DynastiesPtolemaic Period (332-30 BC)
Macedonian Kingdom
- Persian invaders occupied Egypt in the sixth century BC until 332 BC
- Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and entered Egypt, he was welcomed as the son of the god Amun.
- He founded a new city on the shores of the Mediterranean, Alexandria.
- King of Macedonia
Ptolemaic Dynasty
- After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his commander Ptolemy 1 Soter founded the Ptolemaic State in Egypt
- Egypt became one of the great powers of the Hellenistic world, at various times extending its rule over parts of Syria, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Libya and Phoenicia.
- Ptolemy 2 set up empire in Aegean sea, Nubia and Syria
- The ancient canal that linked the Gulf of Suez to the Nile was re-dug by Ptolemy 2, and a caravan route linking the Nile to the Red Sea was set.
- Vast areas of land were reclaimed, planted grapes and olives in Fayum. - Trade boomed due to Egypt's strategic location and Alexandria became a great trade center of the Hellenistic civilization
- Starting from Ptolemy 4 Philopater rule, the Dynasty decline continued and the empire was lost
- In 30 BC during the reign of Cleopatra 7, Rome won the Battle of Actium, bringing the Ptolemaic period to an end and Egypt became a Roman province.
- Pharaohs of the Ptolemaic Dynasty
