PTOLEMY tŏl’ ə mĭ (Πτολεμαΐος). The dynastic name of the Macedonian Hellenistic kings who ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great until the Rom. conquest. Some of these kings are mentioned in the Apoc., and their conflicts with their Seleucid rivals in Syria appear to be shadowed in Daniel.

I. The dynasty

1. Ptolemy I, Soter I, who began his Egyp. career as Ptolemy son of Lagus, was one of Alexander’s generals. After Alexander’s death (323 b.c.), he obtained the post of satrap, or governor, of Egypt. At first he ruled in the name of Alexander’s half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus and of Alexander’s young son Alexander IV of Macedon until the deaths of both. Probably in late 305 b.c., Ptolemy finally took the title of king of Egypt, after the retreat of his opponent Antigonus, retaining his realm until his death in 282 b.c. That realm included not only Egypt but also Pal. (including Judea) and S Syria, plus various footholds in southern Asia Minor and the Aegean. Ptolemy inaugurated a new period of Egyp. power in the Near E, but as a Hel. monarchy—he was Pharaoh not to the outer world, but only in Egypt and that in office only. On the cultural plane, he founded the Library and Museum at Alexandria, his capital, and instituted the cult of the Graeco-Egyp. god Serapis (q.v.), perhaps to provide a religious link for his Egyp. and Gr. subjects. In Upper Egypt, he founded just one Gr.-constituted city of his own—Ptolemais, modern El-Menshieh, ten m. S of Akhmim. This king and his Syrian contemporary, Seleucus I, may be the kings of Daniel 11:5.

2. Ptolemy II,Philadelphus (284-246 b.c.) was the younger son of Ptolemy I, and ruled for the last two years of his father’s life. He organized the Alexandrian Library inaugurated by his father. Alexandria itself developed apace; the Pharos lighthouse was erected. Ptolemy II established Gr. settlers from his forces to cultivate the Fayum oasis, and in the name of his deceased favorite wife, Arsinoë II, he transformed the revenues of the wealthy Egyp. temples to be under closer control of the state and the royal power. The Egyp. priest Manetho wrote his Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt) in Gr. about this time, and the tradition of the LXX coming from this reign reflects the need of the important community of Gr.-speaking Jews in Alexandria to have the OT in their adopted everyday speech. Abroad, Ptolemy II was in intermittent conflict with the Seleucids, until eventually he made alliance with them by giving his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus II of Syria. She and her son, however, were murdered just before Ptolemy’s own decease (cf. Dan 11:6).

3. Ptolemy III,Euergetes I (246-222 b.c.) promptly marched against Syria to avenge his sister’s death, gaining great spoils but not attempting to hold or eliminate the rival kingdom (cf. Dan 11:7, 8). A later attack by Seleucus II had little effect (Dan 11:9). The wealth of Ptolemy III enabled him to inaugurate temple building in Egypt on a large scale. These vast, monumental edifices continued to be built and decorated in the Egyp. style to Egypt’s own gods, and today are best exemplified by the temple of Horus at Edfu in Upper Egypt; begun under Ptolemy III in 236 b.c., completed under his successors, and still the most complete of all Egyptian temples.

The Ptolemaic Dynasty
Ptolemy I, Soter I 305-282 B.C.
Ptolemy II, Philadelphus 284-246 B.C.
Ptolemy III, Euergetes I 246-222 B.C.
Ptolemy IV, Philopator 222-205 B.C.
Ptolemy V, Epiphanes 204-180 B.C.
Ptolemy VI, Philometer 180-145 B.C.
Ptolemy VII, Neos Philopater 145 B.C.
Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes II 145-116 B.C.
Ptolemy IX, Soter II 116-110, 109, 88-80 B.C.
Ptolemy X, Alexander I 110-109, 108/7-88 B.C.
Ptolemy XI, Alexander II 80 B.C.
Ptolemy XII, Auletes 80-51 B.C.
Cleopatra VII, 50-30 B.C.

