King Ptolemy Research Articles

Inscription from Caria Mentioning Antiochus III, Ptolemy V, and Philip V

The ‘Three Kings’ Inscription’ bears the fragment of a Rhodian arbitration between Bargylia and another town in Caria. It is an important document, for it described major political events which affected western Caria on the eve of the Second Macedonian War (200‑197 BC). Above all, it makes it evident that Rhodes eventually came to know about the same Syro-Macedonian connivance against Egypt and the child king Ptolemy V which Polybius (3.2.8; 15.20) later described in big words. After a detailed status quaestionis, the importance of comparing the Rhodian, Ptolemaic, and Polybian perspectives on Antiochus III and Philip V’s conduct is stressed here.

A Ptolemaic Stamped Amphora from Patara: Some Notes on Stamp Attribution and its Likely Implications

Located in ancient Lycia at the southwest corner of Asia Minor, excavations at the important port city of Patara shed new light on the city’s relations with Ptolemaic Egypt. The most significant finds concerning Patara’s connection with the Ptolemaic Dynasty have emerged from ongoing fieldwork at the Tepecik settlement, located on a natural hill just east of the ancient inner harbour. During excavations conducted there in 2019, an ancient dump of pottery was identified in the İ-20 trench. The focus of this study concerns a unique stamped Egyptian amphora found in this dump. The stamp records the name Ptolemaios alongside a regnal year, thus indicating that the amphora represents royal production during the third century BC. In this study, I suggest that the name on the stamp should be attributed to King Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–222 BC) and explore the likely implications of royal production. [Formula: see text]

Dimensions and Proportions of the Ptolemaic Temple at Gebel el-Nour

The paper focuses on the analysis of plan proportions of the Ptolemaic temple near the settlement of Gebel el-Nour (Egypt), the construction of which is dated to the period of reign of Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphus (king from 284 to 246 B.C.). In an attempt to understand the possible logic of the dimensional and geometrical construction of the temple, the development of arithmetical, graphic and modular methods of proportionality is considered in the examples of structures from the Early Dynastic to Ptolemaic periods. Thus, during the construction of the largest Early Dynastic structures the simplest modular system based on sequentially constructed squares in combination with a system of diagonal constructions was used. During the Old Kingdom architecture begins to reflect the proportions of the Egyptian rectangular triangle 3:4:5. To replace the simple ratio of integers and rectangular triangles, laid in the proportions of buildings, in the New Kingdom era comes a system of building on the diagonals of the square. The growing influence of the Mediterranean region in the Ptolemaic period led to the introduction of the Greek system of construction modulo. Meanwhile, during this period there was a conscious archaization — a return to the methods of the Old Kingdom. The analysis of the temple in Gebel el-Nour shows that its geometry is based on a square, the side of which, giving the width of the ground area (16.68 m), and the diagonal of which gives its length (23.60 m). The centre of the square is the centre of the circle (diameter 34.88 m) into which the whole temple is inscribed (pronaos together with the naos). Premises and internal walls of the temple can be built according to the module, the role of which is probably played by the diameter of the base of the column (1.19 m) or on the basis of a rectangular triangle 3:4:5. Thus a complex of methods could be applied to the construction of the temple. Each of these methods solved its task: to obtain general geometry of the building, aesthetics (facades), construction (wall thickness), and functioning (size and configuration of the hall). The use of geometric principles from a much earlier period (the archaic construction of the diagonal square and the use of a rectangular triangle 3:4:5 to divide the interior spaces) is probably a deliberate archaization typical of the period.

A Minaean wab-priest in the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes: a synchronised date for M 338

This article argues that the well-known Minaean inscription M 338 mentioning the 22nd year of a king Ptolemy should be dated in the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, more precisely December 183 bc.

