Ptolemaic Kingdom
Ptolemaic Kingdom Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία Ptolemaïkḕ basileía | |||||||||||
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305 BC–30 BC | |||||||||||
Capital | Alexandria | ||||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||||
Religion |
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Government | |||||||||||
• 305–283 BC | Ptolemy I Soter (first) | ||||||||||
• 51–30 BC | Cleopatra VII (last) | ||||||||||
Historical era | Classical antiquity | ||||||||||
• Established | 305 BC | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 30 BC | ||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||
• 150 BC | 4.9–7.5 million[5] | ||||||||||
Currency | Greek Drachma | ||||||||||
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History of Egypt |
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Egypt portal |
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (
To legitimize their rule and gain recognition from native Egyptians, the Ptolemies adopted the title of New temples were built, older ones restored, and royal patronage lavished on the priesthood.
From the mid third century BC, Ptolemaic Egypt was the wealthiest and most powerful of Alexander's
History
The Ptolemaic reign in Egypt is one of the best-documented time periods of the
Background
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, invaded Egypt, which at the time was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire known as the Thirty-first Dynasty under Emperor Artaxerxes III.[16] He visited Memphis, and travelled to the oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis. The oracle declared him to be the son of Amun.
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. The wealth of Egypt could now be harnessed for Alexander's conquest of the rest of the Achaemenid Empire. Early in 331 BC he was ready to depart, and led his forces away to Phoenicia. He left Cleomenes of Naucratis as the ruling nomarch to control Egypt in his absence. Alexander never returned to Egypt.
Establishment
Following Alexander's death in Babylon in 323 BC,[17] a succession crisis erupted among his generals. Initially, Perdiccas ruled the empire as regent for Alexander's half-brother Arrhidaeus, who became Philip III of Macedon, and then as regent for both Philip III and Alexander's infant son Alexander IV of Macedon, who had not been born at the time of his father's death. Perdiccas appointed Ptolemy, one of Alexander's closest companions, to be satrap of Egypt. Ptolemy ruled Egypt from 323 BC, nominally in the name of the joint kings Philip III and Alexander IV. However, as Alexander the Great's empire disintegrated, Ptolemy soon established himself as ruler in his own right. Ptolemy successfully defended Egypt against an invasion by Perdiccas in 321 BC, and consolidated his position in Egypt and the surrounding areas during the Wars of the Diadochi (322–301 BC). In 305 BC, Ptolemy took the title of basileus and pharaoh.[3][4] As Ptolemy I Soter ("Saviour"), he founded the Ptolemaic dynasty that was to rule Egypt for nearly 300 years.
All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy, while princesses and female rulers preferred the names
The early Ptolemies did not disturb the religion or the customs of the Egyptians.[19] They built magnificent new temples for the Egyptian gods and soon adopted the outward display of the pharaohs of old. Rulers such as Ptolemy I Soter respected the Egyptian people and recognized the importance of their religion and traditions. 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 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.[20]
Rise
Ptolemy I
The first part of
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 naval battle in 306 BC. Antigonus then tried to invade Egypt but Ptolemy held the frontier against him. When the coalition was renewed against 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.[21] 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 was an eager patron of scholarship, funding the expansion of the
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, Arsinoe II, beginning a practice that, while pleasing to the Egyptian population, had serious consequences in later reigns. 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 world. The academies and libraries of Alexandria proved vital in preserving much Greek literary heritage.
Ptolemy III Euergetes
This victory marked the zenith of the Ptolemaic power. Seleucus II Callinicus kept his throne, but Egyptian fleets controlled most of the coasts of Anatolia 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 left larger traces among the Egyptian monuments. In this his reign marks the gradual Egyptianisation of the Ptolemies.
