ANTINOUS AND HADRIAN'S ENTRY INTO EGYPT

IN August we commemorate the entry of Antinous into Egypt on his fateful tour of the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.

Hadrian and Antinous, accompanied by their immediate circle of companions crossed the desert of Sinai and entered Egypt in the summer of the year 130. The majority of the Imperial court made the journey by sea and reunited with Hadrian at Alexandria.

Hadrian and Antinous entered Egypt, arriving at the border city of Pelusium.

Pelusium was an ancient trade city visited by Ugarit and Phoenician merchants who brought the cult of Zeus Casios from his northern mountain shrine to Pelusium where he was integrated with Egyptian gods and was a protector of sailors.

Pelusium was also famous for the battle between the last Egyptian Pharaoh and the invading Persians.  It is said that the Egyptians were defeated because the Persians sent cats against them ahead of the army which the Egyptians refused to fight and so they surrender the fortress.

At Pelusium it is recorded that Hadrian restored the tomb of Pompey. Dio Casius reports that when Hadrian saw the ruins of Pompey's tomb he said "Strange lack of tomb for one with shrines overwhelmed!"

These words were like a prophesy of the future of the religion of Antinous, who entered Egypt with the shadow of Pompey and his vanished tomb, looming over him.

The entry into Egypt is sacred to Isis whom the travelers thanked after traversing the desert and entering the outskirts of the green Delta.

Hadrian traveled through the Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire with the intention of founding a Roman city. When Antinous died in the Nile in October 130 AD, grief-stricken Hadrian established the city of Antinoopolis on the site where his beloved had died.