Triumphal Inscription of Ptolemy III at Adulis

The complex triumphal inscription of King Ptolemy III of Egypt (246-222/221 BC) ‘Great King descended from Heracles and Dionysus’ stands out among the great epigraphic documents of the Ptolemaic dynasty. It includes the official genealogy of the sovereign, a panorama of the territories inherited from Ptolemy II and, above all, the list of the conquests of the first phase of the Laodicean war (246-245 BC), which culminated in an anabasis up to Central Asia. We know this historical and meta-historical document only through the autopsy of the Alexandrian merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes, who saw it in Adulis (Kingdom of Axum), in the heart of ancient Aithiopia, in 547-549 AD. The inscription raises numerous questions, and must be examined keeping in view the concepts of memory and tradition. Added to this is the fascinating intellectual history of his reception, which played a role in the birth of the concept of ‘Hellenism’ itself.

From Iology to Toxicology: A new specialization in Ancient Alexandrian School.

Alexandria was both an important city and a place of inspiration in the history of medicine since the 3rd century BC until 7th century AD. Its fertile intellectual and scientific environment gave rise to a radical and new thinking and understanding of the disease process. King Ptolemy I (323-285 BC) established the Museion and the Great Library of Alexandria fabled in Antiquity for its treasures of wisdom. This complex interaction between Greeks and Egyptians before and under the Ptolemies gave scientists an opportunity to live and work under royal patronage with excellent repercussions. Scholars were attracted to take part in scientific research, especially in medicine and mathematics, developing different known areas and programs. Furthermore scholars in Alexandria also brought back new ideas and activities each with specialized knowledge of the subjects. As the medical science of ancient Greece plunged into political decadence and setbacks - scientific work was renewed in this city with the arriving of the greatest minds of the day. The 'Faculty' of Medicine in Alexandria seems to be an integral part of the Mouseion. In the 3rd century BC, the Ptolemaic capital caught the different trends and became the seat of divergent and independent schools. The debt of the Alexandrian physicians to the native Egyptian doctors, highly specialized, was very considerable. Coan school in this time had general professionals who recommended therapeutic and nutricional strategies and diets while Alexandria science provided academic specialization. On the other hand the court physicians, involved in high politics, could be medical specialists meanwhile the teachers of advanced medicine were sometimes left undisturbed in the pursuit of their research. Being able to commit poisoning crimes with drugs by political interests, they were scared of them. Animal and plants toxins became an accepted and divulged study, very fashionable, and Alexandrian school developed scientific research in iology, name given later to this science. Greek sources on toxicology became a special and developed branch in medical literature and from Apollodorus of Tarentum onwards, the father of iology and his book Peri thêriōn, the interest in Greek treatises spread.

Altars of Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XV Caesarion at Teos

An altar copied by Jeanne and Louis Robert in Teos in 1955 bears the names of three deified Ptolemaic queens and of a living queen Cleopatra. In his editio princeps the present author suggested that the living queen was Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt. This identification is now supported by a further altar discovered during excavations at Teos in 2013. The new altar, similar to the former in form and subject, was erected by L. Munatius Apollonius for several deified Ptolemaic kings and a living king Ptolemy. The dedicant’s Roman citizenship is likely to go back to L. Munatius Plancus, a close supporter of Antony, who governed Asia in the late forties BC. Therefore the living king Ptolemy mentioned in the new altar can only be Ptolemy XV Caesarion, son of Cleopatra VII from a possible liaison with Caesar, and co-ruler of Egypt since 37/36 BC. Both altars were probably erected c. 33/32 BC, when Cleopatra and Caesarion visited Ionia alongside Antony before the battle of Actium. The author offers an edition of both dedications and deals with the relationship of L. Munatius Plancus to Antony and Cleopatra.

New evidence for diplomacy between the Mediterranean and South Arabia

AbstractTwo inscriptions that shed more light on the history of contacts between Hellenistic Egypt, the Roman Empire and the South Arabian kingdoms between the second century BCE and the mid‐second century CE are in the focus of this research. One inscription mentions foreign gifts for King Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon; the other ‒ a Greek inscription from Ẓafār ‒ seems to be the gift for either the king of Ḥimyar or the Roman colony in Ẓafār. The first inscription points to the existence of direct diplomatic contacts between these regions in the second century BCE. The second inscription is linked with the Latin text from the Farasān archipelago by viewing the reference in the first line to legio II Traiana.

