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The Ptolemaic Kingdom (/ˌtɒləˈmeɪ.ɪk/; Greek: Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία, Ptolemaïkḕ Basileía)[1] was a Hellenistic kingdom in Ptolemaic Kingdom Egypt. It was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty that Ptolemy I Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία Soter founded after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC Ptolemaïkḕ Basileía —which ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. ← 305 BC–30 BC → The Ptolemaic Kingdom was founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter, who declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt and created a powerful Hellenistic dynasty that ruled an area stretching from southern Syria to Cyrene and south to Nubia. Alexandria became the capital city and a center of Greek culture and trade. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace, they named themselves the successors to the Pharaohs. The later Ptolemies took on Egyptian traditions by marrying their siblings, had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participated in Egyptian religious life. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and Ptolemaic dynasty, in blue. civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its annexation by Rome. Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Capital Alexandria Egypt throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods until the Languages Greek, Egyptian, Muslim conquest. Berber

Religion Ancient Greek religion, Contents Ancient Egyptian religion

1 History Government Monarchy 1.1 Background Pharaoh 1.2 Establishment - 305–283 BC Ptolemy I Soter (first) 1.3 Ptolemy I - 51–30 BC Cleopatra (last) 1.4 Ptolemy II History 1.5 Ptolemy III - Established 305 BC 1.6 The decline of the Ptolemies - Disestablished 30 BC 1.7 The later Ptolemies 1.8 Cleopatra Currency Greek Drachma 1.9 Roman rule Today part of Cyprus 2 Culture Egypt 2.1 Art Greece 2.2 Social situation Israel 2.3 Coinage Libya 2.4 Military Turkey Palestine 3 Cities Lebanon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 1/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 3.1 Naucratis Syria 3.2 Alexandria Jordan 3.3 Ptolemais 4 Demographics 4.1 Arabs under the Ptolemies 4.2 Jews under the Ptolemies 5 Agriculture 6 Ptolemaic rulers 6.1 List 6.2 Simplified Ptolemaic family tree 6.3 Other members of the Ptolemaic dynasty 6.4 Medical analysis 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

History

The era of Ptolemaic reign in Egypt is one of the most well documented time periods of the Hellenistic Era; a wealth of papyri written by Greeks and Egyptians of the time have been discovered in Egypt.[2]

Background

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon invaded the Achaemenid satrapy of Egypt.[3] He visited Memphis, and traveled to the oracle of Amun at the Oasis of Siwa. The oracle declared him to be the son of Amun. He conciliated the Egyptians by the respect he showed for their religion, but he appointed Greeks to virtually all the senior posts in the country, and founded a new Greek city, Alexandria, to be the new capital. The wealth of Egypt could now be harnessed for Alexander's conquest of the rest of the Persian Empire. Early in 331 BC he was ready to depart, and led his forces away to Phoenicia. He left Cleomenes as the ruling nomarch to control Egypt in his absence. Alexander never returned to Egypt.

Establishment

Following Alexander's death in History of Egypt Babylon in 323 BC,[4] a succession crisis erupted among his generals. Initially, Perdiccas ruled the empire as regent for Alexander's half-brother Arrhidaeus, who became Philip This article is part of a series III of Macedon, and then as Prehistoric Egypt pre–3100 BCE regent for both Philip III and Ancient Egypt Early Dynastic Period 3100–2686 BCE Alexander's infant son Alexander Old Kingdom 2686–2181 BCE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 2/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IV of Macedon, who had not 1st Intermediate Period 2181–2055 BCE been born at the time of his Middle Kingdom 2055–1650 BCE father's death. Perdiccas 2nd Intermediate Period 1650–1550 BCE appointed Ptolemy, one of New Kingdom 1550–1069 BCE Alexander's closest companions, 3rd Intermediate Period 1069–664 BCE to be satrap of Egypt. Ptolemy Late Period 664–332 BCE ruled Egypt from 323 BC, Achaemenid Egypt 525–332 BCE Classical Antiquity nominally in the name of the joint Ptolemaic Egypt 332–30 BCE kings Philip III and Alexander IV. Roman & Byzantine Egypt 30 BCE–641 CE However, as Alexander the Sassanid Egypt 621–629 Great's empire disintegrated, Middle Ages Ptolemy soon established himself Arab Egypt 641–969 as ruler in his own right. Ptolemy Fatimid Egypt 969–1171 successfully defended Egypt Ayyubid Egypt 1171–1250 against an invasion by Perdiccas Mamluk Egypt 1250–1517 in 321 BCE, and consolidated his Early Modern Ottoman Egypt 1517–1867 position in Egypt and the French occupation 1798–1801 surrounding areas during the Egypt under Muhammad Ali 1805–1882 Wars of the Diadochi (322–301 Khedivate of Egypt 1867–1914 BC). In 305 BC, Ptolemy took Modern Egypt the title of King. As Ptolemy I British occupation 1882–1953 Soter ("Saviour"), he founded the Sultanate of Egypt 1914–1922 Ptolemaic dynasty that was to Kingdom of Egypt 1922–1953 rule Egypt for nearly 300 years. Republic 1953–present Egypt portal All the male rulers of the dynasty V · T · E (//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:History_of_Egypt&action=edit) took the name "Ptolemy", while princesses and queens preferred the names Cleopatra, Arsinoe and Berenice. Because the Ptolemaic kings adopted the Egyptian custom of marrying their sisters, many of the kings ruled jointly with their spouses, who were also of the royal house. This custom made Ptolemaic politics confusingly incestuous, and the later Ptolemies were increasingly feeble. The only Ptolemaic Queens to officially rule on their own were Berenice III and Berenice IV. Cleopatra V did co-rule, but it was with another female, Berenice IV. Cleopatra VII officially co-ruled with Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, Ptolemy XIV, and Ptolemy XV, but effectively, she ruled Egypt alone.

