After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E, Ptolemy I established control over Egypt, leading to the dawn of the Ptolemaic dynasty’s dominion. The Ptolemies then went on to rule Egypt for almost three centuries, creating a Hellenistic Egypt that became the intellectual and cultural center of the Mediterranean. The family, which was of Macedonian aristocratic descent, took advantage of Ptolemy I’s connection to Alexander and their possession of his body, in one historian’s words, to buy themselves “ a legitimacy-conferring past, the ancient-world equivalent of the mail-order coat of arms” .
Ancient Egypt, before the arrival of the Ptolemies, had numerous female rulers who ruled as pharaoh. In Cleopatra: The Last Queen of Egypt, Joyce Tyldesley notes, “among the thousands of queens were many consorts of immense influence and power, and at least three queens regnant who were accepted by their people as semi divine female kings.” During the reign of Ptolemy II, the native priest Manetho, who had been commissioned to compile a list of every pharaoh till date, listed no less than five female pharaohs including Hatshepsut and Nefertiti . Thus, it was not difficult for various queens of the Ptolemaic dynasty to gain and retain power in equal measure as that of their male counterparts. One of these queens, Arsinoë II, wife of Ptolemy II, was a queen of many firsts, including being the first Egyptian queen to have her own coinage (pictured below), the first Ptolemaic queen to “wear the double uraeus…and the first to design her own Egyptian style crown.”
Cleopatra I, who “became a goddess in her own lifetime, taking the title Thea, and was the first queen to mint her own coins” was another example of a powerful Ptolemai...
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...oddess of the moon, equally associated the younger Cleopatra with Isis, for she was the queen of heaven and therefore linked with the moon. Selene’s counterpart, Helios, was the sun to her moon, and was associated with Egypt’s solar cults, such as that of Horus. The links to Isis did not end there. Plutarch reports “Cleopatra on this occasion [the Donations of Alexandria] as on others, wore the sacred garment of Isis and bore the title the New Isis.” Dio confirms this in his Roman History, where he states that Antony and Cleopatra appeared in portraits and sculptures as Osiris and Isis . The title of New Isis reflects Cleopatra III, the first full incarnation of Isis and pays homage to her father, Ptolemy XII, the New Dionysus. Clearly, Cleopatra used all facets of Isis - mother, wife, and goddess – to establish and reinforce her position as supreme ruler of Egypt.
Hatshepsut was born to Ahmose and Tuthmosis I, who was pharaoh at the time. Tuthmosis I and Ahmose also gave birth to two sons, both of whom died, leaving Hatshepsut as the only heir to the throne. It is unknown whether her parents raised her to become the pharaoh or not, but she grew up and married her half-brother, Tuthmosis II. Marrying within your family was a regular practice in royal families because it kept blood lines intact. Tuthmosis II and Hatshepsut had a daughter together named Neferure. Hatshepsut’s father died when she was very young, probably around 15 years old. Tuthmosis II took over, but only ruled for about three or four years, when he died from what is believed to be a skin disease. After his death, Tuthmosis the III, Hatshepsut’s stepson, was still too young to rule, which led to her ruling as Queen’s Regent. Her charismatic personality and group of followers led to her fully becoming pharaoh about seven years into Tuthmosis III’s rule. While having a female pharaoh was not unprecedented, Hatshepsut was the first to take on the f...
In Ancient Egypt there were over 29 Kings and Pharaohs and over 5 Queens. Some of the most famous kings and queens were: Ramses II, Ramses III, King Tut, Cleopatra, and Nefertiti.
During the Macedonian dynasty, Cleopatra took her reign in Egypt and became a powerful and successful leader. During her reign, she faced many problems, but worked it through and soon it was resolved. When Cleopatra first became ruler of Egypt many believed she wouldn’t be able to do it because she was a woman, was weak, and that she “wasn’t smart.” Her full name was Cleopatar VII Thea Philopator. According to Biography.com, “Cleopatra was born in about 69 BC and died around 30 BC.” Also according to HISTORY.com, “ Cleopatra’s parents were Ptolemy VII and Cleopatra V Tryphaena.” She had many siblings, but some unknown. Some of Cleopatra’s siblings are supposedly Ptomely XIII and Ptomely XIV.
Before Hatshepsut, there were other woman who attempted to rule over Egypt. Every time a woman came to power, there was some sort of problem that was left for them to solve. Unlike Hatshepsut, the other woman did not have any confidence to name themselves pharaoh and they did not grow up in the royal family like Hatshepsut did. In paragraph 13, it states, “A few women had tried to rule Egypt before, but never would search valid claim to the throne,” and, “These women had not ruled long or well and neither had had the audacity to proclaim herself pharaoh.” These quotes explain that Hatshepsut was recognized for taking power at a good time and not stepping
The Ptolemaic Dynasty was successful in Egypt overall, although not successful enough to last. Rome took the place of the Ptolemies and began trying to create a state that was more successful than their predecessor. To do this, the Romans maintained some things the Ptolemies were doing, yet changed others. This paper argues that the Romans changed the Ptolemaic administrative system by giving the military a much more active role while maintaining its reliance on local educated Greeks, also arguing that the Romans maintained the social identity of Egypt as an agricultural base while adding a Roman status aspect to the social structure.