دراسة علاقة المعبود إرنسنوفیس بالآلهة الأخری فی معبد دندور Studying the relationship of the god Arensnuphis with other gods in the temple of Dandour

يعد المعبود إرنسنوفيس iry – hms – nfr من المعبودات الهامة خاصة في منطقة النوبة السفلي، وقد ظهر في العديد من المعابد مثل الدکة ـ فيله ـ دندور ـ کلابشه؛ حيث شيد الملک النوبي أرجامنيس بالاشتراک مع الملک بطليموس الرابع فيلوباتور هيکلا في معبد فيله للمعبود إرنسنوفيس، وقد أعتبر هذا الإله أحد أشکال المعبود شو ولهذا کانت المعبودة تفنوت قرينة له. يهدف هذا البحث إلي: دراسة القاب المعبود إرنسنوفيس في معبد دندور. القاء الضوء علي رفيقات المعبود إرنسنوفيس في معبد دندور. علاقة إرنسنوفيس بالآلهة الأخري في المعبد. Abstract: The Nubian Argamans, together with king Ptolemy IV Philopatore, built a temple in the Philh temple of the god Arensnuphis, This god was considered one of the forms of the god Shaw and therefore the god Tefnot presumed him. This research aims to: Studying the titles of Arensnuphis god in the temple of Dandour. To shed light on the companions of the god Arensnuphis in the temple of Dandour. Arensnuphis' relationship with other gods in the temple. The Nubian Argamans, together with king Ptolemy IV Philopatore, built a temple in the Philh temple of the god Arensnuphis, This god was considered one of the forms of the god Shaw and therefore the god Tefnot presumed him. This research aims to: 1. Studying the titles of Arensnuphis god in the temple of Dandour. 2. To shed light on the companions of the god Arensnuphis in the temple of Dandour. 3. Arensnuphis' relationship with other gods in the temple.

The Effect of the Legend of Osiris on the Behaviour of the King Ptolemy Philadelphus

It is clear that, king Ptolemy Philadelphus was affected by the legend of Osiris and what had accured to the four brothers, Osiris Wsir,Isis Ast, Seth stX, and Nephthys Nbt-Hwt, and specially what had happened to god Osiris and his beloved sister-wife Isis. Therefore, this effect appeared clearly in the behaviour and deeds of king Ptolemy II “Philadelphus”as manifested in there cases. Firstly in honour of both Osiris and Isis he built the temple of Osiris anthe city of Pithom and the great temple of Isis at the Island of Philae. Secondly by his marriage to his beloved sister-wife queen Arsinoe II as the case of Osiris and Isis in the legend. so Philadelphus is considered the first Ptolemaic king who married his sister. Thirdly, by honouring and deifying both of his dead father Ptolemy I Soteros and his dead mother queen Berenike I and then his deifying his beloved sister-wife queen Arsinoe II. imitating Isis when she honoured her dead husband Osiris and Horus Hrwhen he honoured his dead father Osiris and his beloved mother Isis. Thereon both king Ptolemy II “Philadelphus” and his beloved sister-wife queen “Arsinoe II” become representing god Osiris and goddess Isis on the earth. Therefore, this research sheds light on the theme of The Effect of the Legend of Osiris on the behaviour of king Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

“Like Phalaris in Every Way”: 3 Maccabees and Its Portrait of Tyranny

AbstractThis article examines 3 Maccabees’ use of the sixth-century BCE tyrant Phalaris in its portrayal of its antagonist, King Ptolemy IV Philopator. Twice in the narrative (3 Macc 5:20, 42) the author explicitly compares Philopator to Phalaris. The author does not describe the earlier figure but assumes that the audience shares knowledge of his reputation and legendary deeds. After tracing the ancient literary evidence of Phalaris’ legacy, the article then argues that 3 Maccabees incorporates that legacy in more implicit ways in the narrative. This contributes to the author’s overall portrait of Philopator’s tyranny. It also helps explain some of the features of the text—specifically, the choice of Philopator’s execution device and the peril of newborn infants found in the narrative.