The early Ptolemies did not disturb the religion or the customs of the Egyptians, and indeed built magnificent new temples for the Egyptian gods and soon adopted the outward display of the Pharaohs of old. During the reign of Ptolemies II and III thousands of Greek veterans were rewarded with grants of farm lands, and Greeks were planted in colonies and garrisons or settled themselves in the villages throughout the country. Upper Egypt, farthest from the centre of government, was less immediately affected, even though Ptolemy I established the Greek colony of Ptolemais Hermiou to be its capital. But within a century Greek influence had spread through the country and intermarriage had produced a large Greco-Egyptian educated class. Nevertheless, the Greeks always remained a privileged minority in Ptolemaic Egypt. They lived under Greek law, received a Greek education, were tried in Greek courts, and were citizens of Greek cities.

Ptolemy I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 3/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The first part of Ptolemy I's reign was dominated by the Wars of the Diadochi between the various successor states to the empire of Alexander. His first object was to hold his position in Egypt securely, and secondly to increase his domain. Within a few years he had gained control of Libya, Coele- Syria (including Judea), and Cyprus. When Antigonus, ruler of Syria, tried to reunite Alexander's empire, Ptolemy joined the coalition against him. In 312 BC, allied with Seleucus, the ruler of Babylonia, he defeated Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, in the battle of Gaza.

In 311 BC, a peace was concluded between the combatants, but in 309 BC war broke out again, and Ptolemy occupied Corinth and other parts of Greece, although he lost Cyprus after a sea-battle in 306 BC. Antigonus then tried to invade Egypt but Ptolemy held the Corinthian pillar of the Ptolemaic period, frontier against him. When the coalition was renewed against Egypt. Antigonus in 302 BC, Ptolemy joined it, but neither he nor his army were present when Antigonus was defeated and killed at Ipsus. He had instead taken the opportunity to secure Coele-Syria and Palestine, in breach of the agreement assigning it to Seleucus, thereby setting the scene for the future Syrian Wars.[5] Thereafter Ptolemy tried to stay out of land wars, but he retook Cyprus in 295 BC.

Feeling the kingdom was now secure, Ptolemy shared rule with his son Ptolemy II by Queen Berenice in 285 BC. He then may have devoted his retirement to writing a history of the campaigns of Alexander—which unfortunately was lost but was a principal source for the later work of Arrian. Ptolemy I died in 283 BC at the age of 84. He left a stable and well-governed kingdom to his son.

Ptolemy II

Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who succeeded his father as King of Egypt in 283 BC,[6] was a peaceable and cultured king, and no great warrior. He did not need to be, because his father had left Egypt strong and prosperous. Three years of campaigning at the start of his reign (called the First Syrian War) left Ptolemy the master of the eastern Mediterranean, controlling the Aegean islands and the coastal districts of Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia and Caria. However, some of these territories were lost near the end of his reign as a result of the Second Syrian War.

Ptolemy's first wife, Arsinoe I, daughter of Lysimachus, was the mother of his legitimate children. After her repudiation he followed Egyptian custom and married his sister, Arsinoë II, beginning a practice that, while pleasing to the Egyptian population, had serious consequences in later reigns.[7] The material and literary splendour of the Alexandrian court was at its height under Ptolemy II. Callimachus, keeper of the Library of Alexandria, Theocritus and a host of other poets, glorified the Ptolemaic family. Ptolemy himself was eager to increase the library and to patronise scientific research. He spent lavishly on making Alexandria the economic, artistic and intellectual capital of the Hellenistic Greek world. It is to the academies and libraries of Alexandria that we owe the preservation of so much Greek literary heritage.

Ptolemy III

Ptolemy III Euergetes ("the benefactor") succeeded his father in 246 BC. He abandoned his predecessors' policy of keeping out of the wars of the other Greek kingdoms, and plunged into the Third Syrian War with the Seleucids of Syria, when his sister, Queen Berenice, and her son were murdered in a dynastic dispute. Ptolemy marched triumphantly into the heart of the Seleucid realm, as far as Babylonia, while his fleets in the Aegean made fresh conquests as far north as Thrace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 4/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This victory marked the zenith of the Ptolemaic power. Seleucus II Callinicus kept his throne, but Egyptian fleets controlled most of the coasts of Asia Minor and Greece. After this triumph Ptolemy no longer engaged actively in war, although he supported the enemies of Macedon in Greek politics. His domestic policy differed from his father's in that he patronised the native Egyptian religion more liberally: he has left larger traces among the Egyptian monuments. In this his reign marks the gradual "Egyptianisation" of the Ptolemies.

