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Greek Gold from Hellenistic Egypt by Michael Pfrommer. NOTE: We have 75,000 books in our library, almost 10,000 different titles. Odds are we have other copies of this same title in varying conditions, some less expensive, some better condition. We might also have different editions as well (some paperback, some hardcover, oftentimes international editions). If you don’t see what you want, please contact us and ask. We’re happy to send you a summary of the differing conditions and prices we may have for the same title. DESCRIPTION: Softcover. Publisher: J. Paul Getty Museum (2001). Pages: 90. Size: 9¼ x 7½ inches; 1 pound. In the Hellenistic period, the Greek world enjoyed great prosperity after Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire made vast resources of gold available for the first time. The various royal courts of Alexander’s successors, including the Ptolemies in Egypt, comprised a wealthy clientele with a taste for luxury. The group of gold jewelry discussed here-including earrings, finger rings, bracelets, beads, and a hairnet-consists of seventeen spectacular pieces from the Getty Museum. The author takes us on a journey through three centuries, beginning about B.C. 350, from the empire-building Alexander to the beguilingly ambitious Cleopatra VII. This sweep through the turbulent history of the eastern Mediterranean gives a picture of the Greek-Egyptian blending of religion and art. The author demonstrates how the symbolism of dynastic power plays a central role in the interpretation of each object and in understanding the assemblage as a whole. Discussing their style, iconography, and craftsmanship, he convincingly places the jewelry in late third-century-B.C. Ptolemaic Egypt and argues for the original owner’s royal connections. CONDITION: NEW. New oversized softcover. J. Paul Getty Museum (2001) 90 pages. Still in publisher’s wraps. Unblemished, unmarked, pristine in every respect. Pages are pristine; clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! Meticulous and accurate descriptions! Selling rare and out-of-print ancient history books on-line since 1997. We accept returns for any reason within 30 days! #3106a. PLEASE SEE DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES BELOW FOR DETAILED REVIEWS AND FOR PAGES OF PICTURES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK. PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW. PUBLISHER REVIEWS: REVIEW: Because the true provenance of this splendid gold jewelry in the J. Paul Getty Museum is unknown, the mystery of exactly what it is must be solved. Why are these lovely ornaments called Greek gold? How do we know they must have been produced in Egypt during Hellenistic times, the period that coincides with the Ptolemaic dynasty? Was the owner simply a wealthy member of society? A member of the court? Or a priestess? The journey through three centuries, beginning about 350 B.C., takes us from the empire-building Alexander the Great to the beguilingly ambitious Kleopatra VII, along the way providing answers to those questions. This sweep through the turbulent history of the eastern Mediterranean gives a picture of the Greek-Egyptian blending of religion and art. Although much is left to the imagination, the basic facts do come to light, and the facets and surfaces of the Getty’s golden treasure enrich us with new understanding. “Greek Gold from Hellenistic Egypt” is part of the Getty Museum Studies on Art series, which is designed to introduce individual artworks or small groups of related works to a broad public with an interest in the history of art. Each monograph is written by a leading scholar and features a close discussion of its subject as well as a detailed analysis of the broader historical and cultural context in which the work was created. REVIEW: “Greek Gold from Hellenistic Egypt” is part of the Getty Museum Studies on Art Series, which is designed to introduce individual works of art or small groups of related works to a broad public with an interest in the history of art. Each monograph is written by a leading scholar and features a close discussion of its subject as well as a detailed analysis of the broader historical and cultural context in which the work was created. The Getty Museum Studies on Art series is also intended to give readers a sense of the range of approaches that can be taken in analyzing works of art that some from a wide range of periods and cultures. Determining the original setting for the spectacular pieces of gold jewelry that make up the present assemblage is at the core of Michael Pfrommer’s discussion. He bases his arguments on clues contained in the objects themselves: their style, iconography, and craftsmanship. Pfrommer demonstrates how the symbolism of dynastic powers plays a central role in the shape of each object, and in the assemblage as a whole. With that in mind he convincingly places the jewelry in Ptolemaic Egypt and argues for the original owner’s royal connection, perhaps as a priestess for a royal cult. REVIEW: In the Hellenistic period, the Greek world was flooded with gold. Greece itself had few sources of this precious metal, and they had been depleted by the late Classical period. Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire, which included Egypt, made vast resources of gold available for the first time. The various royal courts of Alexander’s successors, including the Ptolemies in Egypt, comprised a wealthy clientele with a taste for luxury, which, in combination with this new abundance of gold, led to an immense outpouring of gold jewelry. This spectacular assemblage may have belonged to an important and wealthy woman in Ptolemaic Egypt. It comprises a hairnet with an image of Aphrodite and Eros; a diadem with an elaborate Herakles knot; two pairs of hoop earrings with antelope-head finials; a pair of disk pendant earrings with a figure of Eros; one pair of upper-arm bracelets in the form of a coiled snake; one pair of wrist bracelets in the form of coiled snakes; two rings inset with intaglios, one representing Artemis, the other Fortuna holding a double cornucopia; 28 miscellaneous beads and one stud; and a string of gold beads in the shape of cowrie shells. REVIEW: A discussion of the style, iconography and craftsmanship of 17 spectacular pieces of gold jewelry from Ptolemaic Egypt, dating from the late-3rd century BC. The pieces include earrings, bracelets, beads and a hairnet. The author places the pieces in their historical and iconographic context with special emphasis on the pieces as expressions of dynastic power. REVIEW: TABLE OF CONTENTS: Foreword by Marion True. Map. Chronology. Introduction. The Jewelry. Alexander the Great: A New God in Egypt. Alexandria, a New City in an Old World. The God of Love as King of Egypt. Powerful Queens: From Arsinoëaut; II to Kleopatra VII. Religion: One Language for Two Civilizations. At the Brink of Disaster: The Golden Treasure in Its Historical. Perspective. Bibliography. Ptolemaic Dynasty. Acknowledgments. REVIEW: A specialist in Hellenistic metalwork, Michael Pfrommer is Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Trier in Germany and the author of “Metalwork from the Hellenized East”. REVIEW: Michael Pfrommer was for several years at the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul and is now associate professor of classical archaeology at the University of Trier in Germany. His areas of specialty are Ptolemaic Egypt and Hellenistic jewelry and metalwork, about which he has published several monographs. PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS: REVIEW: “Greek Gold from Hellenistic Egypt” by Michael Pfrommer is a slim but handsome monograph published by the J. Paul Getty Museum as part of its Studies of Art series. The author, a specialist in Hellenistic metalwork, is associate professor of classical archaeology at the University of Trier in Germany and the author of a previous work, Metalwork from the Hellenized East. Pfrommer was invited to the Getty when the museum acquired a spectacular collection of Hellenistic gold jewelry from the private collectors Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman. The pieces included a magnificent hairnet mounted on a cushion of rose-colored satin, two bracelets of intertwined snakes followed by a large, heavy pair of amulets, each formed by a single coiled serpent, a diadem and two large finger rings, one decorated with an image of Artemis, the other with an image of Tyche. Beads of gold and semiprecious stones and several gold cowrie shells completed the rare assemblage. These treasures were exhibited to the public for the first time during the symposium on Alexandria and Alexandrianism held at the Getty in 1993. It was on that occasion that Pfrommer first saw the collection. “His interest in the exquisite workmanship and his appreciation for the unusual imagery were so immediately apparent that we invited him to take on the initial publication of this collection,” said the museum’s Curator of Antiquities. Pfrommer, joined by Jack Ogden, an English expert on ancient jewelry, established that all the pieces in the collection were of Hellenistic Egyptian workmanship, circa 350 B.C. Pfrommer not only proves this in GREEK GOLD FROM HELLENISTIC EGYPT, but takes the reader on a journey through three centuries ranging from the empire-building Alexander to the beguilingly ambitious Cleopatra VII. A collection of “such importance raises many questions, particularly what is it and where did it come from,” writes Pfrommer. “Was it formerly part of the splendor of a temple, where it perhaps decorated the statue of a goddess? Were the golden hairnet and the shining stephane ornaments for the hair of a priestess? Were the images of deities symbols of piety, or were they symbols of wealth? Were the delicate hoop earrings and the coiled snake amulets and bracelets affectionate gifts to a mother or sister, or were they intended to adorn her on her last journey– to the funeral pyre–or to comfort her with earthly riches in the tomb? “Could the jewelry have been worn at royal festivities to glorify the monarchy? Or could these pieces have been symbolic of the increasing wealth of a city on the rise? Is the treasure perhaps the last vestige of a tragedy? Was the jewelry worn by a victim of war or plunder or death? Did the onetime owner hide the gold so well that its whereabouts remained unknown after her demise? Is it a modern assemblage or an ancient treasure? Was it chance that restored the golden treasure to modern wonder–and to all the questions and close examination?” Pfrommer answers these and other related questions in his smoothly written, erudite and copiously illustrated book (34 color & 41 b&w plates). In a mere 64 pages of text, he not only delivers a lesson in history and art, but plays the detective. In all, it’s a remarkable performance on his part, one that will captivate even those with just a passing interest in antique jewelry. REVIEW: The jewelry that forms the subject of this little book seems to have made its first appearance as an after-dinner treat at the home of collectors Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman. Curator Marion True recalls in her preface: “As we seated ourselves in the library, Larry produced a small, brown paper bag. From the crumpled sack he lifted out one