Ptolemy II Philadelphus
309 BCE–246 BCE · Ptolemaic-Roman · Alexandria
Ptolemy II Philadelphus was the Ptolemaic king under whom Alexandria reached its cultural zenith. The Library and Museum flourished as the foremost centre of Greek scholarship in the world, and the great Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders, was completed in his reign. By long tradition, preserved in the partly-legendary Letter of Aristeas, it was under Ptolemy II that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Torah, was made for the Library; the Letter is itself a partly legendary source, and the actual circumstances of the translation are debated. He married his sister Arsinoe II, the source of his epithet 'Philadelphus' ('Sibling-loving'). His reign is the high point of Ptolemaic Alexandria.
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Alexandria
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His royal capital, where the Library, Museum, and Pharos flourished.
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