The decline of the Ptolemies

In 221 BC, Ptolemy III died and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy IV Philopator, a weak and corrupt king under whom the decline of the Ptolemaic kingdom began. His reign was inaugurated by the murder of his mother, and he was Ptolemaic Empire in 200 BC. Also showing always under the influence neighboring powers. of favourites, male and female, who controlled the government. Nevertheless his ministers were able to make serious Statue of Ptolemy III in the preparations to meet the attacks of guise of Hermes wearing the Antiochus III the Great on Coele- chlamys cloak. Ptolemaic Syria, and the great Egyptian victory of Egypt. Raphia in 217 BC secured the kingdom. A sign of the domestic weakness of his reign was the rebellions by native Egyptians that took away over half the country for over 20 years. Philopator was devoted to orgiastic religions and to literature. He married his sister Arsinoë, but was ruled by his mistress Agathoclea.

Ptolemy V Epiphanes, son of Philopator and Arsinoë, was a child when he came to the throne, and a series of regents ran the kingdom. Antiochus III of The Seleucid Empire and Philip V of Macedon made a compact to seize the Ptolemaic possessions. Philip seized several islands Ring of Ptolemy VI Philometor as and places in Caria and Thrace, while the battle of Panium in 198 BC Egyptian pharaoh. Louvre Museum. transferred Coele-Syria from Ptolemeic to Seleucid control. After this defeat Egypt formed an alliance with the rising power in the Mediterranean, Rome. Once he reached adulthood Epiphanes became a tyrant, before his early death in 180 BC. He was succeeded by his infant son Ptolemy VI Philometor.

In 170 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes invaded Egypt and deposed Philometor, and his younger brother (later Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II) was installed as a puppet king. When Antiochus withdrew, the brothers agreed to reign jointly with their sister Cleopatra II. They soon fell out, however, and quarrels between the two brothers allowed Rome to interfere and to steadily increase its influence in Egypt. Eventually Philometor regained the throne. In 145 BC he was killed in the Battle of Antioch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 5/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The later Ptolemies

Philometor was succeeded by yet another infant, his son Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator. But Euergetes soon returned, killed his young nephew, seized the throne and as Ptolemy VIII soon proved himself a cruel tyrant. On his death in 116 BC he left the kingdom to his wife Cleopatra III and her son Ptolemy IX Philometor Soter II. The young king was driven out by his mother in 107 BC, who reigned jointly with Euergetes's youngest son Ptolemy X Alexander I. In 88 BC Ptolemy IX again returned to the throne, and retained it until his death in 80 BC. He was succeeded by Ptolemy XI Alexander II, the son of Ptolemy X. He was lynched by the Alexandrian mob after murdering his stepmother, who was also his cousin, aunt and wife. These sordid dynastic quarrels left Egypt so weakened that the country became a de facto protectorate of Rome, which had by now absorbed most of the Greek world.

Ptolemy XI was succeeded by a son of Ptolemy IX, Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos, nicknamed Auletes, the flute- player. By now Rome was the arbiter of Egyptian affairs, and annexed both Libya and Cyprus. In 58 BC Auletes was driven out by the Alexandrian mob, but the Romans restored him to power three years later. He died in 51 BC, leaving the kingdom to his ten-year-old son, Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, who reigned jointly with his 17- year-old sister and wife, Cleopatra VII.

Cleopatra

When Cleopatra VII ascended the Egyptian throne, she was only eighteen. She reigned as Queen "Philopator" and Pharaoh between 51 and 30 BC, and died at the age of 39.

The demise of the Ptolemies' power coincided with the rise of the Roman Empire. Having little choice, and seeing one city after another falling to Macedon and the Seleucid Empire, the Ptolemies decided to ally with the Romans, a pact that lasted over 150 years. During the rule of the later Ptolemies, Rome gained more and more power over Egypt, and was even declared guardian of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy XII, had to pay tribute to the Romans to keep them away from his Kingdom. Upon his death, the fall of the Dynasty seemed even closer.

As children, Cleopatra and her siblings witnessed the defeat of their Coin of Cleopatra VII, with her guardian, Pompey, by Julius Caesar through civil war. Meanwhile, effigy. Cleopatra and her brother/husband Ptolemy XIII were both attempting to gain control of Egypt's throne.

In the middle of all this turmoil, Julius Caesar left Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC. During his stay in the Palace, he received 22 year old Cleopatra, allegedly wrapped in a rug. She counted on Caesar's support to alienate Ptolemy XIII. With the arrival of Roman reinforcements, and after a few battles in Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII was defeated at the Battle of the Nile. He later drowned in the river, although the circumstances of his death are unclear.

