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Ptolemy II & Arsinoe II
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...

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Ptolemy II Philadelphus Founds the Library of Alexandria
"Tolomeo Filadelfo nella biblioteca di Alessandria", or "Ptolemy Philadelphus founds the Library of Alexandria", is an oil painting from 1813 by Italian artist Vincenzo Camuccini (1771-1844 CE). The painting portrays the Greco-Macedonian...

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Ptolemy II Before Arsinoe II
Limestone relief from the Chapel of Ptolemy II at Tanis in the Nile Delta representing Ptolemy II facing Arsinoe II (San el-Hagar, ca. 275-250 BCE; BM reg. no. 1885,1101.5, inv. no. EA-1056). Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum...

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Portrait of Ptolemy I or II of Egypt
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)

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The Economy of Ptolemaic Egypt
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...

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Stela of Ptolemy IX & Cleopatra III
Two thirds of this stela were lost due to reuse as building material. It documents a royal visit to Elephantine. Ptolemy IX and Cleopatra III, his mother and co-regent, granted privileges to the priests of Khnum, a local ram god. The scene...

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Bust of Ptolemy of Mauretania, Louvre
A marble bust of King Ptolemy of Mauretania (c. 10 BCE - c. 40 CE). Ptolemy was the son of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene II, making him a descendant of both the Berber rulers of Numidia and the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. Through his mother...

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Ptolemy XII Bust
Portrait of Ptolemy XII from the Louvre, Paris.

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Bronze Statues of Ptolemy II & Arsinoe II
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...

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Ptolemy II (Artistic Facial Reconstruction)
A photorealistic representation of Ptolemy II of Egypt (284-246 BCE) as he may have appeared early in his reign. This reconstruction is based on archaeological evidence including busts, coinage, and descriptions of Ptolemy II in historical...