Ptolemy i soter: Did you mean...?

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...

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built on the island of Pharos outside the harbour of Alexandria, Egypt c. 300 - 280 BCE, during the reigns of Ptolemy I and II. With a height of over 100 metres (330 ft), the lighthouse was so impressive that...

Ptolemaic Egypt was a naval power that exerted influence throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from its foundation in 330 BCE until Cleopatra's defeat by Augustus at the Battle of Actium in 30 BCE. The Ptolemaic Kingdom produced some of the...

Perdiccas (d. 321 BCE) was one of Alexander the Great's commanders, and after his death, custodian of the treasury, regent over Philip III and Alexander IV, and commander of the royal army. When Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont...

Once the largest library in the ancient world, and containing works by the greatest thinkers and writers of antiquity, including Homer, Plato, Socrates and many more, the Library of Alexandria, northern Egypt, is popularly believed to have...

The rich lands of Egypt became the property of Rome after the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE, which spelled the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty that had ruled Egypt since the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE. After the murder of Gaius...

Ptolemaic Egypt rapidly established itself as an economic powerhouse of the ancient world at the end of the 4th century BCE. The wealth of Egypt was owed in large part to the unrivalled fertility of the Nile, which served as the breadbasket...

The Ptolemaic dynasty in Ancient Egypt began under the rule of Ptolemy I Soter, whose goal was to make Egypt great again and he did that by putting the country back on solid economic and administrative footing, and it ended with Cleopatra...

Granite statue depicting Ptolemy II. The king commissioned the statue to be made during his own reign, about 285-246 BCE. Son of Ptolemy I Soter, Ptolemy II is known in his role as king of Ptolemaic Egypt. (Vatican Museums, Rome)

The stela, from a chapel in the royal couple's honors, shows Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II in a deified form. Their staffs are attribnbutes of Egyptian gods, as is the emblem of life (ankh) held by the queen. Yet, unusually, the King wields a...