In the summer of 47 BC, having married her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, Cleopatra and Caesar embarked for a two-month trip along the Nile. Together, they visited Dendara, where Cleopatra was being worshiped as Pharaoh, an honor beyond Caesar's reach. They became lovers, and she bore him a son, Caesarion, who was later proclaimed with many titles like king of kings. In 45 BC, Cleopatra and Caesarion left Alexandria for Rome, where they stayed in a palace built by Caesar in their honor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 6/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In 44 BC, Caesar was murdered in Rome by several Senators. With his death, Rome split between supporters of Mark Antony and Octavian. Cleopatra was watching in silence, and when Mark Antony seemed to prevail, she supported him and, shortly after, they too became lovers.

Mark Antony's alliance with Cleopatra angered Rome even more. The senators called her a sorceress, and accused her of all sorts of evil. The Romans became even more furious as Antony was giving away parts of their Empire - at the donations of Alexandria ceremony in autumn 34 BCE - Tarsus, Cyrene, Crete, Cyprus, and Israel - one after the other to Cleopatra and her children. Octavian was able to somehow gain possession of Mark Antony's will, which expressed his desire to be buried in Alexandria, rather than taken to Rome in the event of his death.

It was the boiling point when Octavian declared war on the "Foreign Queen", and off the coast of Greece in the Adriatic Sea they met in at Actium, where the forces of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa defeated the Navy of Cleopatra and Antony.

Octavian waited for a year before he claimed Egypt as a Roman province. He arrived in Alexandria and easily defeated Mark Antony outside the city, near present day Camp César. Following this defeat, and facing certain death at the hands of Octavian, Antony committed suicide by falling on his own sword.

Octavian entered Alexandria in 30 BC. Cleopatra was captured and taken to him, but Octavian had no interest in any relation, reconciliation, or even negotiation with the Egyptian Queen. Realizing that her end was close, she decided to put an end to her life. It is not known for sure how she killed herself, but many believe she used a venomous snake as her death instrument.

With the death of Cleopatra, the dynasty of Ptolemies came to an end. Alexandria remained capital of Egypt, but Egypt became a Roman province.

Roman rule

Main article: Aegyptus (Roman province)

In 30 BC, following the death of Cleopatra VII, the Roman Empire declared that Egypt was a province (Aegyptus), and that it was to be governed by a prefect selected by the Emperor from the Equestrian and not a governor from the Senatorial order, to prevent interference by the Roman Senate. The main Roman interest in Egypt was always the reliable delivery of grain to the city of Rome. To this end the Roman administration made no change to the Ptolemaic system of government, although Romans replaced Greeks in the highest offices. But Greeks continued to staff most of the administrative offices and Greek remained the language of government except at the highest levels. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans did not settle in Egypt in large numbers. Culture, education and civic life largely remained Greek throughout the Roman period. The Romans, like the Ptolemies, respected and protected Egyptian religion and customs, although the cult of the Roman state and of the Emperor was gradually introduced.[citation needed] Culture

Ptolemy I, perhaps with advice from Demetrius of Phalerum, founded the Museum and Library of Alexandria[8] The Museum was a research centre supported by the king. It was located in the royal sector of the city. The scholars were housed in the same sector and funded by the Ptolemaic rulers.[9] They had access to the Library. The

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 7/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia chief librarian served also as the crown prince's tutor.[10] For the first hundred and fifty years of its existence this library and research centre drew the top Greek scholars.[11] This was a key academic, literary and scientific centre.[12]

Art

Further information: Hellenistic art

Hellenistic art is richly diverse in subject matter and in stylistic development. It was created during an age characterized by a strong sense of history. For the first time, there were museums and great libraries, such as those at Alexandria and Pergamon. Hellenistic artists copied and adapted earlier styles, and also made great innovations. Representations of Greek gods took on new forms. The popular image of Aphrodite, for example, reflects the increased secularization of traditional religion. Also prominent in Hellenistic art are representations of Dionysos, the god of wine and legendary conqueror of the East, as well as those of Hermes, the god of commerce. In strikingly tender depictions, Eros, the Greek personification of love, is portrayed as a young child.

Greek culture had a long but minor presence in Egypt long before Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria. It began when Greek colonists, encouraged by the many Pharaohs, set up the trading post of Naucratis, which became an important link between the Greek world and Egypt's grain. As Egypt came under foreign domination and decline, the Pharaohs depended on the Greeks as mercenaries and even A detail of the Nile mosaic of advisors. When the Persians took over Egypt, Naucratis remained an Palestrina, showing Ptolemaic Egypt important Greek port and the colonist population were used as circa 100 BC. mercenaries by both the rebel Egyptian princes and the Persian kings, who later gave them land grants, spreading the Greek culture into the valley of the Nile. When Alexander the Great arrived, he established Alexandria on the site of the Persian fort of Rhakortis. Following Alexander's death, control passed into the hands of the Lagid (Ptolemaic) dynasty; they built Greek cities across their empire and gave land grants across Egypt to the veterans of their many military conflicts. Hellenistic civilization continued to thrive even after Rome annexed Egypt after the battle of Actium and did not decline until the Islamic conquests.

