Category:Ptolemy I Soter (subject)
Ptolemy I Soter was the ruler of Egypt, from 323 BCE to 283 BCE.
Overview
Ptolemy was one of Alexander the Great's most trusted generals in the conquest of the Persian empire. After the death of Alexander, he was appointed satrap of Egypt under the frail king Philip Arrhidaeus and the infant Alexander IV. Ptolemy consolidated his power in Egypt and moved to the conquest of Cyrenaica and the land of Israel. After the death of Philip Arrhidaeus in 317 BCE and the assassination of the young Alexander IV in 309 BCE, Ptolemy emerged as the unchallenged ruler of Egypt and the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Ptolemy was a patron of science, letters and arts, and a writer himself. Among his greatest achievements was the founding of the Library of Alexandria.
Ptolemy died an old man in 283 BCE, leaving his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus as his successor.
Ptolemy I Soter and the Jews
After a series of military campaigns, Ptolemy I finally secured the possession of the land of Israel in 301 BCE.
The attitude of Jewish sources toward Ptolemy is somehow ambiguous. On one hand, Josephus says that Ptolemy conquered Jerusalem by "deceit and treachery," taking advantage of the Jews' prohibition of fighting on Sabbath, and "ruled over it in a cruel manner." Ptolemy punished and weakened the pro-Seleucid party by mass-deportations to Egypt. On the other hand, Ptolemy confirmed the right of the Jews to live according to their laws and "at Alexandria gave them equal privileges of citizens with the Macedonians themselves." As a result, "there were not a few other Jews who, of their own accord, went into Egypt, as invited by the goodness of the soil, and by the liberality of Ptolemy."
Ptolemy I Soter in Second Temple sources
Ptolemy I Soter in Scholarship
Ptolemy I Soter in Fiction
Ptolemy I is a character in several fictional narratives, centered in particular on the live of Alexander the Great. However, no reference is made about his relationship with the Jews.
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