4. Ptolemy IV,Philopator (222-205 b.c.) was a pleasure-loving prince who largely left the reins of government in the hands of unscrupulous ministers of the crown. At the battle of Raphia (217 b.c.), however, the young king showed leadership; allusion is made to his Syrian activity in 3 Maccabees 1:1-5. In this reign native Egyptians were taken into the armed forces and gave a good account of themselves in the Syrian fighting. This had the effect of reawakening Egyp. self-respect, resentment at exclusion from high executive office (confined to Greeks), and feelings for real independence; this departure was thus a seedbed for the subsequent internal revolts under Ptolemies IV, V, and IX. Late in this reign such a revolt broke out in Upper Egypt, and was not suppressed until the next reign; building construction at Edfu, for example, halted for twenty years.

5. Ptolemy V,Epiphanes (204-180 b.c.) was a mere child at his accession. Thus, within a few years, Antiochus III of Syria was able to seize Pal. from Egypt (202-198 b.c.), so that the Jews now had a change of masters, but at first without much immediate difference. Subsequently, Antiochus III gave his daughter in marriage to Ptolemy V and ceased to threaten Egypt, done in some measure through pressure from Rome. His wars and Egyp. marriage alliance may be reflected in Daniel 11:10-19. The loss of overseas possessions and the revolts inside Egypt itself (lasting years before they could be suppressed) all worked against the economy and prosperity of Egypt. This reign is more famous in modern times, however, for the Rosetta Stone (q.v.)—a bilingual decree by the Egyp. priesthoods in 196 b.c., in three scripts (Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek); this document was a vital key in the decipherment of ancient Egyp.

6. Ptolemy VI,Philometor (180-145 b.c.) also ascended the throne as a child, his Syrian mother Cleopatra I acting as regent. In 169 b.c., Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria invaded Egypt, making it a protectorate. A revolt in Alexandria brought kingship to Ptolemy’s brother: the future Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes II, both princes receiving recognition in Egypt. This precipitated a further attack by Antiochus IV, but the latter had to withdraw before an ultimatum from Rome, in the famous incident when Rome’s envoy Popilius drew a circle around the Seleucid and demanded an immediate reply. At this period the ardent Hel. Antiochus IV came into conflict with the Jews, sparking off the Maccabean revolt (Dan 11:21ff.; 1, 2 Macc., etc.). A nonroyal Ptolemy of this epoch, a general of Antiochus IV, features in 1 Maccabees 3:38ff. and 2 Maccabees 4:45; 6:8; 8:8; and possibly 10:12. Also in the reign of Ptolemy VI, Onias (“IV”), son of the murdered Onias III and high priest at Jerusalem, fled to Egypt. There, with the permission of Ptolemy VI, he established a local temple at Leontopolis in the Delta. Internally, with Ptolemy VI, his brother, and Ptolemy’s own wife Cleopatra II as official coregent, Egypt now was ruled by almost a triumvirate. However, the younger brother sought the throne for himself but without success. Varying estimates of Ptolemy VI appear in 1 Maccabees 10:51ff., 11:1ff., and Josephus (Jos. Antiq. XIII. iv. 5ff.), esp. in regard to his interventions in Syria; he died from wounds received in this warfare.

7. Ptolemy VII,Neos Philopator was but a child at his father’s death (145 b.c.), and he was speedily supplanted by his uncle.

8. Ptolemy VIII,Euergetes II (145-116 b.c.). In the classical writers, this monarch appears in a very unfavorable light, not directly reflected by contemporary records or in the reasonably settled state of his kingdom. His activity in Syria is reflected in 1 Maccabees 1:18 and 15:16 (link with Rome). A nonroyal Ptolemy of the period is the murderous son-in-law of Simon Maccabaeus (135 b.c.) in 1 Maccabees 16:11ff. Two queens of the name Cleopatra were associated with this king’s regime, the elder one raising a revolt in 129 b.c.; her death came with that of Ptolemy VIII himself.

9. Ptolemy IX,Soter II (116-110, 109, 88-80 b.c.) had a checkered career. He was ousted from Egypt in 110 b.c. in favor of his younger brother Ptolemy X, Alexander I (110-109, 108/7-88 b.c.), and returned to power briefly in 109/8 b.c., and permanently in 88 b.c. The queens of the period, e.g., Cleopatra III, were of base and ruthless character. Late in Soter II’s reign, a severe local revolt broke out in Upper Egypt, whose suppression brought devastation upon ancient Thebes, whose bygone splendors were long a focus for nationalistic aspirations (in 85 b.c.).

10. Ptolemy XI,Alexander II lasted only nineteen days, being murdered by the soldiery after having first murdered his stepmother Berenice III.