Social situation

The Greeks now formed the new upper classes in Egypt, replacing the old native aristocracy. In general, the Ptolemies undertook changes that went far beyond any other measures that earlier foreign rulers had imposed. They used the religion and traditions to increase their own power and wealth. Although they established a prosperous kingdom, enhanced with fine buildings, the native population enjoyed few benefits, and there were frequent uprisings. These expressions of nationalism reached a peak in the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221–205 BC) when others gained control over one district and ruled as a line of native "pharaohs." This was only curtailed nineteen years later when Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205–181 BC) succeeded in subduing them, but the underlying grievances continued and there were riots again later in the dynasty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 8/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Family conflicts affected the later years of the dynasty when Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II fought his brother Ptolemy VI Philometor and briefly seized the throne. The struggle was continued by his sister and niece (who both became his wives) until they finally issued an Amnesty Decree in 118 BC.

Coinage

Ptolemaic Egypt was noted for its extensive series of coinage in gold, silver and bronze. It was especially noted for its issues of large coins in all three metals, most notably gold pentadrachm and octadrachm, and silver tetradrachm, decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm. This was especially noteworthy as it would not be until the introduction of the Guldengroschen in 1486 that coins of substantial size (particularly in silver) would be minted in significant quantities[citation needed].

Military

Main article: Ptolemaic Army

Ptolemaic Egypt, along with the other Hellenistic states outside of the Greek mainland after Alexander the Great, had Hellenistic soldiers in tunic, 100 BC, its armies based on the detail of the Nile mosaic of Palestrina. Macedonian phalanx and featured Macedonian and native troops fighting side by side.

The Ptolemaic military was filled with diverse peoples from across their Bronze allegorical group of a Ptolemy territories. At first most of the military was made up of a pool of Greek (identifiable by his diadem) settlers who, in exchange for military service, were given land grants. overcoming an adversary, in These made up the majority of the army. Hellenistic style, ca early 2nd century BC (Walters Art Museum) With the many wars the Ptolemies were involved in, their pool of Greek troops dwindled and there was little Greek immigration from the mainland so they were kept in the royal bodyguard and as generals and officers. Native troops were looked down upon and distrusted due to their disloyalty and frequent tendency to aid local revolts. However, with the decline of royal power, they gained influence and became common in the military.

The Ptolemies used the great wealth of Egypt to their advantage by hiring vast amounts of mercenaries from across the known world. Black Ethiopians are also known to have served in the military along with the Galatians, Mysians and others. Jews were particularly imported as military settlers and made up as much as twenty percent of the military.

With their vast amount of territory spread along the Eastern Mediterranean such as Cyprus, Crete, the islands of the Aegean and even Thrace, the Ptolemies required a large navy to defend these far-flung strongholds from enemies like the Seleucids and Macedonians. Cities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 9/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia While ruling Egypt, the Ptolemaic Dynasty built many Greek settlements throughout their Empire, either Hellenize new conquered peoples or reinforce the area. Egypt had only three main Greek cities—Alexandria, Naucratis, and Ptolemais.

Naucratis

Of the three Greek cities, Naucratis, although its commercial importance was reduced with the founding of Alexandria, continued in a quiet way its life as a Greek city-state. During the interval between the death of Alexander and Ptolemy's assumption of the style of king, it even issued an autonomous coinage. And the number of Greek men of letters during the Ptolemaic and Roman period, who were citizens of Naucratis, proves that in the sphere of Hellenic culture Naucratis held to its traditions. Ptolemy II bestowed his care upon Naucratis. He built a large structure of limestone, about 330 feet (100 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) wide, to fill up the broken entrance to the great Temenos; he strengthened the great block of chambers in the Temenos, and re-established them. At the time when Sir Flinders Petrie wrote the words just quoted the great Temenos was identified with p91the Hellenion. But Mr. Edgar has recently pointed out that the building connected with it was an Egyptian temple, not a Greek building. Naucratis, therefore, in spite of its general Hellenic character, had an Egyptian element. That the city flourished in Ptolemaic times "we may see by the quantity of imported amphorae, of which the handles stamped at Rhodes and elsewhere are found so abundantly. "The Zeno papyri show that it was the chief port of call on the inland voyage from Memphis to Alexandria, as well as a stopping-place on the land-route from Pelusium to the capital. It was attached, in the administrative system, to the Saïte nome.

Alexandria

Main article: Alexandria

A major Mediterranean port of Egypt, in ancient times and still today, Alexandria was founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, one of the many Eastern Macedonian cities that he established. Located 20 miles (32 km) west of the Nile's westernmost mouth, the city was immune to the silt deposits that persistently choked harbors along the river. Alexandria became the capital of the Hellenized Egypt of King Ptolemy (1) I (reigned 323—283 BC). Under the wealthy Ptolemy dynasty, the city soon surpassed Athens as the cultural center of the Greek world.

Laid out on a grid pattern, Alexandria occupied a stretch of land between the sea to the north and Lake Mareotis to the south; a man-made causeway, over three-quarters of a mile long, extended north to the sheltering island of Pharos, thus forming a double harbor, east and west. On the east was the main harbor, called the Great Harbor; it faced the city's chief buildings, including the royal palace and the famous Library and Museum. At the Great Harbor's mouth, on an outcropping of Pharos, stood the lighthouse, built ca. 280 BC. Now vanished, the lighthouse was reckoned as one of the Seven Wonders of the World for its unsurpassed height (perhaps 460 feet); it was a square, fenestrated tower, topped with a metal fire basket and a statue of Zeus the Savior.