Ptolemy III continued his predecessor's sponsorship of scholarship and literature. The
Ptolemy III financed construction projects at temples across Egypt. The most significant of these was the
Decline
Ptolemy IV
In 221 BC, Ptolemy III died and was succeeded by his son
Like his predecessors, Ptolemy IV presented himself as a typical Egyptian
Rebellions in the South
Misrule by the Pharaoh in Alexandria led to a nearly successful revolt, led by a priest named
Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Ptolemy VI Philometor
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 the Great of The Seleucid Empire and Philip V of Macedon made a compact to seize the Ptolemaic possessions. Philip seized several islands and places in Caria and Thrace, while the battle of Panium in 200 BC transferred Coele-Syria from Ptolemaic 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,
Throughout the 160s and 150s BC, Ptolemy VI has also reasserted Ptolemaic control over the northern part of
Later Ptolemies
After Ptolemy VI's death a series of civil wars and feuds between the members of the Ptolemaic dynasty started and lasted for over a century. Philometor was succeeded by yet another infant, his son
Ptolemy XI was succeeded by a son of Ptolemy IX,
Final years
Cleopatra VII
The demise of the Ptolemies' power coincided with the growing dominance of the
After the death of their father, Cleopatra VII and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII inherited the throne and were married. Their marriage was only nominal, however, and their relationship soon degenerated. Cleopatra was stripped of authority and title by Ptolemy XIII's advisors, who held considerable influence over the young king. Fleeing into exile, Cleopatra attempted to raise an army to reclaim the throne.
Julius Caesar left Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC in order to quell the looming civil war, as war in Egypt, which was one of Rome's greatest suppliers of grain and other expensive goods, would have had a detrimental effect on trade with Rome, especially on Rome's working-class citizens. During his stay in the Alexandrian palace, he received 22-year-old Cleopatra, allegedly carried to him in secret wrapped in a carpet. Caesar agreed to support Cleopatra's claim to the throne. Ptolemy XIII and his advisors fled the palace, turning the Egyptian forces loyal to the throne against Caesar and Cleopatra, who barricaded themselves in the palace complex until Roman reinforcements could arrive to combat the rebellion, known afterward as the battles in Alexandria. Ptolemy XIII's forces were ultimately defeated at the Battle of the Nile and the king was killed in the conflict, reportedly drowning in the Nile while attempting to flee with his remaining army.
In the summer of 47 BC, having married her younger brother
In 44 BC, Caesar was murdered in Rome by several
Mark Antony's alliance with Cleopatra angered Rome even more. Branded a power-hungry enchantress by the Romans, she was accused of seducing Antony to further her conquest of Rome. Further outrage followed at the
Knowing that she would be taken to Rome to be paraded in Octavian's
Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar, nominally succeeded Cleopatra until his capture and supposed execution in the weeks after his mother's death. Cleopatra's children by Antony were spared by Octavian and given to his sister (and Antony's Roman wife)
With the deaths of Cleopatra and Caesarion, the dynasty of Ptolemies and the entirety of pharaonic Egypt came to an end. Alexandria remained the capital of the country, but Egypt itself became a Roman province. Octavian became the sole ruler of Rome and began converting it into a monarchy, the Roman Empire.
Roman rule
Under Roman rule, Egypt was governed by a prefect selected by the
Culture
Ptolemy I, perhaps with advice from Demetrius of Phalerum, founded the Library of Alexandria,[34] a research centre located in the royal sector of the city. Its scholars were housed in the same sector and funded by Ptolemaic rulers.[34] The chief librarian served also as the crown prince's tutor.[35] For the first hundred and fifty years of its existence, the library drew the top Greek scholars from all over the Hellenistic world.[35] It was a key academic, literary and scientific centre in antiquity.[36]
Art
Ptolemaic art was produced during the reign of the Ptolemaic Rulers (304–30 BC), and was concentrated primarily within the bounds of the Ptolemaic Empire.[37][38] At first, artworks existed separately in either the Egyptian or the Hellenistic style, but over time, these characteristics began to combine. The continuation of the Egyptian art style evidences the Ptolemies' commitment to maintaining Egyptian customs. This strategy not only helped to legitimize their rule, but also placated the general population.[39] Greek-style art was also created during this time and existed in parallel to the more traditional Egyptian art, which could not be altered significantly without changing its intrinsic, primarily-religious function.[40] Art found outside of Egypt itself, though within the Ptolemaic Kingdom, sometimes used Egyptian iconography as it had been used previously, and sometimes adapted it.[41][42]
For example, the faience sistrum inscribed with the name of Ptolemy has some deceptively Greek characteristics, such as the scrolls at the top. However, there are many examples of nearly identical sistrums and columns dating all the way to Dynasty 18 in the New Kingdom. It is, therefore, purely Egyptian in style. Aside from the name of the king, there are other features that specifically date this to the Ptolemaic period. Most distinctively is the color of the faience. Apple green, deep blue, and lavender-blue are the three colors most frequently used during this period, a shift from the characteristic blue of the earlier kingdoms.[43] This sistrum appears to be an intermediate hue, which fits with its date at the beginning of the Ptolemaic empire.
