Ptolemaic Kingdom

Following the Syrian Wars with the Seleucid Empire, a rival Hellenistic state, the Ptolemaic Kingdom expanded its territory to include eastern Libya, the Sinai, and northern Nubia.

Under Cleopatra VII, who sought to restore Ptolemaic power, Egypt became entangled in a Roman civil war, which ultimately led to its conquest by Rome as the last independent Hellenistic state.

[14] The Ptolemaic reign in Egypt is one of the best-documented time periods of the Hellenistic era, due to the discovery of a wealth of papyri and ostraca written in Koine Greek and Egyptian.

Alexander conciliated the Egyptians by the respect he showed for their religion, but he appointed Macedonians to virtually all the senior posts in the country, and founded a new Greek city, Alexandria, to be the new capital.

Poets like Callimachus, Theocritus, Apollonius of Rhodes, Posidippus were provided with stipends and produced masterpieces of Hellenistic poetry, including panegyrics in honour of the Ptolemaic family.

He died in 51 BC, leaving the kingdom to his ten-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughter, Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator and Cleopatra VII, who reigned jointly as husband and wife.

By Ptolemy XII's time, Rome had achieved a massive amount of influence over Egyptian politics and finances to the point that he declared the Roman senate the guardian of the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

He had paid vast sums of Egyptian wealth and resources in tribute to the Romans in order to regain and secure his throne following the rebellion and brief coup led by his older daughters, Tryphaena and Berenice IV.

Further outrage followed at the donations of Alexandria ceremony in autumn of 34 BC in which Tarsus, Cyrene, Crete, Cyprus, and Judaea were all to be given as client monarchies to Antony's children by Cleopatra.

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.

The cult of Serapis included the worship of the new Ptolemaic line of pharaohs; the newly established Hellenistic capital of Alexandria supplanted Memphis as the preeminent religious city.

Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemaic line, was often depicted with characteristics of the goddess Isis; she usually had either a small throne as her headdress or the more traditional sun disk between two horns.

Thebes continued to be a major religious center and home to a powerful priesthood; it also enjoyed royal development, namely of the Karnak complex devoted to the Osiris and Khonsu.

Although Egypt was a prosperous kingdom, with the Ptolemies lavishing patronage through religious monuments and public works, the native population enjoyed few benefits; wealth and power remained overwhelmingly in the hands of Greeks.

Egyptian nationalism reached a peak in the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221–205 BC), when a succession of native self-proclaimed "pharaoh" gained control over one district.

[citation needed] The military of Ptolemaic Egypt is considered to have been one of the best of the Hellenistic period, benefiting from the kingdom's vast resources and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

By the reign of Ptolemy III (246 to 222 BC), its role was more imperialistic, helping extend Ptolemaic control or influence over Cyrenaica, Coele-Syria, and Cyprus, as well as over cities in Anatolia, southern Thrace, the Aegean islands, and Crete.

[60] Though present in the military from its founding, native troops were sometimes looked down upon and distrusted due to their reputation for disloyalty and tendency to aid local revolts;[64] however, they were well regarded as fighters, and beginning with the reforms of Ptolemy V in the early third century BC, they appeared more frequently as officers and cavalrymen.

The multiethnic nature of the Ptolemaic army was an official organizational principle: soldiers were evidently trained and utilized based on their national origin; Cretans generally served as archers, Libyans as heavy infantry, and Thracians as cavalry.

Military leadership and the figure of the king and queen were central for ensuring unity and morale among multiethnic troops; at the battle of Raphia, the presence of Ptolemy was reportedly critical in maintaining and boosting the fighting spirit of both Greek and Egyptian soldiers.

[71] With territories and vassals spread across the eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus, Crete, the Aegean islands, and Thrace, the Ptolemies required a large navy to defend against enemies like the Seleucids and Macedonians.

Various diadochi competed for naval supremacy over the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean,[74] and Ptolemy I founded the navy to help defend Egypt and consolidate his control against invading rivals.

[76] Notwithstanding an early crushing defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 306 BC, the Ptolemaic navy became the dominant maritime force in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean for the next several decades.

[77] The navy reached its height following the victory of Ptolemy II during the First Syrian War (274–271 BC), succeeding in repelling both Seleucid and Macedonian control of the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean.

[79] Beginning with the Second Syrian War (260–253 BC), the navy suffered a series of defeats and declined in military importance, which coincided with the loss of Egypt's overseas possessions and the erosion of its maritime hegemony.