In margine alla leggenda di Alessandria: Epifanio, De mensuris et ponderibus , cap. 9

A new interpretation of a passage of Epiphanius’ De mensuris et ponderibus, chapter 9 is proposed. Considering the text resulting from the manuscript tradition and from the corrections made by the editors of Epiphanius, we gain two conclusions: 1) the text of the older codices Vaticani is not correct for the sense; 2) the better text of a group of later codices, that is satisfying for the sense and for the grammar, was misunderstood by some editors, producing a wrong interpretation of the whole passage: the king Ptolemy Philadelphus knew from Demetrius Phalereus that existed a people, ancestor of the Romans, called Latins by the Greeks of the early III century b.C. If this is true, the king may have been in search of the Latins’ books for his library.

ΑΛΗΘΙΝΟΣ (‘HIGH QUALITY’) IN AMPHIS, FR. 26 AND OTHER LATE CLASSICAL AND EARLY HELLENISTIC AUTHORS

LSJ s.v. A defines ἀληθινός as meaning ‘truthful, trusty’ of persons and ‘true, genuine’ of objects, and offers Amphis, fr. 26 (preserved at Ath. Deipn. 2.57b and 7.277c, and identified in the latter passage as drawn from a play entitled Leukas) as an example of the second sense:ὅστις ἀγοράζων ὄψον <- x- ˘ ->ἐξὸν ἀπολαύειν ἰχθύων ἀληθινῶνῥαφανῖδας ἐπιθυμεῖ πρίασθαι, μαίνεταιAnyone who, when shopping for dainties …wants to purchase radishes, when he has a chanceto enjoy alêthinoi fish, is crazy.The context of the fragment is unknown. But the speaker is patently drawing a contrast not between ‘real fish’ and something that resembles fish (‘false fish’), as LSJ would have it, but between a type of fish that any sensible person would buy for dinner, should the opportunity arise, and radishes, which are edible but unexciting fare. So too at Macho 28–32, when King Ptolemy's guests were served a variegated rockfish (πετραίου … ποικίλου), three κωβιοί cut into steaks, and καράβων … ἀληθινῶν (29)—literally ‘real crayfish’—they were astonished and delighted. The reaction suggests that the banqueters were happy because the crayfish Ptolemy served matched the quality of the other seafood he set before them, not because the king had declined to deceive them (sc. by serving a different food disguised as crayfish).

THE HELLENISTIC BIG ROCK HUMAN HEAD FROM BULGARIA

The subject of this paper is the impressive in its size rock image of a human head from the rock sanctuary located in the area Gradishteto, near the modern village of Dolno Dryanovo, Blagoevgrad region, Bulgaria. The place in that area is defined as a prehistoric and Thracian rock sanctuary and one of the oldest megalithic sanctuaries in Southeastern Europe. The attention here is focused only to the big rock head from the sanctuary of Dolno Dryanovo and an attempt is made to identify this remarkable image as well as its dating, and also to answer the question – who exactly has ordered making it to this place. According to the detailed observations of the magnificent rock portrait image and having used the most suitable parallels, including gold and silver coins, as well as two marble portrait images and one made of a black basalt, kept respectively in three major world museums, the conclusion was formed, that the big rock human head from Bulgaria in fact is a magnificent portrait image of Ptolemy I Lagos, king of Hellenistic Egypt. According to the author of the paper here, this quite large in size and majestic rock portrait of the king of Hellenistic Egypt, Ptolemy I, was made in the lands of ancient Thrace by order of the king of the Celtic/Galatian kingdom in Thrace, Kavaros. Because it was already found that the king Kavaros was the grandson of Ptolemy I on the side of his mother. It was made around the middle of the 3 rd c. BC as an apotheosis of the king of Egypt. Only in this historical context can be explained making this grandiose rock portrait image of Ptolemy I in the lands of ancient Thrace – now in present-day Bulgaria. In fact, this is the greatest portrait image of the deified king Ptolemy I Soter, ever seen in the world.

