Ptolemy: Did you mean...?

Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE, reign 51-30 BCE) was the last ruler of Egypt before it was annexed as a province of Rome. Arguably the most famous Egyptian queen, Cleopatra was ethnically Greek as a member of the Macedonian Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30...

Ptolemy III and Berenice II stand before Chonsu (their heads and feet vandalized by Christian iconoclasts) on a relief scene of the Euergetes Gate (Thebes, ca. 240-220 BCE). Photo courtesy of Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Cardiff University.

On June 10, 323 BCE Alexander the Great died in Babylon. Although historians have debated the exact cause most agree that the empire he built was left without adequate leadership for there was no clear successor or heir. The military commanders...

Serapis is a Graeco-Egyptian god of the Ptolemaic Period (323-30 BCE) of Egypt developed by the monarch Ptolemy I Soter (r. 305-282 BCE) as part of his vision to unite his Egyptian and Greek subjects. Serapis’ cult later spread throughout...

A digital story created by Cameron Heagney and Aden Stephenson as part of the module The Hellenistic World 2021.

This limestone portrait from the Early Ptolemaic Period (323-246 BCE) depicts either Ptolemy I or Ptolemy II of Egypt. Exact provenance is unknown. (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto)

Ptolemaic Egypt existed between 323 and 30 BCE when Egypt was ruled by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty. During the Ptolemaic period, Egyptian society changed as Greek immigrants introduced a new language, religious pantheon, and way of life...

Berenice II Euergetis (c. 267-221 BCE) was a pre-eminent Hellenistic queen, who ruled together with her husband Ptolemy III (r. 246-221 BCE), when the Ptolemaic kingdom was at the height of its power, dominating most of the eastern Mediterranean...

These early 3rd-century BCE bronze statues from Alexandria, Egypt, portray the royal Ptolemaic couple Ptolemy II Philadelphus ("The Sibling-Loving") and Arsinoe II Philadelphus. Ptolemy II is wearing the scalp of an elephant, possibly symbolic...

This bronze bust is usually attributed to the Ptolemaic king Ptolemy II Philadelphus (r. 283-246 BCE) although alternative identifications of the bust have been made. It was discovered in the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum in 1754 CE and...