The Ptolemaic Dynasty

The Ptolemaic Dynasty

The Ptolemaic dynasty was founded by Ptolemy son of Lagus, a general of Alexander the Great. On Alexander's death in 323 he was appointed satrap of Egypt, and eventually declared himself king in 304. The dynasty lasted until the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30, an episode which is still one of the best-known chapters of ancient history.



The intervening period is one which is, by comparison to most of pharaonic Egypt, very well, if not fully coherently, documented. While Ptolemy I and Cleopatra VII are perhaps the best-known rulers, most of the Ptolemaic kings and queens emerge as distinctive and interesting (if not necessarily attractive) individuals. Ptolemaic Egypt was one of the two great powers of the Hellenistic East for most of its existence. During this period Egyptian armies ranged further east and further north than at any other time in Egyptian history. Alexandria was the center of the Hellenistic intellectual world. The period also saw the final flowering of pharaonic Egyptian art and architecture. Many of the great temples we see today, at Edfu, Esna, Kom Ombo, Dendera, Philae and elsewhere, are basically Ptolemaic monuments.