The navy was relegated primarily to a protective and antipiracy role for the next two centuries, until its partial revival under Cleopatra VII, who sought to restore Ptolemaic naval supremacy amid the rise of Rome as a major Mediterranean power.

[80] Egyptian naval forces took part in the decisive battle of Actium during the final war of the Roman Republic, but once again suffered a defeat that culminated with the end of Ptolemaic rule.

Now vanished, the lighthouse was reckoned as one of the Seven Wonders of the World for its unsurpassed height (perhaps 140 metres or 460 ft); it was a square, fenestrated tower, topped with a metal fire basket and a statue of Zeus the Savior.

[87] Cosmopolitan and flourishing, Alexandria possessed a varied population of Greeks, Egyptians and other Oriental peoples, including a sizable minority of Jews, who had their own city quarter.

Josephus goes into great detail on the elaborate preparations and regal treatment of the 70 elders of the tribes of Israel chosen to accomplish the task in his Antiquities of the Jews Book 12, chapter 2, which is dedicated to the description of this famous event.

Ptolemy as Pharaoh of Egypt, British Museum, London
Hellenistic bust of Ptolemy I Soter , 3rd century BC, now in the Louvre
A bust depicting Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus 309–246 BC
Coin depicting Pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes . Ptolemaic Kingdom.
Ptolemaic Empire in 200 BC, alongside neighboring powers.
A mosaic from Thmuis ( Mendes ), Egypt, created by the Hellenistic artist Sophilos (signature) in about 200 BC, now in the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, Egypt; the woman depicted is Queen Berenice II (who ruled jointly with her husband Ptolemy III Euergetes ) as the personification of Alexandria, with her crown showing a ship's prow , while she sports an anchor -shaped brooch for her robes , symbols of the Ptolemaic Kingdom's naval prowess and successes in the Mediterranean Sea . [ 28 ]
Ring of Ptolemy VI Philometor as Egyptian pharaoh . Louvre Museum .
Coin of Cleopatra VII, with her image [ 31 ] and a Greek inscription " θεά νεωτέρα " thea neotera , lit. "the younger goddess", one of Cleopatra's adopted titles. [ 32 ]
Ptolemy XII , father of Cleopatra VII, making offerings to Egyptian Gods, in the Temple of Hathor, Dendera , Egypt
Relief of Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII and Caesarion, Dendera Temple, Egypt.
Bust of Roman Nobleman, c. 30 BC – 50 AD, 54.51, Brooklyn Museum
Ptolemaic mosaic of a dog and askos wine vessel from Hellenistic Egypt, dated 200–150 BC, Greco-Roman Museum of Alexandria, Egypt
Faience sistrum with head of Hathor with bovine ears from the reign of Ptolemy I. Color is intermediate between traditional Egyptian color to colors more characteristic of Ptolemaic-era faience. [ 38 ]
Relief from the temple of Kom Ombo depicting Ptolemy VIII receiving the sed symbol from Horus. [ 47 ]
Temple of Kom Ombo constructed in Upper Egypt in 180–47 BC by the Ptolemies and modified by the Romans. It is a double temple with two sets of structures dedicated to two separate deities.
Gold coin with visage of Arsinoe II wearing divine diadem
Bronze allegorical group of a Ptolemy (identifiable by his diadem ) overcoming an adversary, in Hellenistic style , ca early 2nd century BC ( Walters Art Museum )
Egyptian faience torso of a king, for an applique on wood
Characteristic Indian etched carnelian bead , found in Ptolemaic Period excavations at Saft el Henna . This is a marker of trade relations with India . Petrie Museum .
Ptolemaic bronze coin from Ptolemy V
Example of a large Ptolemaic bronze coin minted during the reign of Ptolemy V.
Hellenistic soldiers in tunic , 100 BC, detail of the Nile mosaic of Palestrina .
Detailed map of the Ptolemaic Egypt.
Alexander the Great, 356–323 BC Brooklyn Museum
A detail of the Nile mosaic of Palestrina , showing Ptolemaic Egypt c. 100 BC
A stele of Dioskourides, dated 2nd century BC, showing a Ptolemaic thureophoros soldier. It is a characteristic example of the "Romanization" of the Ptolemaic army .
Ptolemaic Era bust of a man, circa 300–250 BC, Altes Museum