Eratosthenes' Letter to Ptolemy: The Literary Mechanics of Empire

Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276–194 b.c.e.), the third head of the Alexandrian Library, sent a letter to King Ptolemy outlining his solution for the geometric problem, the doubling of the cube. Although traditionally the preserve of historians of mathematics, the text quotes from tragedy, recounts mathematical research at Plato's Academy, and concludes with an epigram. Here, I address each generic gesture and its particular audience and aim. This article reads the letter not only as a dynamic unified whole which innovatively integrates mathematics and literature, but as a text which lays out the mechanics of the Ptolemaic empire for its readership.

Der höchste Gott und König Ptolemaios IV. Philopator

Very few scholars have analyzed the image of God in 3Macc, and studies of the narrative unfolding of this picture are nearly completely missing. This article examines the structure of the plot and the main characters in order to show that in the four 'Erzahlbogen' present in the narrative the central opposition is not that of King Ptolemy versus the Jewish people, but that of King Ptolemy versus the God of the Jewish people. At the end of the account - and this is the event with the highest degree of 'Ereignishaftigkeit' - King Ptolemy acknowledges the power of Israel's God

THE PUN AND THE MOON IN THE SKY: ARATUS' ΛΕΠΤΗ ACROSTIC

Aratus has been notorious for his wordplay since the first decades of his reception. Hellenistic readers such as Callimachus, Leonidas, or ‘King Ptolemy’ seem to have picked up on the pun on the author's own name atPhaenomena2, as well as on the famous λεπτή acrostic atPhaen.783–6 that will be revisited here. Three carefully placed occurrences of the adjective have so far been uncovered in the passage, but for a full appreciation of its elegance we must note that Aratus has set his readers up to notice a fourth.

ERATOSTHENES’ MAP OF THE OECUMENE

Eratosthenes (circa 276 B.C.–194 B.C.) is considered a famous scientist of ancient Greece. He was a mathematician and geographer. Born in Cyrene, now Shahhat (Libya), he was appointed to teach the son of the Egyptian King Ptolemy III Euergetes. In 240 B.C., he became the third chief librarian the Great Library of Alexandria. Eratosthenes laid basics for mathematical geography. He was the first to calculate precisely in an original way the Earth meridian's length between Syene and Alexandria. For this purpose he used perpendicular projection of the sun rays during summer solstice (06.22) near the town Syene, now Aswan. His estimation of the length of the Earth's radius (6300 km) is close to present estimation (6371 km). He calculated that a year possesses 365.25 days. He also emphasized the significance of maps as the most important thing in geography. Eratosthenes was the first one to use the term “geographem” to describe the Earth. In this way he legitimized the term of geography. He also put into system geographical information from various sources in order to obtain a map of the world as precise as possible.

Les lecteurs anciens de laLettre d'Aristée

The Letter of Aristeas has been read by a great number of theologians since Philo of Alexandria. Its ancient readers give an interesting interpretation which has not been suspected by the modem commentators since Joseph Juste Scaliger. The Letter is neither an historical account of the translation of the Jewish law under King Ptolemy II Philadelphus nor an apology. It's a political pamphlet denouncing the tyrannical institutions devised by John Hyrcanus, High Priest in Jerusalem at the end of the 2nd century B.C.E. and head of a Jewish independent State emancipated from the Seleucid domination. It cannot be taken into account to prove that the Torah was translated into Greek at the beginning of the Hellenistic era.

Ptolemaic Agriculture, “Syrian Wheat”, and Triticum aestivum

We have identified bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum) via influorescence bract phytoliths (plant microfossils) recovered from two 2nd century bc storage jars found in an Egyptian administrative building in northern Israel. This suggests T. aestivum is a likely candidate for “Syrian wheat”, a previously unidentified cultivar mentioned in 3rd century bc papyri. This wheat was apparently introduced by King Ptolemy II but soon rejected by Egyptian farmers. Equating “Syrian wheat” with T. aestivum may explain its unpopularity. Unlike the long-cultivated and popular T. durum, whose genetic traits produce dense, heavy bread, the genetics of T. aestivum result in a lighter loaf that perhaps was unwelcome as a primary carbohydrate source.