During the reign of Ptolemy II, Arsinoe II was deified either as stand-alone goddesses or as a personification of another divine figure and given their own sanctuaries and festivals in association to both Egyptian and Hellenistic gods (such as Isis of Egypt and Hera of Greece).[44] For example, Head Attributed to Arsinoe II deified her as an Egyptian goddess. However, the Marble head of a Ptolemaic queen deified Arsinoe II as Hera.[44] Coins from this period also show Arsinoe II with a diadem that is solely worn by goddesses and deified royal women.[45]
The Statuette of Arsinoe II was created c. 150–100 BC, well after her death, as a part of her own specific posthumous cult which was started by her husband Ptolemy II. The figure also exemplifies the fusing of Greek and Egyptian art. Although the backpillar and the goddess's striding pose is distinctively Egyptian, the cornucopia she holds and her hairstyle are both Greek in style. The rounded eyes, prominent lips, and overall youthful features show Greek influence as well.[47]
Despite the unification of Greek and Egyptian elements in the intermediate Ptolemaic period, the Ptolemaic Kingdom also featured prominent temple construction as a continuation of developments based on Egyptian art tradition from the Thirtieth Dynasty.[48][49] Such behavior expanded the rulers' social and political capital and demonstrated their loyalty toward Egyptian deities, to the satisfaction of the local people.[50] Temples remained very New Kingdom and Late Period Egyptian in style though resources were oftentimes provided by foreign powers.[48] Temples were models of the cosmic world with basic plans retaining the pylon, open court, hypostyle halls, and dark and centrally located sanctuary.[48] However, ways of presenting text on columns and reliefs became formal and rigid during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Scenes were often framed with textual inscriptions, with a higher text to image ratio than seen previously during the New Kingdom.[48] For example, a relief in the temple of Kom Ombo is separated from other scenes by two vertical columns of texts. The figures in the scenes are smooth, rounded, and high relief, a style continued throughout the 30th Dynasty. The relief represents the interaction between the Ptolemaic kings and the Egyptian deities, which legitimized their rule in Egypt .[46]
In Ptolemaic art, the idealism seen in the art of previous dynasties continues, with some alterations. Women are portrayed as more youthful, and men begin to be portrayed in a range from idealistic to realistic.[51][52] An example of realistic portrayal is the Berlin Green Head, which shows the non-idealistic facial features with vertical lines above the bridge of the nose, lines at the corners of the eyes and between the nose and the mouth.[53] The influence of Greek art was shown in an emphasis on the face that was not previously present in Egyptian art and incorporation of Greek elements into an Egyptian setting: individualistic hairstyles, the oval face, "round [and] deeply set" eyes, and the small, tucked mouth closer to the nose.[54] Early portraits of the Ptolemies featured large and radiant eyes in association to the rulers' divinity as well as general notions of abundance.[55]
Religion
When Ptolemy I Soter made himself king of Egypt, he created a new god, Serapis, to garner support from both Greeks and Egyptians. Serapis was the patron god of Ptolemaic Egypt, combining the Egyptian gods Apis and Osiris with the Greek deities Zeus, Hades, Asklepios, Dionysos, and Helios; he had powers over fertility, the sun, funerary rites, and medicine. His growth and popularity reflected a deliberate policy by the Ptolemaic state, and was characteristic of the dynasty's use of Egyptian religion to legitimize their rule and strengthen their control.
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. Ptolemy I also promoted the cult of the deified Alexander, who became the state god of the Ptolemaic kingdom. Many rulers also promoted individual cults of personality, including celebrations at Egyptian temples.
