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Ptolemaic Kingdom Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία Ptolemaïkḕ basileía | |||||||||||
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| 305 BC–30 BC | |||||||||||
![Eagle of Zeus[1] on a Ptolemaic coin of Ptolemaic Kingdom](view_image.php?q=Ptolemaic_Kingdom&sq=engine&lang=en&file=File:Eagle_of_Zeus,_Ptolemaic_mint.jpg) | |||||||||||
 Ptolemaic Egypt c. 235 BC. The areas in green were lost to the Seleucid Empire thirty five years later. | |||||||||||
| Capital | Alexandria | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Religion |
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| Government | Hellenistic monarchy | ||||||||||
| Basileus/Pharaoh[3][4] | |||||||||||
• 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 (/ˌtɒlɪˈmeɪ.ɪk/; Koinē Greek: Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία, romanized: Ptolemaïkḕ basileía)[6] or Ptolemaic Empire[7] was an Ancient Greek polity based in Egypt during the Hellenistic period.[8] It was founded in 305 BC by the Macedonian general Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander the Great, and ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC.[9] Reigning for nearly three centuries, the Ptolemies were the longest and final dynasty of ancient Egypt, heralding a distinctly new era for religious and cultural syncretism between Greek and Egyptian culture.[10]
Alexander the Great conquered Persian-controlled Egypt in 332 BC during his campaigns against the Achaemenid Empire. His death in 323 BC was followed by rapid unraveling of the Macedonian Empire amid competing claims by the diadochi, his closest friends and companions. Ptolemy, a Macedonian who was one of Alexander's most trusted generals and confidants, won control of Egypt from his rivals and declared himself its ruler.[Note 1][11][12] Alexandria, a Greek polis founded by Alexander, became the capital city and a major center of Greek culture, learning, and trade for the next several centuries. 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.
To legitimize their rule and gain recognition from native Egyptians, the Ptolemies adopted the local title of pharaoh,[9] alongside the Greek title of basileus,[3][4] and had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress; however, the monarchy otherwise rigorously maintained its Hellenistic character and traditions.[9] The kingdom had a complex government bureaucracy that exploited the country's vast economic resources to the benefit of a Greek ruling class, which dominated military, political, and economic affairs, and which rarely integrated into Egyptian society and culture. Native Egyptians maintained power over local and religious institutions, and only gradually accrued power in the bureaucracy, provided they Hellenized.[9] Beginning with Ptolemy I's son and successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Ptolemies began to adopt Egyptian customs, such as marrying their siblings per the Osiris myth and participating in Egyptian religious life.[13] 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 successor states, and the leading example of Greek civilization.[9] Beginning in the mid second century BC, dynastic strife and a series of foreign wars weakened the kingdom, and it became increasingly reliant on the Roman Republic. 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. Roman Egypt became one of Rome's richest provinces and a center of Greek culture. Greek remained the language of government and trade until the Muslim conquest in 641 AD. Alexandria remained one of the leading cities of the Mediterranean well into the late Middle Ages.[14]
- ^ Buraselis, Stefanou and Thompson ed; The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile: Studies in Waterborne Power., (Cambridge University Press, 2013), 10.
- ^ R. C. C. Law (1979). "North Africa in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods, 323 BC to AD 305". In J. D. Fage (ed.). The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 154. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521215923.005. ISBN 9781139054560.
- ^ a b Strootman, R. (2009). "The Hellenistic royal court" (PDF). Mnemosyne. 62 (1): 168. doi:10.1163/156852509X340291. hdl:1874/386645. S2CID 154234093.
... the Ptolemies were inaugurated as basileus in Alexandria and as pharaoh in Memphis ...
- ^ a b Stephens, S. A. (2003). Seeing double: intercultural poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria. Hellenistic Culture and Society. Vol. 37. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520927384.
... their role continue to be dual—basileus to the Greek population; pharaoh to the Egyptian ...
- ^ Steven Snape (16 March 2019). "Estimating Population in Ancient Egypt". Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, 18.21.9, (original)
- ^ Hölbl, G. (2001). A history of the Ptolemaic empire. Psychology Press. p. 1. ISBN 9780415234894.
- ^ Nardo, Don (13 March 2009). Ancient Greece. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-7377-4624-2.
- ^ a b c d e "Ancient Egypt – Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 bce)". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ Rutherford, Ian (2016). Greco-Egyptian Interactions: Literature, Translation, and Culture, 500 BCE-300 CE. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-965612-7.
- ^ Robins, Gay (2008). The Art of Ancient Egypt (Revised ed.). United States: Harvard University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-674-03065-7.
- ^ Hölbl 2000, p. 22.
- ^ Rawles 2019, p. 4.
- ^ Bagnall, Director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World Roger S. (2004). Egypt from Alexander to the Early Christians: An Archaeological and Historical Guide. Getty Publications. pp. 11–21. ISBN 978-0-89236-796-2.
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