The Library, at that time the largest in the world, contained several hundred thousand volumes and housed and employed scholars and poets. A similar scholarly complex was the Museum (Mouseion, "hall of the Muses"). During Alexandria's brief literary golden period, ca. 280–240 BC, the Library subsidized three poets— Callimachus, Apollonius, and Theocritus—whose work now represents the best of Hellenistic literature. Among other thinkers associated with the Library or other Alexandrian patronage were the mathematician Euclid (ca. 300 BC), the inventor Archimedes (287 BC – c. 212 BC), and the polymath Eratosthenes (ca. 225 BC).[13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 10/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cosmopolitan and flourishing, Alexandria possessed a varied population of Greeks and Orientals, including a sizable minority of Jews, who had their own city quarter. Periodic conflicts occurred between Jews and ethnic Greeks.

The city enjoyed a calm political history under the Ptolemies. It passed, with the rest of Egypt, into Roman hands in 30 BC, and became the second city of the Roman Empire.

Ptolemais

Main article: Ptolemais Hermiou

The second Greek city founded after the conquest in Egypt was Ptolemais, 400 miles (640 km) up the Nile, where there was a native village called Psoï, in the nome called after the ancient Egyptian city of Thinis. If Alexandria perpetuated the name and cult of the great Alexander, Ptolemais was to perpetuate the name and cult of the founder of the Ptolemaic time. Framed in by the barren hills of the Nile Valley and the Egyptian sky, here a Greek city arose, with its public buildings and temples and theatre, no doubt exhibiting the regular architectural forms associated with Greek culture, with a citizen-body Greek in blood, and the institutions of a Greek city. If there is some doubt whether Alexandria possessed a council and assembly, there is none in regard to Ptolemais. It was more possible for the kings to allow a measure of self-government to a people removed at that distance from the ordinary residence of the court. We have still, inscribed on stone, decrees passed in the assembly of the people of Ptolemais, couched in the regular forms of Greek political tradition: It seemed good to the boule and to the demos: Hermas son of Doreon, of the deme Megisteus, was the proposer: Whereas the prytaneis who were colleagues with Dionysius the son of Musaeus in the 8th year, etc. Demographics

The Ptolemaic kingdom was diverse in the people who settled and made Egypt their home on this time. During this period, Greek troops under Ptolemy I Soter were given land grants and brought their families encouraging tens of thousands of Greeks to settle the country making themselves the new ruling class. Native Egyptians continued having a role, yet a small one in the Ptolemaic government mostly in lower posts and outnumbered the foreigners. During the reign of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs, many Jews were imported from neighboring Palestine by the hundred thousands for being renowned fighters and established an important presence there. Other foreign groups settled during this time and even Galatian mercenaries were invited. Of the aliens who had come to settle in Egypt, the ruling race, Greeks, were the most important element. They were partly spread as allotment-holders over the country, forming social groups, in the country towns and villages, side by side with the native population, partly gathered in the three Greek cities — the old Naucratis, founded before 600 BC (in the interval of Egyptian independence after the expulsion of the Assyrians and before the coming of the Persians), and the two new cities, Alexandria by the sea, and Ptolemais in Upper Egypt. Alexander and his Seleucid successors were great as the founders of Greek cities all over their dominions.

Greek culture was so much bound up with the life of the city-state that any king who wanted to present himself to the world as a genuine champion of Hellenism had to do something in this direction, but the king of Egypt, whilst as ambitious as any to shine as a Hellene, would find Greek cities, with their republican tradition and aspirations to independence, inconvenient elements in a country that lent itself, as no other did, to bureaucratic centralization. The Ptolemies therefore limited the number of Greek city-states in Egypt to Alexandria, Ptolemais, and Naucratis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 11/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Outside Egypt, they had Greek cities under their dominion—including the old Greek cities in the Cyrenaica, in Cyprus, on the coasts and islands of the Aegean—but in Egypt no more than the three. There were indeed country towns with names such as Ptolemais, Arsinoe, and Berenice, in which Greek communities existed with a certain social life; there were similar groups of Greeks in many of the old Egyptian towns, but they were not communities with the political forms of a city-state. Yet if they had no place of political assembly, they would have their gymnasium, the essential sign of Hellenism, serving something of the purpose of a university for the young men. Far up the Nile at Ombi was found in 136–135 B.C. a gymnasium of the local Greeks, which passes resolutions and corresponds with the king. And in 123 B.C., when there is trouble in Upper Egypt between the towns of Crocodilopolis and Hermonthis, the negotiators sent from Crocodilopolis are the young men attached to the gymnasium, who, according to the Greek tradition, eat bread and salt with the negotiators from the other town. All Greek dialects of the Greek world gradually became assimilated in the Koine Greek dialect that was the common language of the Hellenistic world. Generally the Greeks of the Ptolemaic Egypt felt like representativec of a higher civilization yet were curious about the native culture of Egypt.