Because the monarchy remained staunchly Hellenistic, despite otherwise co-opting Egyptian faith traditions, religion during this period was highly syncretic. The wife of Ptolemy II, Arsinoe II, was often depicted in the form of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, but she wore the crown of lower Egypt, with ram's horns, ostrich feathers, and other traditional Egyptian indicators of royalty and/or deification; she wore the vulture headdress only on the religious portion of a relief. 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.[56] Reflecting Greek preferences, the traditional table for offerings disappeared from reliefs during the Ptolemaic period, while male gods were no longer portrayed with tails, so as to make them more human-like in accordance with the Hellenistic tradition.
Nevertheless, the Ptolemies remained generally supportive of the Egyptian religion, which always remained key to their legitimacy. Egyptian priests and other religious authorities enjoyed royal patronage and support, more or less retaining their historical privileged status. Temples remained the focal point of social, economic, and cultural life; the first three reigns of the dynasty were characterized by rigorous temple building, including the completion of projects left over from the previous dynasty; many older or neglected structures were restored or enhanced.[57] The Ptolemies generally adhered to traditional architectural styles and motifs. In many respects, the Egyptian religion thrived: temples became centers of learning and literature in the traditional Egyptian style.[57] The worship of Isis and Horus became more popular, as did the practice of offering animal mummies.
Memphis, while no longer the center of power, became the second city after Alexandria, and enjoyed considerable influence; its High Priests of Ptah, an ancient Egyptian creator god, held considerable sway among the priesthood and even with the Ptolemaic kings. Saqqara, the city's necropolis, was a leading center of worship of Apis bull, which had become integrated into the national mythos. The Ptolemies also lavished attention on Hermopolis, the cult center of Thoth, building a Hellenistic-style temple in his honor. 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. The city's temples and communities prosperous, while a new Ptolemaic style of cemeteries were built.[57]
A common stele that appears during the Ptolemaic Dynasty is the cippus, a type of religious object produced for the purpose of protecting individuals. These magical stelae were made of various materials such as limestone, chlorite schist, and metagreywacke, and were connected with matters of health and safety. Horus on the Crocodiles cippi during the Ptolemaic Period generally featured the child form of the Egyptian god Horus, Horpakhered (or Harpocrates). This portrayal refers to the myth of Horus triumphing over dangerous animals in the marshes of Khemmis with magic power (also known as Akhmim).[58][59]
Society
Ptolemaic Egypt was highly stratified in terms of both class and language. More than any previous foreign rulers, the Ptolemies retained or co-opted many aspects of the Egyptian social order, using Egyptian religion, traditions, and political structures to increase their own power and wealth.
As before, peasant farmers remained the vast majority of the population, while agricultural land and produce were owned directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. Macedonians and other Greeks now formed the new upper classes, replacing the old native aristocracy. A complex state bureaucracy was established to manage and extract Egypt's vast wealth for the benefit of the Ptolemies and the landed gentry.
Greeks held virtually all the political and economic power, while native Egyptians generally occupied only the lower posts; over time, Egyptians who spoke Greek were able to advance further and many individuals identified as "Greek" were of Egyptian descent. Eventually, a bilingual and bicultural social class emerged in Ptolemaic Egypt.[60] Priests and other religious officials remained overwhelmingly Egyptian, and continued to enjoy royal patronage and social prestige, as the Ptolemies' relied on the Egyptian faith to legitimize their rule and placate the populace.
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. Subsequently, uprising and social unrest were frequent, especially by the early third century BC. 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. This was only curtailed nineteen years later when Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205–181 BC) succeeded in subduing them, though underlying grievances were never extinguished, and riots erupted again later in the dynasty.
