Learn about the founding of the Ptolemaic Dynasty.
Pharaohs were considered divine incarnations of the gods. As an avatar of the gods living on earth, the pharaoh's role was to preserve fundamental values and universal harmony by removing chaos, isfet, and ensure that justice, maat, prevailed.
The pharaoh, by divine ancestry and through multiple offerings, was the bond that unites the world of men to the world of the gods and allows the maintenance of the cosmic order.
The Ptolemaic dynasty reigned over Egypt from 305 BCE to 30 BCE.
The dynasty was called the Ptolemies of the Lagides in recognition of the founder of the Dynasty, Ptolemy Lagos, a Greek general and close friend of Alexander the Great.
While Macedonian, Ptolemy Lagos understood that to be accepted by the Egyptian people, he would have to adopt their traditions. Upon assuming the title of pharaoh he changed his name to Ptolemy I Soter, meaning "savior."
Born in 356 BCE, Alexander the Great went through a hasty education in the affairs of the kingdom before integrating into the Macedonian army, where he quickly rose through the ranks.
After his father's assassination in 336 BCE, which some believed was orchestrated by Alexander himself, he became king of Macedonia.
Ruler of a unified kingdom and leader of a large army, Alexander set his sights on conquest. Eager to reclaim Greek cities of Asia Minor, he took on the Persian forces, earning victory after victory.
Ever victorious, Alexander the Great marched on, laying siege to city after city, until he reached Egypt, where the Persians were defeated yet again.
Viewed as a liberator by the Egyptian people, Alexander decided to become pharaoh in blue form. He traveled to Thebes to make a sacrifice to Apis, then went to the oasis of Siwa, where he was proclaimed son of Ammon.
Officialy pharaoh of Egypt, Alexander spent much of the winter there, and founded the city of Alexandria.
Perhaps not coincidentally, being pharaoh allowed Alexander to spread propaganda to prepare further conquests. He resumed his military campaigns in 331 BCE.
On his deathbed in 323 BCE, Alexander the Great gifted the satrapy of Egypt to Ptolemy Lagos.
Perfectly aware of the value of Egypt, Ptolemy ensured not only the stability of the country's borders, but also its economic and military development. At the same time, he worked with the Egyptian elite to maintain the interal order of the country.
By 305 BCE, Ptolemy, well respected both in Egypt and in the Mediterranean, was at the head of the largest fleet of the Hellenistic world.
Ptolemy officially took the title of pharaoh of Egypt in January 304 BCE, on the anniversary of Alexander the Great's death.
Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE. His remains were placed first in a solid gold sarcophagus, and then within another.
The casket was carried in a an ornate custom wagon, glided and set with precious stones and pulled by sixty-four mules crowned in gold. The funeral procession was diverted to a grandiose temple in Alexandria built in the conqueror's honor, under the orders of Ptolemy I.
Julius Caesar visited Alexander's tomb at the capture of Alexandria, and the Roman Emperor Augustus reported placed flowers there.
However, though many powerful leaders claimed to have visited it, the tomb's location has gone missing from history.
Some accounts do state that the golden coffin was replaced by a glass sarcophagus, probably by Ptolemy X. It is also implied that Cleopatra may have plundered the tomb in a time of financial crisis.