Ptolemy: Did you mean...?

A digital story created by Cameron Heagney and Aden Stephenson as part of the module The Hellenistic World 2021.

Berenike IV (r. 58-55 BCE) was queen of Ptolemaic Egypt and the older sister of Cleopatra VII (r. 51-30 BCE). She ruled briefly after her father Ptolemy XII was overthrown by a popular rebellion. Berenike IV's reign ended in 55 BCE when her...

Berenice II Euergetis (c. 267-221 BCE) was a pre-eminent Hellenistic queen, who ruled together with her husband Ptolemy III (r. 246-221 BCE), when the Ptolemaic kingdom was at the height of its power, dominating most of the eastern Mediterranean...

This limestone portrait from the Early Ptolemaic Period (323-246 BCE) depicts either Ptolemy I or Ptolemy II of Egypt. Exact provenance is unknown. (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto)

A marble bust of King Ptolemy of Mauretania (c. 10 BCE - c. 40 CE). Ptolemy was the son of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene II, making him a descendant of both the Berber rulers of Numidia and the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. Through his mother...

Two thirds of this stela were lost due to reuse as building material. It documents a royal visit to Elephantine. Ptolemy IX and Cleopatra III, his mother and co-regent, granted privileges to the priests of Khnum, a local ram god. The scene...

Two coins issued by Ptolemy I: 1) A portrait of the deified Alexander the Great wearing an elephant scalp on his head, with a ram’s horn over his temple, and an aegis (sacred fleece) over his shoulder; on the reverse Athena Alcidemus, the...

These early 3rd-century BCE bronze statues from Alexandria, Egypt, portray the royal Ptolemaic couple Ptolemy II Philadelphus ("The Sibling-Loving") and Arsinoe II Philadelphus. Ptolemy II is wearing the scalp of an elephant, possibly symbolic...

A gold stater minted by King Ptolemy Keraunos of Macedon (r. 281 - 279 BCE). The coin was minted c. 280 - 279 BCE in Lysimachia, Thrace. It is a rare minting from Ptolemy Keraunos' brief reign as King of Macedon, and even briefer period of...

This massive gold coin weighing approximately 27.7-8 grams was known as an octadrachm (equivalent in worth to 8 drachmae). Under the Ptolemies, mints in cities like Alexandria and Ptolemais produced ever larger denominations in gold, silver...