Coinage
Ptolemaic Egypt produced extensive series of coinage in gold, silver and bronze. These included issues of large coins in all three metals, most notably gold penta
Military
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.[61] The Ptolemaic military initially served a defensive purpose, primarily against competing diadochi claimants and rival Hellenistic states like the Seleucid Empire. 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. The military expanded and secured these territories while continuing its primary function of protecting Egypt; its main garrisons were in Alexandria, Pelusium in the Delta, and Elephantine in Upper Egypt. The Ptolemies also relied on the military to assert and maintain their control over Egypt, often by virtue of their presence. Soldiers served in several units of the royal guard and were mobilized against uprisings and dynastic usurpers, both of which became increasingly common. Members of the army, such as the machimoi (low ranking native soldiers) were sometimes recruited as guards for officials, or even to help enforce tax collection.[62]
Army
The Ptolemies maintained a standing army throughout their reign, made up of both professional soldiers (including mercenaries) and recruits. From the very beginning the Ptolemaic army demonstrated considerable resourcefulness and adaptability. In his fight for control over Egypt, Ptolemy I had relied on a combination of imported Greek troops, mercenaries, native Egyptians, and even prisoners of war.[61] The army was characterized by its diversity and maintained records of its troops' national origins, or patris.[63] In addition to Egypt itself, soldiers were recruited from Macedonia, Cyrenaica (modern Libya), mainland Greece, the Aegean, Asia Minor, and Thrace; overseas territories were often garrisoned with local soldiers.[64]
By the second and first centuries BC, increasing warfare and expansion, coupled with reduced Greek immigration, led to increasing reliance on native Egyptians; however, Greeks retained the higher ranks of royal guards, officers, and generals.[61] 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;[65] 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.[66] Egyptian soldiers also enjoyed a socioeconomic status higher than the average native.[67]
To obtain reliable and loyal soldiers, the Ptolemies developed several strategies that leveraged their ample financial resources and even Egypt's historical reputation for wealth; royal propaganda could be evidenced in a line by the poet Theocritus, "Ptolemy is the best paymaster a free man could have".[61] Mercenaries were paid a salary (misthos) of cash and grain rations; an infantryman in the third century BC earned about one silver drachma daily. This attracted recruits from across the eastern Mediterranean, who were sometimes referred to misthophoroi xenoi — literally "foreigners paid with a salary". By the second and first century BC, misthophoroi were mainly recruited within Egypt, notably among the Egyptian population. Soldiers were also given land grants called kleroi, whose size varied according to the military rank and unit, as well as stathmoi, or residences, which were sometimes in the home of local inhabitants; men who settled in Egypt through these grants were known as cleruchs. At least from about 230 BC, these land grants were provided to machimoi, lower ranking infantry usually of Egyptian origin, who received smaller lots comparable to traditional land allotments in Egypt.[61] Kleroi grants could be extensive: a cavalryman could receive at least 70 arouras of land, equal to about 178,920 square metres, and as much as 100 arouras; infantrymen could expect 30 or 25 arouras and machimoi at least five auroras, considered enough for one family.[68] The lucrative nature of military service under the Ptolemies appeared to have been effective at ensuring loyalty. Few mutinies and revolts are recorded, and even rebellious troops would be placated with land grants and other incentives.[69]
As in other
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was considered a major naval power in the eastern Mediterranean.
Like the army, the origins and traditions of the Ptolemaic navy were rooted in the wars following the death of Alexander in 320 BC. Various diadochi competed for naval supremacy over the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean,
Beginning with the
At its apex under Ptolemy II, the Ptolemaic navy may have had as many as 336 warships,
Cities
While ruling
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 100 metres (330 ft) long and 18 metres (59 ft) 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[citation needed] the great Temenos was identified with the Hellenion. But Mr. Edgar has recently pointed out that the building connected with it was an Egyptian temple, not a Greek building.[citation needed] 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
A major Mediterranean port of Egypt, in ancient times and still today, Alexandria was founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great. According to Plutarch, the Alexandrians believed that Alexander the Great's motivation to build the city was his wish to "found a large and populous Greek city that should bear his name." Located 30 kilometres (19 mi) 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 I (reigned 323–283 BC). Under the wealthy Ptolemaic Dynasty, the city soon surpassed Athens as the cultural center of the Hellenic 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 c. 280 BC. 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.
