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Late in Egypt’s New Kingdom period, the ancient civilization came under the domination of foreign invaders. In the seventh century B.C.E. the Assyrians ruled Egypt, so weakening the local culture that the Egyptians could not withstand the onslaught of the Libyans or the Empire of Kush. When the Persians took over in the sixth century B.C.E., Egypt chafed under their rule, though Persia was more lenient than were other empires that had conquered the Nile Valley. When Alexander the Great entered the country in 331 B.C.E., the locals viewed him as a liberator and welcomed him without resistance. Alexander’s rule proved short, but Greek rule did not; Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals, succeeded to the Egyptian throne on his leader’s death in 323 B.C.E. Ptolemy and his heirs ruled Egypt for three centuries, until they succumbed to the power of Rome.
Having served as governor for Egypt under Alexander’s administration, Ptolemy declared himself the independent ruler of Egypt in 305 B.C.E., taking the regnal name of Ptolemy I Soter (meaning “preserver”). He ruled as pharaoh, the divine leader recognized by Egyptian culture for two millennia. This may not have endeared him to the Egyptians, but at least it made his rule acceptable.
Ptolemy I Soter fought with his fellow successor generals, the Diodachi (Seleucus and Antigonus), who had each inherited a third of Alexander’s empire. He maintained almost constant conflict with the Seleucids, in particular, over control of Syria and the eastern Mediterranean coast, and he managed to establish control over Rhodes and Palestine. Most famous for establishing the Library of Alexandria, Ptolemy I Soter resigned in favor of his son in 285. Ptolemy II Philadelphus (meaning “brotherly”) continued his father’s wars with the Seleucids. He established Egypt as the major maritime power of the Mediterranean at the expense of the Seleucid king Antiochus I. He also followed in his father’s academic footsteps by enlarging the Alexandrian Library and sponsoring literary and scholarly endeavors. He was also responsible for the Pharos, or great lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. His reign of nearly 40 years made Egypt the cultural center of its time. He was outdone only by his own son, Ptolemy III Euergertes (meaning “benefactor”), who reunited Cyrenaica (modern Libya) with Egypt and invaded Syria. Egyptian naval power grew to dominate the Aegean Sea. Ptolemy Euergertes spent even more time and money improving the library and patronizing the arts, making his 25-year reign the height of Ptolemaic power and prestige.
Successive rulers of the dynasty made alternate peace and war with the successors of the other Diodachi, as each attempted to match the empire founded by Alexander. Though they brought wealth and fame to their own spheres of influence, they could not match Alexander’s military accomplishments. Frontiers moved back and forth, but the Ptolemies usually maintained control of African territory even when they occasionally ceded authority across the Suez. The Ptolemies maintained their Greek heritage by following the Egyptian practice of family intermarriage. It was a brother-sister/husband-wife combination who controlled Egypt in the middle of the first century B.C.E. when Julius Caesar focused Roman attention on the Egypt of Cleopatra and Ptolemy XII.
Though the Ptolemies could not be considered cruel masters, their three centuries of rule certainly did not benefit the common inhabitant in Egypt. Almost constant warfare cost significant tax money and necessitated conscription for public service, which the commoners were obliged to provide. The cultural advancements typified by the Library of Alexandria benefited only the upper classes. However, the Ptolemies maintained strict observance of Egyptian religious rites, and provided a steady flow of money to the temples for maintenance and improvement, which kept the people relatively quiet, if not happy. Rebellion was always close at hand, but the Egyptian people never had the power to defeat their Greek masters. The takeover of the country proved almost as easy for Rome as it had for Alexander, but the locals viewed them as new masters rather than liberators.