11. Ptolemy XII,“Auletes” (80-51 b.c.) was an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX, and a man of ill character. He ruled under the shadow of potential Rom. interference with Egyp. independence, eventually obtaining Rom. recognition of his sovereignty by a vast bribe. This and similar “expenses” strained the economy of his realm. A revolt in Alexandria drove him into exile during the years 58-55 b.c., the rule passing to a daughter, Berenice IV. By bribing the Rom. governor of Syria, Auletes regained his throne amid bloodshed, including the murder of Berenice IV. In this reign, the Gr. traveler Diodorus Siculus visited Egypt, compiling a useful account of what he saw, but, regrettably, compounded with other observations obtained from earlier writers but unacknowledged.

12. Cleopatra VII. At the death of Ptolemy XII, the throne was designated to pass to his daughter Cleopatra VII and son Ptolemy XIII, they having been associated with their father for a year. But rivalry broke out between Cleopatra—most famous of all the Ptolemies—and her brother. Julius Caesar was officially to arbitrate between the two, but his attachment to Cleopatra weighed the scales against Ptolemy, whose armed resistance was of no avail (killed, 47 b.c.). Thereafter, a younger brother became Cleopatra’s nominal co-ruler as Ptolemy XIV, but she poisoned him at Rome, in 44 b.c. By Julius Caesar she had a son, Caesarion, and had him recognized in Egypt (41 b.c.) and then raised him to the rank of nominal coruler (36-30 b.c.), with an eye to the future succession, as Ptolemy XV. Cleopatra, whatever her other charms (still debated), was an ambitious woman and clever politician. Rome feared her intentions to dominate the Near Eastern world. Antony fell under her dominance, to his undoing, but Octavian (Augustus) was not to be overcome by her armies, intrigues, or personality. Cleopatra took her own life rather than be made a spectacle in the victor’s triumphal procession. With her death and the murder of her son, Egypt finally passed, in August of 30 b.c., under the domination of Rome.

II. Ptolemaic Egypt. Under the earlier Ptolemies, esp. Ptolemy I-III, Egypt was subjected to a revised and more intensive economic system, but good management supported a considerable prosperity. This administrative machine was kept going fairly well for another cent., but from before the time of Ptolemy VIII, corruption in local administration aggravated a growing economic burden on the Egyp. populace, and helped to fan their discontents into intermittent rebellions. Egypt was run by the Ptolemies—foreigners—entirely for their own interests, as if it were simply a large private estate, without any real concern for the welfare of their Egyp. subjects. However, the Ptolemies could not dispense with the support (or at least, acquiescence) of the populace, and so sought to keep their loyalty by favoring their most influential element—the priesthoods; hence, the spectacular rebuilding of major temples such as Dendera, Edfu, Esna, Kom Ombo and Philae, and additions to other venerable temples. The Egyptians remained fundamentally unimpressed, and the priests remained covertly the guardians of the national spirit (traceable in various subtleties of temple decoration) as well as of ancient religious tradition. The hieroglyphic script was deliberately developed to a far higher degree of elaboration, so that the despised foreigner might not penetrate the secret lore of the texts inscribed in profusion upon the walls of the new temples. This treasury is only gradually being unlocked, and these relatively late Ptolemaic hieroglyphic texts contain a vast deposit of data on Egyp. religion often going back to far earlier times in origin and throwing needed light on scantier sources from preceding epochs.

A different picture obtains of the Jews in Ptolemaic Egypt. Their most important community was at Alexandria, where they formed a very notable part of the whole. As noted, the need for a Gr. VS of the Scriptures found its expression in the LXX from the 3rd cent. b.c. onward. The history of the Palestinian Jews under Ptolemaic rule in the 3rd cent. b.c. is little known, apart from internal rivalries over the succession to the high priesthood in Jerusalem.

Bibliography E. Bevan, A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty (1927), and CAH, VII (1928); H. I. Bell, Egypt, from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest (1948); H. I. Bell, Cults and Creeds in Graeco-Roman Egypt (1953); H. W. Fairman, “Worship and Festivals in an Egyptian Temple,” BJRL, XXXVII (1954), 165-203; T. C. Skeat, The Reigns of the Ptolemies (1954); W. W. Tarn and G. T. Griffith, Hellenistic Civilization (1959); A. E. Samuel, Ptolemaic Chronology (1962).