Editing Heliopolis (ancient Egypt) (section)

===Hellenistic===
[[Alexander the Great]] halted at this city on his march from [[Pelusium]] to [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]].<ref>Arrian, iii. 1.</ref>

The temple of Ra was said to have been, to a special degree, a depository for royal records, and Herodotus states that the priests of Heliopolis were the best informed in matters of history of all the Egyptians. Heliopolis flourished as a seat of learning during the Greek period; the schools of philosophy and astronomy are claimed to have been frequented by [[Orpheus]], [[Homer]],<ref>The Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus, [https://books.google.com/books?id=agd-eLVNRMMC Book I, ch VI].</ref>  [[Pythagoras]], [[Plato]], [[Solon]], and other Greek philosophers. [[Ichonuphys]] was lecturing there in 308 BC, and the Greek mathematician [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus]], who was one of his pupils, learned from him the true length of the year and month, upon which he formed his [[octaeterid]], or period of 8 years or 99 months. [[Ptolemy II]] had [[Manetho]], the chief priest of Heliopolis, collect his history of the ancient kings of Egypt from its archives. The later Greek rulers, the [[Ptolemies]], probably took little interest in their "father" Ra as Greeks were never much of sun worshipers and the Ptolemies favored the cult of [[Serapis]], and [[Alexandria]] had eclipsed the learning of Heliopolis; thus with the withdrawal of royal favour Heliopolis quickly dwindled, and the students of native lore deserted it for other temples supported by a wealthy population of pious citizens. By the first century BC, in fact, [[Strabo]] found the temples deserted, and the town itself almost uninhabited, although priests were still present.

Heliopolis was well known to the [[ancient Greeks]] and [[Roman Empire|Romans]], being noted by most major geographers of the period, including [[Ptolemy]], [[Herodotus]], and others, down to the [[Byzantine]] geographer [[Stephanus of Byzantium]].<ref>[[Ptolemy]], iv. 5. § 54; [[Herodotus]], ii. 3, 7, 59; [[Strabo]], xvii. p.&nbsp;805; [[Diodorus]], i. 84, v. 57; [[Arrian]], ''Exp. Alex.'' iii. 1; [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], ''H. A.'' vi. 58, xii. 7; [[Plutarch]], ''Solon.'' 26, ''Is. et Osir.'' 33; [[Diogenes Laërtius]], xviii. 8. § 6; [[Josephus]], ''Ant. Jud.'' xiii. 3, ''C. Apion.'' i. 26; [[Cicero]], ''[[De Natura Deorum]]''  iii. 21; [[Pliny the Elder]], v. 9. § 11; [[Tacitus]], ''Ann.'' vi. 28; [[Pomponius Mela]], iii. 8. [[Byzantine]] geographer [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''s. v.'' {{lang|grc|Ἡλίουπόλις}}.</ref>