Ptolemy I Soter
367 BCE–282 BCE · Ptolemaic-Roman · Alexandria
Ptolemy I Soter was a Macedonian general of Alexander the Great who took control of Egypt as satrap after Alexander's death and then made himself king in 305 BCE, founding the Ptolemaic Dynasty that would rule Egypt for nearly three centuries. He established Alexandria as his capital and as a great centre of Greek learning, founding the Library and the Museum, and promoted the worship of Serapis, a syncretic god created to bridge Greek and Egyptian religion. Serapis is a Ptolemaic state cult rather than a god of pharaonic tradition, and Alexander himself belongs to the Greek tradition rather than to this Egyptian roster. Ptolemy's foundation begins the long Greek-Egyptian fusion of the Ptolemaic period.
Did you know?
A Greek family ruled Egypt for almost three centuries
Ptolemy I, a Macedonian-Greek general of Alexander the Great, made himself king of Egypt in 305 BCE. The Greek-speaking dynasty he founded, ruling from the new coastal capital of Alexandria, held the Egyptian throne until 30 BCE — a span of about 275 years, ending only with the death of Cleopatra VII, after which Egypt became a Roman province.
How we know
Ptolemy I Soter took the Egyptian crown in 305 BCE; the Ptolemaic dynasty ended with Cleopatra VII's death in 30 BCE — 305 − 30 = 275 years (conventional chronology).
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Alexandria
What they did here
The new Greek capital he made his royal seat and centre of learning.
In Alexandria at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Ptolemy I Soter’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
Nectanebo II (Senedjemibre / Nakhthorheb), Ptolemy II Philadelphus
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Ptolemy I Soter’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.