Ptolemaic Kingdom: Map & History
The Ptolemaic Kingdom or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Egypt during the Hellenistic period.
Wikipedia Encyclopedic Compendium
Historiographical synthesis & structured realm registry
The Ptolemaic Kingdom or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander the Great, and was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC.
Modern Countries Once Part of Ptolemaic Kingdom
At its mapped extent, Ptolemaic Kingdom covered territory in 20 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Afghanistan326–324 BCE · nearly all
- Cyprus307–31 BCE · nearly all
- North Macedonia281–31 BCE · nearly all
- Iraq326–324 BCE · nearly all
- Iran326–324 BCE · most
- Syria331–31 BCE · most
- Tajikistan326–324 BCE · most
- Egypt331–28 BCE · most
- Lebanon331–31 BCE · most
- Pakistan326–324 BCE · most
- Palestine331–198 BCE · most
- Israel331–198 BCE · most
- Greece291–31 BCE · most
- Turkey331–31 BCE · most
- Jordan331–31 BCE · a large part
- Turkmenistan326–324 BCE · a large part
- Albania281–31 BCE · a large part
- Uzbekistan326–324 BCE · a large part
- Libya291–31 BCE · a small part
- India326–324 BCE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Ptolemaic Kingdom's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Ptolemaic Kingdom in Depth
History
The Ptolemaic reign in Egypt is one of the best-documented time periods of the Hellenistic era, due to a wealth of surviving papyri and ostraca written in Koine Greek and Egyptian.
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, conquered Egypt, which at the time was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire later called Egypt's Thirty-first Dynasty. He visited Memphis, and travelled to the oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis. The oracle declared him to be the son of Amun.
Alexander conciliated the Egyptians by the respect he showed for their religion, but he appointed Macedonians to virtually all the senior posts in the country, and founded a new Greek city, Alexandria, to be the new capital. The wealth of Egypt could now be harnessed for Alexander's conquest of the rest of the Achaemenid Empire.
Military
The military of Ptolemaic Egypt is considered to have been one of the best of the Hellenistic period, benefiting from the kingdom's vast resources and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. The Ptolemaic military initially served a defensive purpose, primarily against competing diadochi claimants and rival Hellenistic states like the Seleucid Empire. By the reign of Ptolemy III (246 to 222 BC), its role was more imperialistic, helping extend Ptolemaic control or influence over Cyrenaica, Coele-Syria, and Cyprus, as well as over cities in Anatolia, southern Thrace, the Aegean islands, and Crete.
Economy
Egypt's abundant agricultural resources, deep tradition of relatively stable centralised government, and geographic location made it an important trade axis between the Mediterranean, Near East, and Horn of Africa for at least a millennium. Building upon this strong foundation, the Ptolemies profoundly reshaped the Egyptian economy through the promotion of Greek settlement and investment, the founding of Alexandria as a commercial hub, and the integration of Hellenistic institutions. The dynasty sought to maximize resource extraction by tightly regulating virtually all economic activity through a complex and hierarchical bureaucracy nominally directed by the crown.
Culture
Ptolemy I, perhaps with advice from Demetrius of Phalerum, founded the Library of Alexandria, a research centre located in the royal sector of the city. Its scholars were housed in the same sector and funded by Ptolemaic rulers. The chief librarian served also as the crown prince's tutor. For the first hundred and fifty years of its existence, the library drew the top Greek scholars from all over the Hellenistic world. It was a key academic, literary and scientific centre in antiquity.
Greek culture had a long but minor presence in Egypt long before Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria. It began when Greek colonists, encouraged by many Pharaohs, set up the trading post of Naucratis.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Ptolemaic Kingdom (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Ptolemaic Kingdom: Key Facts
| Capital | Alexandria |
|---|---|
| Founded | 305 BCE |
| Dissolved | 30 BCE |
Succeeded by
- Roman Egypt
Facts from Wikidata Q2320005 (CC0).
Ptolemaic Kingdom Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Ptolemaic Kingdom appears, with the other states of the time.
Ptolemaic Kingdom Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 4,829,751 km² in 325 BCE.
Ptolemaic Kingdom: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Ptolemaic Kingdom exist?
The Ptolemaic Kingdom is dated to 331 BCE – 28 BCE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
What was the capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom?
The capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom was Alexandria.
How large was the Ptolemaic Kingdom at its peak?
At its peak in 325 BC the Ptolemaic Kingdom covered about 4,829,751 km².
How did the map of the Ptolemaic Kingdom change over time?
The Ptolemaic Kingdom appears on 2 dated world maps in the atlas, from 200 BCE to 100 BCE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.