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, c. 280–240 BC, the Library subsidized three poets—Callimachus, Apollonius of Rhodes, 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 (c. 300 BC), the inventor Archimedes (287 BC – c. 212 BC), and the polymath Eratosthenes (c. 225 BC).[88]
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. Periodic conflicts occurred between Jews and ethnic Greeks. According to Strabo, Alexandria had been inhabited during Polybius' lifetime by local Egyptians, foreign mercenaries and the tribe of the Alexandrians, whose origin and customs Polybius identified as Greek.
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
The second Greek city founded after the conquest of Egypt was
Demographics
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was diverse and cosmopolitan. Beginning under Ptolemy I Soter, Macedonians and other Greeks were given land grants and allowed to settle with their families, encouraging tens of thousands of Greek mercenaries and soldiers to immigrate where they became a landed class of royal soldiers.[89] Greeks soon became the dominant elite; native Egyptians, though always the majority, generally occupied lower posts in the Ptolemaic government. Over time, the Greeks in Egypt became somewhat homogenized and the cultural distinctions between immigrants from different regions of Greece became blurred.[90]
Many Jews were imported from neighboring Judea by the thousands for being renowned fighters, also establishing an important community. Other foreign groups settled from across the ancient world, usually as cleruchs who had been granted land in exchange for military service.
Of the many foreign groups who had come to settle in Egypt, the Greeks were the most privileged. 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 founded many 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, ambitious 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.
Outside of Egypt, the Ptolemies exercised control over Greek cities in Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and on the coasts and islands of the Aegean, but they were smaller than Greek poleis in Egypt. There were indeed country towns with names such as Ptolemais, Arsinoe, and Berenice, in which Greek communities existed with a certain social life and 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 often had their own gymnasium, the essential sign of Hellenism, serving something of the purpose of a university for the young men. Far up the Nile at Ombi a gymnasium of the local Greeks was found in 136–135 BC, which passed resolutions and corresponded with the king. Also, in 123 BC, when there was trouble in Upper Egypt between the towns of Crocodilopolis and Hermonthis, the negotiators sent from Crocodilopolis were the young men attached to the gymnasium, who, according to the Greek tradition, ate bread and salt with the negotiators from the other town. All the 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 Ptolemaic Egypt felt like representatives of a higher civilization but were curious about the native culture of Egypt.
Jews
The Jews who lived in Egypt had originally immigrated from the
Arabs
In 1990, more than 2,000 papyri written by
Agriculture
The early Ptolemies increased cultivatable land through
List of Ptolemaic rulers
See also
- Antipatrid dynasty
- Antigonid dynasty
- Cup of the Ptolemies
- Dryton and Apollonia Archive
- Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
- Indo-Greeks
- Kingdom of Pontus
Notes
- papyri.
References
- ^ Buraselis, Stefanou and Thompson ed; The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile: Studies in Waterborne Power., (Cambridge University Press, 2013), 10.
- ^ North Africa in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods, 323 BC to AD 305, R. C. C. Law, The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 2 ed. J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver, (Cambridge University Press, 1979), 154.
- ^ S2CID 154234093.
... the Ptolemies were inaugurated as basileus in Alexandria and as pharaoh in Memphis ...
- ^ ISBN 9780520927384.)
... their role continue to be dual—basileus to the Greek population; pharaoh to the Egyptian ...
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ignored (help - ^ Steven Snape (16 March 2019). "Estimating Population in Ancient Egypt". Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, 18.21.9, (original)
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- ^ a b c d e "Ancient Egypt – Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 bce)". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-19-965612-7.
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- ^ Hölbl 2000, p. 22.
- ^ Rawles 2019, p. 4.
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- ^ 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
- ^ 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
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- ^ Goyette, M. (2010). Ptolemy II Philadelphus and the dionysiac model of political authority. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2(1), 1–13. https://egyptianexpedition.org/articles/ptolemy-ii-philadelphus-and-the-dionysiac-model-of-political-authority/
- ^ Wasson, Donald L. "Ptolemaic Dynasty". World History Encyclopedia, 4 April 2021.
