Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 bce)

Question 1

The Macedonian conquest

Answer 1

• In the autumn of 332 bce Alexander the Great invaded Egypt with his mixed army of Macedonians and Greeks and found the Egyptians ready to throw off the oppressive control of the Persians. Alexander was welcomed by the Egyptians as a liberator and took the country without a battle.
• Alexander left Egypt in the spring of 331 bce, having divided the military command between Balacrus, son of Amyntas, and Peucestas, son of Makartatos
• When Alexander died in 323 bce and his generals divided his empire

Question 2

The Ptolemaic dynasty

Answer 2

• Until the day when he openly assumed an independent kingship as Ptolemy I Soter, on November 7, 305 bce, Ptolemy used only the title satrap of Egypt, but the great hieroglyphic Satrap stela, which he had inscribed in 311 bce, indicates a degree of self-confidence that transcends his viceregal role
• Egypt was ruled by Ptolemy’s descendants until the death of Cleopatra VII on August 12, 30 bce

Question 3

The Ptolemies (305–145 bce)

Answer 3

• The first 160 years of the Ptolemaic dynasty are conventionally seen as its most prosperous era
• important agricultural innovations in this period. New crops were introduced, and massive irrigation works brought under cultivation a great deal of new land

Question 4

Dynastic strife and decline (145–30 bce)

Answer 4

• During the last century of Ptolemaic rule, Egypt’s independence was exercised under Rome’s protection and at Rome’s discretion

Question 5

Government and conditions under the Ptolemies

Answer 5

• land’s resources were harnessed with unparalleled efficiency, with the result that Egypt became the wealthiest of the Hellenistic kingdoms
• Land under cultivation was increased, and new crops were introduced

Question 6

Administration

Answer 6

• Directly below the monarch were a handful of powerful officials whose authority extended over the entire land: a chief finance minister, a chief accountant, and a chancery of ministers in charge of records, letters, and decrees
• military was inevitably integrated into civilian life because its soldiers were also farmers who enjoyed royal grants of land

Question 7

Economy

Answer 7

• basis of Egypt’s legendary wealth was the highly productive land, which technically remained in royal ownership
• One fundamental and far-reaching Ptolemaic innovation was the systematic monetarization of the economy.

Question 8

Religion

Answer 8

• powerful supporters of the native Egyptian religious foundations, the economic and political power of which was, however, carefully controlled.
• native traditions persisted in village temples and local cults, many having particular associations with species of sacred animals or birds

Question 9

Culture

Answer 9

• artistic tradition is clearly and abundantly expressed in the temple architecture and the sculpture of the Ptolemaic period
• Egyptian language continued to be used in its hieroglyphic and demotic forms until late in the Roman period, and it survived through the Byzantine period and beyond in the form of Coptic
• written sources offer little direct evidence of ethnic discrimination by Greeks against Egyptians, but Greek and Egyptian consciousness of the Greeks’ social and economic superiority comes through strongly from time to time; intermarriage was one means, though not the only one, by which Egyptians could better their status and Hellenize
• Alexandrian achievement in scientific fields was also enormous. Great advances were made in pure mathematics, mechanics, physics, geography, and medicine