Ptolemaic Period (332 BC. to 30 BC)

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Macedonian King - Alexandria

  • In 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.


    Alexander The Great
    332-323 BC.


    Ptolemaic Dynasty

  • After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his commander Ptolemy I Soter founded the Ptolemaic State in Egypt
  • Alexandria the capital city became a center of the Hellenistic civilization.
  • Ptolemy II 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 II, 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,
  • Starting from Ptolemy IV Philopater rule, the Dynasty decline continued and the empire was lost
  • In 30 BC during the reign of Cleopatra VII, Rome won the Battle of Actium, bringing the Ptolemaic period to an end
  • Egypt became a Roman province.

    Ptolemy I Soter
    323 - 285 BC.
    Ptolemy II Philadelphus
    285 - 246 BC.
    Ptolemy III Euergetes
    246 - 222 BC.
    Ptolemy IV Philopater
    222 - 205 BC.
    Ptolemy V Epiphanes
    205 - 180 BC.
    Ptolemy VI Philometor
    180 - 145 BC.
    Ptolemy VIII Physcon
    145 - 116 BC.
    Cleopatra III & Ptolemy IX Soter II
    116 - 107 BC.
    Cleopatra III & Ptolemy X Alexander I
    107 - 81 BC.
    Cleopatra Berenice
    81 - 80 BC.
    Ptolemy XI Alexander II
    80 BC.
    Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos
    80 - 58 BC.
    55 - 51 BC.
    Berenice IV
    58 - 55 BC.
    Cleopatra VII
    51 - 30 BC.
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    Page last updated: 15 Feb 2008
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