- ^ Grabbe 2008, p. 268: In a treaty of 301, this region was assigned to Seleucus; however, Ptolemy had just seized it and refused to return it. Because Ptolemy had been very helpful to Seleucus in the past, the latter did not press his claim, but the Seleucid empire continued to regard the region as rightfully theirs. The result was the series of Syrian Wars in which the Seleucids attempted to take the territory back.
- ^ Ptolemy II Philadelphus [308–246 BC. Mahlon H. Smith. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
- ^ a b c Burstein (2007), p. 7
- ^ a b Hölbl 2000, p. 63-65.
- ^ Galen Commentary on the Epidemics 3.17.1.606
- ^ Hölbl 2000, pp. 162–4.
- ^ Fletcher 2008, pp. 246–247, image plates and captions
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- ^ Grainger 2010, p. 325
- ^ Cleopatra: A Life
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- ^ Hölbl 2000, p. 231.
- ^ Hölbl 2000, p. 231, 248.
- ^ a b Peters (1970), p. 193
- ^ a b Peters (1970), p. 194
- ^ Peters (1970), p. 195f
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- ^ Manning, J.G. (2010). The Historical Understanding of the Ptolemaic State. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 34–35.
- ^ Malek, Jaromir (1999). Egyptian Art. London: Phaidon Press Limited. p. 384.
- ^ "Bronze statuette of Horus | Egyptian, Ptolemaic | Hellenistic | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ "Faience amulet of Mut with double crown | Egyptian, Ptolemaic | Hellenistic | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ a b Thomas, Ross. "Ptolemaic and Roman Faience Vessels" (PDF). The British Museum. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Marble head of a Ptolemaic queen | Greek | Hellenistic | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ Pomeroy, Sarah (1990). Women in Hellenistic Egypt: From Alexander to Cleopatra. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 29.
- ^ OCLC 191732570.
- ^ "Statuette of Arsinoe II for her Posthumous Cult | Ptolemaic Period | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ OCLC 191732570.
- ^ Rosalie, David (1993). Discovering Ancient Egyptology. p. 99.
- ^ Fischer-Bovet, Christelle. "Army and Egyptian Temple Building Under the Ptolemies" (PDF).
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- ^ Citation error. See inline comment how to fix.[verification needed]
- ^ Citation error. See inline comment how to fix.[verification needed]
- ^ Citation error. See inline comment how to fix.[verification needed]
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- ^ "Egyptian Art During the Ptolemaic Period of Egyptian History". Antiquities Experts. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ a b c Hill, Marsha. "Egypt in the Ptolemaic Period." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ptol/hd_ptol.htm (October 2016)
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- ^ )
- ^ Christelle Fischer-Bovet, "Egyptian Warriors: The Machimoi of Herodotus and the Ptolemaic Army," Classical Quarterly 63 (2013): 209–236, 222–223; P.Tebt. I 121, with Andrew Monson, "Late Ptolemaic Capitation Taxes and the Poll Tax in Roman Egypt," Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 51 (2014): 127–160, 134.
- ^ Sean Lesquier, Les institutions militaires de l'Egypte sous les Lagides (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1911);
- ^ Roger S. Bagnall, "The Origins of Ptolemaic Cleruchs," Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrology 21 (1984): 7–20, 16–18
- ISBN 3-515-08740-0, pp. 61–84
- ^ Crawford, Kerkeosiris, Table IV, 155–159; Edmond Van 't Dack, "Sur l'évolution des institutions militaires lagides," in Armées et fiscalité dans le monde antique. Actes du colloque national, Paris, 14–16 octobre 1976 (Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1977): 87 and note 1.
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- ^ Dorothy J. Crawford, Kerkeosiris: An Egyptian village in the Ptolemaic period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971) estimated that a family could live on 5 arouras; see P.Tebt. I 56 (Kerkeosiris, late second century BC).
- ^ Michel M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) #283, l. 20.
- ^ Nick Sekunda, "Military Forces. A. Land Forces," in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007)
- ^ Arthur MacCartney Shepard, Sea Power in Ancient History: The Story of the Navies of Classic Greece and Rome (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1924), 128.
- ^ James Harrison McKinney, Novel Ptolemaic naval power: Arsinoë II, Ptolemy II, and Cleopatra VII's innovative thalassocracies, Whitman College, p. 2. https://arminda.whitman.edu/theses/415
- ^ Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, 5.34.6–7 & 9.
