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 writer and a patron of science, letters and arts. Among his greatest achievements is 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

Letter of Aristeas

Josephus, Jewish Antiquities

Ant XII 1:1 -- Now when Alexander, king of Macedon... ended his life... his government fell among many, Antigonus obtained Asia, Seleucus Babylon; and of the other nations which were there, Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander possessed Macedonia; as did Ptolemy the son of Lagus seize upon Egypt. And while these princes ambitiously strove one against another, every one for his own principality, it came to pass that there were continual wars, and those lasting wars too; and the cities were sufferers, and lost a great many of their inhabitants in these times of distress, insomuch that all Syria, by the means of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, underwent the reverse of that denomination of Savior (=Soter), which he then had. He also seized upon Jerusalem, and for that end made use of deceit and treachery; for as he came into the city on a sabbath day, as if he would offer sacrifices (1) he, without any trouble, gained the city, while the Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy; and he gained it thus, because they were free from suspicion of him, and because on that day they were at rest and quietness; and when he had gained it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. Nay, Agatharchides of Cnidus, who wrote the acts of Alexander's successors, reproaches us with superstition, as if we, by it, had lost our liberty; where he says thus: "There is a nation called the nation of the Jews, who inhabit a city strong and great, named Jerusalem. These men took no care, but let it come into the hands of Ptolemy, as not willing to take arms, and thereby they submitted to be under a hard master, by reason of their unseasonable superstition." This is what Agatharchides relates of our nation. But when Ptolemy had taken a great many captives, both from the mountainous parts of Judea, and from the places about Jerusalem and Samaria, and the places near Mount Gerizzim, he led them all into Egypt, and settled them there. And as he knew that the people of Jerusalem were most faithful in the observation of oaths and covenants; and this from the answer they made to Alexander, when he sent an embassage to them, after he had beaten Darius in battle; so he distributed many of them into garrisons, and at Alexandria gave them equal privileges of citizens with the Macedonians themselves; and required of them to take their oaths, that they would keep their fidelity to the posterity of those who committed these places to their care. Nay, 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.

Josephus, Against Apion

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.

Related categories

External links

• Wikipedia