Ptolemy, a general and one of thesomatophylakes (bodyguard companions) ofAlexander the Great, was appointedsatrap ofEgypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC he declared himself Pharaoh Ptolemy I, later known asSōter "Saviour". TheEgyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to thepharaohs of independent Egypt.[a] The new dynasty showed respect to local traditions and adopted the Egyptian titles and iconography, while also preserving their ownGreek language and culture.[8][6] The Ptolemaic period was marked by the intense interactions and blending of theGreek andEgyptian cultures.[9] Under the Ptolemies,Hellenistic religion was largely shaped byreligious syncretism andimperial cult.[10][11] Elements of Greek education became widespread in urban spaces, culminating in the foundation of theMouseion (including theLibrary of Alexandria) and theSerapeum.[12] During the Hellenistic period, the city ofAlexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, would gradually surpassAthens as the intellectual centre of theMediterranean world.[13]
Dates in brackets represent the regnal dates of the Ptolemaic pharaohs. They frequently ruled jointly with their wives, who were often also their sisters, aunts or cousins. Several queens exercised regal authority. Of these, one of the last and most famous wasCleopatra ("Cleopatra VII Philopator", 51–30 BC), with her two brothers and her son serving as successive nominalco-rulers. Several systems exist for numbering the later rulers; the one used here is the one most widely employed by modern scholars.
Continuing the tradition established by previousEgyptian dynasties, the Ptolemies engaged ininbreeding includingsibling marriage, with many of the pharaohs being married to their siblings and often co-ruling with them.[19] Ptolemy I and other early rulers of the dynasty were not married to their relatives, the childless marriage of siblingsPtolemy II andArsinoe II[20] being an exception. The first child-producing incestuous marriage in the Ptolemaic dynasty was that ofPtolemy IV andArsinoe III, who were succeeded as co-pharaohs by their sonPtolemy V, born 210 BC. The best-known Ptolemaic pharaoh,Cleopatra VII, was at different times married to and ruled with two of her brothers (Ptolemy XIII until 47 BC and thenPtolemy XIV until 44 BC), and their parents were also likely to have been siblings or possibly cousins.[15]
Contemporaries describe a number of the Ptolemaic dynasty members asextremely obese,[21] whilesculptures andcoins reveal prominent eyes and swollen necks. FamilialGraves' disease could explain the swollen necks and eye prominence (exophthalmos), although this is unlikely to occur in the presence of morbid obesity. This is all likely due toinbreeding depression. In view of the familial nature of these findings, members of the Ptolemaic dynasty are likely to have suffered from a multi-organ fibrotic condition such asErdheim–Chester disease, or a familialmultifocal fibrosclerosis where thyroiditis, obesity and ocular proptosis may have all occurred concurrently.[22]
^As such, in modern times they are sometimes called theThirty-third (XXXIII) Dynasty in the context ofAncient Egyptian history
Citations
^Jones 2006, p. xiii: "They were members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Macedonian Greeks, who ruled Egypt after the death of its conqueror, Alexander the Great".
^Jeffreys 2005, 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".
^Robins 2001, p. 108: "...Cleopatra VII, the last member of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty to govern Egypt. Although the Ptolemies were not only Greek by origin but also by culture, they adopted from the Egyptians the custom of royal brother-sister marriage".
^Southern 2009, p. 43: "The Ptolemaic dynasty, of which Cleopatra was the last representative (...) stemmed from Ptolemy Soter, a Macedonian Greek in the entourage of Alexander the Great".
^Depuydt 2005, p. 687: "during the Ptolemaic period, when Egypt was governed by rulers of Greek descent...";Pomeroy 1990, p. xvi: "...while Ptolemaic Egypt was a monarchy with a Greek ruling class"
^Epiphanius of Salamis, however, puts the total number of years of the Ptolemaic dynasty at 306, presumably calculated from 306/5 BC to 1 AD. See:Epiphanius' Treatise on Weights and Measures – The Syriac Version (ed. James Elmer Dean), University of Chicago Press 1935, p. 28 (note 104). CompareOn Weights and Measures.
^Rutherford 2016, p. 4: "The second [phase of relationship between Greek and Egyptian culture] begins when Egypt is taken over by a Greek-speaking elite in the last decades of the fourth century. From then on, the two cultures coexisted, which inevitably resulted in interactions and mutual influence between them".
^Fletcher, Joann (2008).Cleopatra the Great: The Woman Behind the Legend. New York: Harper.ISBN978-0-06-058558-7, image plates and captions between pp. 246-247.
Bibliography
Carney, Elizabeth (2013).Arsinoe of Egypt and Macedon, A Royal Life. Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195365511.
Jones, Prudence (2006).Cleopatra: A Sourcebook. University of Oklahoma Press.ISBN9780806137414.
Pomeroy, Sarah (1990).Women in Hellenistic Egypt, From Alexander to Cleopatra. Wayne State University Press.ISBN9780814322307.
Southern, Patricia (2009) [2007].Antony and Cleopatra: The Doomed Love Affair That United Ancient Rome and Egypt. Amberley Publishing.ISBN9781848683242.
Potter, David (2009). "Hellenistic religion". In Erskine, Andrew (ed.).A Companion to the Hellenistic World. John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-1405154413.
Holbl, Gunther (2001). "Ptolemaic period". In Redford, Donald (ed.).Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press.ISBN0195138236.
Jeffreys, David (2005) [1999]. "Memphis". InBard, Kathryn (ed.).Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge.ISBN1134665253.
Depuydt, Leo (2005) [1999]. "Rosseta Stone". In Bard, Kathryn (ed.).Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge.ISBN1134665253.
Robins, Gay (2001). "Queens". In Redford, Donald (ed.).Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press.ISBN0195138236.
Rutherford, Ian (2016).Greco-Egyptian Interactions: Literature, Translation, and Culture, 500 BCE-300 CE. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0199656127.
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