- ^ The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile: Studies in Waterborne Power, edited by Kostas Buraselis, Mary Stefanou, Dorothy J. Thompson, Cambridge University Press, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Robinson. pp.79–94.
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- ^ Robinson. pp.79-94.
- ^ Robinson, Carlos. Francis. (2019). "Queen Arsinoë II, the Maritime Aphrodite and Early Ptolemaic Ruler Cult". Chapter: Naval Power, the Ptolemies and the Maritime Aphrodite. pp.79–94. A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy. University of Queensland, Australia.
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- ^ Rickard.
- ^ James Harrison McKinney, Novel Ptolemaic naval power: Arsinoë II, Ptolemy II, and Cleopatra VII's innovative thalassocracies, Whitman College, p. 75.
- ^ a b c Muhs.
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- ^ Kruse, Thomas (2013). "The Nile Police in the Ptolemaic Period", in: K. Buraselis – M. Stefanou – D.J. Thompson (Hg.), The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile. Studies in Waterborne Power, Cambridge 2013, 172–184". academia.edu. Cambridge University Press: 172–185. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ Phillips, Heather A., "The Great Library of Alexandria?". Library Philosophy and Practice, August 2010 Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
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- The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1968, p. 45: "The third generation... understood very little, if any, Hebrew or Aramaic. Their native tongue was Greek."
- The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1968, p. 46: "The Jews of Egypt looked upon the translation of the Bible into Greek as such an important event that they surrounded it later with a halo of legend... The story is told... by a certain Aristeas of Alexandria, that the second Ptolemy... sent ambassadors to the high priest in Jerusalem, and asked that a copy of these books be sent to him along with men capable of rendering them into Greek. The high priest did so, sending seventy-two... scribes and a copy of the Torah."
- ^ Flavius Josephus "Antiquities of the Jews" Book 12 Ch. 2
- ^ The Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, Book 12;chapter2
- ^ Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads, Prof. Jan Retso, Page: 301
- ^ 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
- ^ History of Egypt, Sir John Pentland Mahaffy, p. 20-21
- ^ King, Arienne (25 July 2018). "The Economy of Ptolemaic Egypt". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ von Reden, Sitta (2006). "The Ancient Economy and Ptolemaic Egypt". Ancient Economies, Modern Methodologies. Vol. 12 of Pragmateiai Series. Edipuglia. pp. 161–177.
Sources
- Burstein, Stanley Meyer (1 December 2007). The Reign of Cleopatra. ISBN 978-0806138718. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-06-058558-7.
- Peters, F. E. (1970). The Harvest of Hellenism. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- 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 BC). T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0-567-03396-3.
- Hölbl, Günther (2000). A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. Translated by Saavedra, Tina. Routledge.
- Rawles, Richard (2019). Callimachus. Bloomsbury Academic.
Further reading
- Bingen, Jean. Hellenistic Egypt. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007 (hardcover, ISBN 0-520-25142-3).
- Bowman, Alan Keir. 1996. Egypt After the Pharaohs: 332 BC–AD 642; From Alexander to the Arab Conquest. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press
- Chauveau, Michel. 2000. Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra: History and Society under the Ptolemies. Translated by David Lorton. Ithaca: Cornell University Press
- Ellis, Simon P. 1992. Graeco-Roman Egypt. Shire Egyptology 17, ser. ed. Barbara G. Adams. Aylesbury: Shire Publications, ltd.
- Johannsen, Ole (2023). Imperialer Wandel und ptolemäischer Imperialismus in Syrien: Konnektivität, Konkurrenz und Kooperation. Paderborn: Brill, Schöningh. ISBN 9783506790378.
- Lloyd, Alan Brian. 2000. "The Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BC)". In The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 395–421
- Susan Stephens, Seeing Double. Intercultural Poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria (Berkeley, 2002).
- A. Lampela, Rome and the Ptolemies of Egypt. The development of their political relations 273-80 B.C. (Helsinki, 1998).
- J. G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305–30 BC (Princeton, 2009).