Arsinoe of Egypt and Macedon by Elizabeth Donnelly Carney is an analysis of Arsinoe II during the Hellenistic Period of ancient Greece. In this book, readers read about Arsinoe II who is a woman who became a part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. She is known to have promoted gender equality, since other countries outside of Egypt did not think women should be on the same level as men. Especially in Greece, the role of women was to stay in the shadows of the men. In her book, Carney shows how Arsinoe II was able to build a strong reputation for herself through her marriage to Ptolemy II, colleagues and very tight nit family. With her strong reputation was she then able to show the small world at that time that women were capable of being just
Ancient Egypt is home to one of the greatest female pharaoh. Queen Hatshepsut. She was the first female pharaoh and did great things.
Stacy Schiff author of Cleopatra strives through her book to denounce all historical myths surrounding Cleopatra. With the rigor of a true historian she is able to distinguish historical veracity from historical myth surrounding the queen from antiquity. The author highlights Cleopatra’s role as a powerful woman and in particular how she attempts to manage the various political or economic predicaments she faced. Stacy Schiff gives us a story that is masterfully reconstructed, allowing the reader insight into the historical context of the time- shedding new light on a woman whose greatest fault was not being a man.
In the Ptolemaic Period, Egyptians represented Osiris as the god of the dead and the judge of the underworld. Osiris was the brother of Nepthys and Seth. He, the father of Horus, was also the brother and the husband of Isis. His brother, Seth, was aggravated. Seth’s jealousy towards Osiris led him to murder his brother; however, Osiris was revived by his wife, Isis. In Legion of Honor, when I saw the sculpture, “Head of King as Osiris,” it reminded me of “Head of Senusret III,” since they are both statues of ancient Egyptian kings. However, the time periods, facial expressions, and details of the two sculptures were different. Therefore, I decided to compare the two sculptures for this essay.
Queen Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful females in Ancient Egyptian history. Not only was she the longest reigning female pharaoh in all of Egypt, but she made lasting impacts on the nation during and far after her reign. Although she was a woman, and this type of power had never been given to a woman before, she is considered one of Egypt's most successful pharaohs.
The woman, by definition is the nurturer of life. She labors through birth, tends to the needs of her family, and assumes unending responsibilities. And while women have given birth to the ancient and modern day male heroes we've come to glorify to this day, we must remember that some of those same women have also been tremendously influential and invaluable all throughout the depths of history. One such woman is Cleopatra, the temptress whose ambition and seduction both augmented her empire's prestige and brought about her theatrical downfall.
During the time of Ancient Egypt, having strong Pharaohs was essential to the maintenance and growth of the civilization, as the Pharaohs were believed to be living Gods. Although leadership of Ancient Egypt was often male dominated, there were admirable female Pharaohs who successfully gained power and left behind a positive legacy; one woman to achieve this was Hatshepsut, meaning ‘foremost of female nobles’. Her innovation and determination allowed her to maintain her position of Pharaoh for about twenty years (1479-1458 BCE). Hatshepsut was considered to be a very successful leader because of her confidence and ambition, magnificent building projects, and establishment of a strong trading network.
The Hellenistic period started when Alexander died in about 320 BCE and continued approximately three eras, pending the dual killing of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and her Roman partner Mark Antony in 30 BCE after their pivotal overthrow at the combat of Actium by Antony’s opponent Augustus. During that time, Augustus made Egypt a jurisdiction of the Roman Empire. The cultural centers of the Hellenistic period were the court cities of the Greek royals who succeeded Alexander and distributed his widespread empire among themselves. The language which was used was Greek, what unified the Hellenistic world was an international culture. Their monarchs became very fortunate on the riches of the East, priding themselves of their art collections, libraries, innovation of the sciences, and expertise as critics and aficionados, and on the educated men they could bring together at their courts. The larger-than-life-size Greek Head of Poseidon bronze statute is undisputedly a masterwork of the ancient times, the Hellenistic period. The figures were central points of sanctuaries and important civic places, and they served as models and muse for the classical figurines known today. The Head of Poseidon statue is very appealing with its fine facial bone structure, full open mouth, deep-set eyes, and decorative curls of hair and wavy beard. The windswept curls are barely bound by the crown.
Around 69 B.C, one of the most famous female rulers ever known was born, she was Cleopatra. She was the descendent of the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy XII, and she would eventually become the queen of ancient Egypt herself. She was known for being extremely intelligent and very charming, and because of this many romans feared her and viewed her as a threat. When her father died the throne of Egypt was left to her and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, and rivalry formed between the two, making her even more determined to become the sole ruler of Egypt. Cleopatra had trained all her life to be the successor of Egypt, and she hungered for power.
In this paper we will answer some key questions on the “Hellenistic Period”. The questions that we will be tackling are, why did the “Hellenistic Period”, following the conquests of Alexander Great, “became a melting pot of cultures” (Sources, 56)? What do we mean by “Hellenization”? Finally, what happened when classical Greek culture met and mixed with Persian, Egyptian and Jewish cultures and religions?