Arabs under the Ptolemies

Arab nomads of the eastern desert penetrated in small bodies into the cultivated land of the Nile, as they do today. The Greeks called all the land on the eastern side of the Nile "Arabia", and villages were to be found here and there with a population of Arabs who had exchanged the life of tent-dwellers for that of settled agriculturists. Apollonius tells of one such village, Poïs, in the Memphite nome, two of whose inhabitants send a letter on September 20, 152 B.C. The letter is in Greek; it had to be written for the two Arabs by the young Macedonian Apollonius, the Arabs being unable apparently to write. Apollonius writes their names as Myrullas and Chalbas, the first probably, and the second certainly, Semitic. A century earlier Arabs farther west, in the Fayûm, organized under a leader of their own, and working mainly as herdsmen on the dorea of Apollonius the dioiketes; but these Arabs bear Greek and Egyptian names.

In 1990, more than 2,000 papyri written by Zeno of Caunus from the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus were discovered, which contained at least 19 references to Arabs in the area between the Nile and the Red Sea, and mentioned their jobs as police officers in charge of "ten person units", while some others were mentioned as shepherds.[14]

Arabs in Ptolemaic kingdom had provided camel convoys to the armies of some Ptolemaic leaders during their invasions, but they didn't have allegiance towards any of the kingdoms of Egypt or Syria, and also managed to raid and attack both sides of the conflict between Ptolemaic Kingdom and its enemies.[15][16]

Jews under the Ptolemies

The Jews who lived in Egypt had originally immigrated from Israel. The Jews absorbed Greek, the dominant language of Egypt at the time, while heavily mixing it with Hebrew[17] It was during this period that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, appeared. Jewish legend has it that the Septuagint was written by Seventy Jewish Translators under royal compulsion during Ptolemy II's reign.[18] However, the translation of the Old Testament was more probably written over time in Egypt during the last three centuries before the Christian era. Agriculture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 12/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The early Ptolemies increased cultivatable land through irrigation and introduced crops such as cotton and better wine-producing grapes. They also increased the availability of luxury goods through foreign trade. They enriched themselves and absorbed Egyptian culture. Ptolemy and his descendants adopted Egyptian royal trappings and added Egypt's religion to their own, worshiping Egyptian gods and building temples to them, and even being mummified and buried in sarcophagi covered with hieroglyphs.

In his lifetime Strabo made extensive travels to among others Egypt and Ethiopia. Ptolemaic rulers

Main article: List of Ptolemaic rulers

The Ptolemaic dynasty, (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖοι, sometimes also known as the Lagids or Lagides, Ancient Greek: Λαγίδαι, from the name of Ptolemy I's father, Lagus) were the Macedonian Greek[19][20][21][22][23] descendants of Ptolemy I Soter, one of the six somatophylakes (bodyguards) who served as Alexander the Great's generals and deputies and was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" (saviour). The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC.

All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII, known for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and Mark Antony. Her apparent suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the Ptolemy I Soter of Macedon end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt. founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom. List

Dates in brackets represent the regnal dates of the Ptolemaic pharaohs. They frequently ruled jointly with their wives, who were often also their sisters. Several queens exercised regal authority, but the most famous and successful was Cleopatra VII (51 BC-30 BC), with her two brothers and her son as successive nominal co-rulers. Several systems exist for numbering the later rulers; the one used here is the one most widely used by modern scholars. Dates are years of reign.

Ptolemy I Soter (303 BC-285 BC) married first (probably) Thaïs, secondly Artakama, thirdly Eurydice and finally Berenice I Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285 BC-246 BC) married Arsinoe I, then Arsinoe II Philadelphus; ruled jointly with Ptolemy I Epigone (267 BC-259 BC) Ptolemy III Euergetes (246 BC-221 BC) married Berenice II Ptolemy IV Philopator (221 BC-203 BC) married Arsinoe III Ptolemy V Epiphanes (203 BC-181 BC) married Cleopatra I Ptolemy VI Philometor (181 BC-164 BC, 163 BC-145 BC) married Cleopatra II, briefly ruled jointly with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 13/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ptolemy Eupator in 152 BC Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator (never reigned) Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon) (170 BC-163 BC, 145 BC-116 BC) married Cleopatra II then Cleopatra III; temporarily expelled from Alexandria by Cleopatra II between 131 BC and 127 BC, reconciled with her in 124 BC. Cleopatra II Philometora Soteira (131 BC-127 BC), in opposition to Ptolemy VIII Cleopatra III Philometor Soteira Dikaiosyne Nikephoros (Kokke) (116 BC-101 BC) ruled jointly with Ptolemy IX (116 BC-107 BC) and Ptolemy X (107 BC-101 BC) Ptolemy IX Soter II (Lathyros) (116 BC-107 BC, 88 BC-81 BC as Soter II) married Cleopatra IV then Cleopatra Selene; ruled jointly with Cleopatra III in his first reign Ptolemy X Alexander I (107 BC-88 BC) married Cleopatra Selene then Berenice III; ruled jointly with Cleopatra III till 101 BC Berenice III Philopator (81 BC-80 BC) Ptolemy XI Alexander II (80 BC) married and ruled jointly with Berenice III before murdering her; ruled alone for 19 days after that. Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (Auletes) (80 BC-58 BC, 55 BC-51 BC) married Cleopatra V Tryphaena Cleopatra V Tryphaena (58 BC-57 BC) ruled jointly with Berenice IV Epiphaneia (58 BC-55 BC) and Cleopatra VI Tryphaena (58 BC) Cleopatra VII Philopator (51 BC-30 BC) ruled jointly with Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (51 BC-47 BC), Ptolemy XIV (47 BC-44 BC) and Ptolemy XV Caesarion (44 BC-30 BC). Arsinoe IV (48 BC-47 BC) in opposition to Cleopatra VII

