoke the amazing richness, newness, and fruitfulness of what was given birth and also considers those spiritual impulses which still perhaps await germination

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Divine Women:

Cleopatra and Hypatia

Cleopatra VII was the last Ptolemaic ruler, and the one most attuned to Egypt’s spiritual roots. She felt a deep link to the goddess Isis, and doubtless took strength from this as she nearly managed to revive Egypt as a super-power of antiquity. Four centuries later, another Alexandrian, Hypatia, drew seekers both pagan and Christian from throughout the Roman Empire to learn the mysteries of the sacred eye that lies buried in the soul. Both women fell victim to the power struggles of the times, but their legacies transcend their turbulent era, and speak to ours.

An Alexandria Quartet:

Callimachus, Philo, Origen and Cavafy

We will examine through the work of four representative Alexandrians - the Hellenistic poet and scholar of the Library of Alexandria, Callimachus; the Jewish Platonist philosopher Philo; the Platonizing Christian philosopher Origen; and the modern poet Constantine Cavafy - what might be considered an ‘Alexandrian’ way of approaching the world, that is to say, allusive, multi-level, and (in the case of the poets, at least) ironic