General Notes

Born/Died ca. 330-283 BCE
Ptolemy I or Soter Ptolemy, King of Egypt for the period 323 until 285
BC, as well as founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Ptolemy's position as a king, dated back to his role as one of Alexander
the Great's nearest generals. At Alexander's death in 323, Ptolemy was
put in charge of one third of the total ringdom: Cyrenaica and Egypt,
through the position as governor (satrap).

Even if he took the name Soter, 'preserver', his main role through the 38
years in position, was to establish foundations for his own rule,
foundations that were not there from the beginning. This battle was
fought by both placing his own men all around Egypt, as well as adhere to
the religious and cultural traditions of Egypt. The Egyptians did not
accept this without protests, but all in all, Ptolemy had a fair amount
of success.

Ptolemy's other concern was on the international scene, where he fought
several wars against ofher Macedonian rulers. He got control over regions
like Cyrenaica and Palestine, held control over Cyprus. At the time of
his abdication, all areas was under firm control. Ptolemy was in charge
of the development of trade routes with remote areas like India, East
Africa as well as the Mediterranean region.

Among Ptolemy's most important achievements was to make Alexandria the
capital of his rule, as well as to found the fabled Library of
Alexandria, which became the centre for much of the contemporary science.
Ptolemy declared himself king in 305, but in real power this was without
importance. He abdicated for his own son in 285.

Ptolemaic dynasty
Pharaonic dynasty in Ancient Egypt, lasting for a period of 297 years,
from 323 BC until 30 BC, when it was ended by Roman annexation.
The founder of the dynasty was the Macedonian general Ptolemy, who became
governor after the death of Alexander the Great. At first he controlled
Egypt as a region, but he made himself an independent ruler from 305.
The Ptolemaic dynasty was marked by little territorial expansion, even if
the neighbour regions of Cyrenaica and Palestine, as well as Cyprus were
at times under their control. Egypt experienced at first a positive
economical period, as the first Ptolemaic rulers developed wide scale
administrative systems in Egypt. The Ptolemies followed Egyptian customs,
and soon became contributors to the country's culture. The later rulers
faced more problems, nationalism was growing, and public protests became
more frequent.
All male rulers of this dynasty, were named Ptolemy, but the most famous
of the rulers, was Cleopatra. The end of the Ptolemaic dynasty came after
a period of weak rulers, as well as the close relations that Cleaopatra
had with Rome.
Source: Encyclopedia of the Orient

BCE

BCE