Simplified Ptolemaic family tree

Many of the relationships shown in this tree are controversial. The issues are fully discussed in the external links.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 14/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Other members of the Ptolemaic dynasty

Ptolemy Keraunos (died 279 BC) - eldest son of Ptolemy I Soter. Eventually became king of Macedon. Ptolemy Apion (died 96 BC) - son of Ptolemy VIII Physcon. Made king of Cyrenaica. Bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome. Ptolemy Philadelphus (born 36 BC) - son of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. Ptolemy of Mauretania (died AD 40) - son of Juba II of Mauretania and Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. King of Mauretania.

Medical analysis

Contemporaries describe a number of the Ptolemaic dynasty as extremely obese, whilst sculptures and coins reveal prominent eyes and swollen necks. Familial Graves' disease could explain the swollen necks and eye prominence (exophthalmos), although this is unlikely to occur in the presence of morbid obesity.

In view of the familial nature of these findings, members of this dynasty likely suffered from a multi-organ fibrotic condition such as Erdheim–Chester disease or a familial multifocal fibrosclerosis where thyroiditis, obesity and ocular proptosis may have all occurred concurrently.[24] See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 15/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hellenistic period Antipatrid dynasty Antigonid dynasty Kingdom of Pontus Seleucid Empire Indo-Greeks Greco-Bactrian Kingdom History of Egypt Library of Alexandria Lighthouse of Alexandria

References

1. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, 18.21.9 2. ^ Lewis, Naphtali (1986). Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt: Case Studies in the Social History of the Hellenistic World. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 5. ISBN 0-19-814867-4. 3. ^ Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. "The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/acha/hd_acha.htm (October 2004) Source: The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art 4. ^ Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. "The Rise of Macedonia and the Conquests of Alexander the Great". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/alex/hd_alex.htm (October 2004) Source: The Rise of Macedonia and the Conquests of Alexander the Great | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art 5. ^ Grabbe, L. L. (2008). A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period. Volume 2 – The Coming of the Greeks: The Early Hellenistic Period (335 – 175 BCE). T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0-567-03396-3. 6. ^ Ptolemy II Philadelphus [308-246 BCE (http://virtualreligion.net/iho/ptolemy_2.html). Mahlon H. Smith. Retrieved 2010-06-13. 7. ^ "Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt" (http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/PtolemyII.html). Ancient Egypt Online. Retrieved May 22, 2013. 8. ^ F.E. Peters, "The Harvest of Hellenism" p. 193 9. ^ ibid 10. ^ ibid p. 194 11. ^ ibid 12. ^ ibid p. 195f 13. ^ Phillips, Heather A., "The Great Library of Alexandria?". Library Philosophy and Practice, August 2010 (http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/phillips.htm) 14. ^ Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads, Prof. Jan Retso, Page: 301 15. ^ A History of the Arabs in the Sudan: The inhabitants of the northern Sudan before the time of the Islamic invasions. The progress of the Arab tribes through Egypt. The Arab tribes of the Sudan at the present day, Sir Harold Alfred MacMichael, Cambridge University Press, 1922, Page: 7 16. ^ History of Egypt, Sir John Pentland Mahaffy, Pages: 20-21 17. ^ Solomon Grayzel "A History of the Jews" p. 56 18. ^ Solomon Grayzel ibid pp. 56-57 19. ^ Jones, Prudence J. (2006). Cleopatra: A Sourcebook. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 14. "They were members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Macedonian Greeks, who ruled Egypt after the death of its conqueror, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom 16/18 7/17/13 Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alexander the Great." 20. ^ Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1990). Women in Hellenistic Egypt. Wayne State University Press. p. 16. "while Ptolemaic Egypt was a monarchy with a Greek ruling class." 21. ^ Redford, Donald B., ed. (2000). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. "Cleopatra VII was born to Ptolemy XII Auletes (80–57 BCE, ruled 55–51 BCE) and Cleopatra, both parents being Macedonian Greeks." 22. ^ Bard, Kathryn A., ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge. p. 488. "Ptolemaic kings were still crowned at Memphis and the city was popularly regarded as the Egyptian rival to Alexandria, founded by the Macedonian Greeks." 23. ^ Bard, Kathryn A., ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge. p. 687. "During the Ptolemaic period, when Egypt was governed by rulers of Greek descent..." 24. ^ Ashrafian, Hutan (2005). "Familial proptosis and obesity in the Ptolemies". J. R. Soc. Med. 98 (2): 85–86.