tissue-wrapped object after another and laid them on the table, then slowly he began to unwrap each piece…” True confesses to a severe attack of envy as she watched object after object emerge; if only she could have them for the Getty Museum! In 1993, when the owner decided to sell, her ardor had not cooled, and the Getty acquired a golden stephane, a hairnet, two bracelets and two armlets, three pairs of earrings, two rings, and assorted beads of gold and semi-precious stone. Michael Pfrommer presents them here in the Getty Museum Studies on Art series, “designed” (according to the jacket blurb) “to introduce individual works of art or small groups of related works to a broad public with an interest in the history of art.” After a page and a half of introduction, the book is divided into seven sections. The first (“The Jewelry”) gives a streamlined description of the pieces, replacing the catalogue of a scholarly work. The second (“Alexander the Great: A New God in Egypt”) provides historical background, tracing Alexander’s conquest of Egypt and the establishment of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Each of the remaining chapters revolves around one type of artifact, which Pfrommer attempts to situate within an ancient Alexandrian context and to weave into a history of Hellenistic Egypt. Pfrommer sketches the splendor of the ancient city in “Alexandria, a New City in an Old World.” He stresses that the ruling culture was essentially Greek or Macedonian and that explicitly Egyptian elements were few. This provides an introduction to the jewelry (which is wholly Greek in character) and leads into a discussion of the stephane and its iconography. Pfrommer sees the Herakles knot, torches, and ivy that decorate the stephane as reflections of the Ptolemaic claim of descent from Herakles and Dionysos, and further suggests that the original owner of the jewelry was a priestess of one of the cults of the Ptolemaic queens. He turns to the more elaborate of the three pairs of earrings in a short chapter entitled “The God of Love as King of Egypt.” (The other two pairs, of the common antelope-head type, are not discussed.) Each earring has a pendent Eros carrying a torch in his left hand; according to Pfrommer they also carry flutes, but this is perhaps an error in translation, for they clearly hold phialai in their right hands (and are so described in the first chapter). He points out that if Aphrodite is the equivalent of Isis, then Eros is the equivalent of Horus, the god that the Egyptian pharaoh embodied; and he links the bull heads that appear atop the earrings with the cult of the Apis bull. In “Powerful Queens: From Arsinoe II to Kleopatra VII” P turns to the two rings, each of them featuring an intaglio gem depicting a goddess: Tyche in one case, Artemis in the other. The double cornucopia of the former points to the Ptolemaic queens, especially Arsinoe II, for whom the symbol is said to have been invented, and Pfrommer maintains that this a portrait of the queen herself in the guise of the goddess — an impersonation that the queens also carried out on the faience oinochoai that were used in the service of their cult. The Artemis, too, is identified as Arsinoe II on the basis of the large eye and long nose — although, since these features are miniscule, one may be permitted to doubt. A stipulation of the Decree of Canopus that royal priests should be recognized by their rings further suggests an association of the jewelry with dynastic cult. The chapter is fleshed out with colorful anecdotes about other Ptolemaic queens, especially Berenike II, Arsinoe III, and, of course, Kleopatra VII. The elaborate hairnet is the focus of “Religion: One Language for Two Civilizations.” Its central medallion, representing Aphrodite and Eros, is taken as a reference to a Ptolemaic queen and her child; her melonenfrisur is supposed to evoke Arsinoe II, the flowing tresses on her breast the dedicated lock of Berenike II, though the absence of royal insignia forces P to stop short of calling this a portrait. Eight small masks that link chains of the net bring us back to Dionysos. They are indeed Dionysiac, but not, I think, satyr, silen, Dionysos, and perhaps maenad, as Pfrommer identifies them; rather, they represent the standard new comedy mask types of the slave, old man, youth, and kore respectively. The theater reminds P of Mark Antony’s impersonation of Dionysos and provides a segue to the dramatic career of Kleopatra VII. The final section (“At the Brink of Disaster: The Gold Treasure in its Historical Perspective”) speculates further on the identity of the owner of the jewelry and its possible provenience. The human scale and mixed iconography argue against its use as ornament for a cult statue, and Pfrommer concludes that “there can hardly be any doubt that the owner of the jewelry must have belonged in the circle of Ptolemaic nobility”; he characterizes her as “an upper-class lady with court connections,” perhaps even “one of the so-called relatives of the king” (59-60). The redundant pairs of earrings and armlets argue against a tomb-group, which would probably contain only one set of jewelry; the objects, then, are mostly likely a hoard, secreted by its owner in a time of peril. P also concludes that the assemblage is not complete, since necklaces with animal-head terminations are absent. He ends by summarizing some of the events of the turbulent period from the late 3rd to the middle of the 2nd century that could have caused the owner to hide the jewelry. The book is lavishly illustrated with many fine color pictures of the jewelry (including many details at greater than natural size), as well as of other objects discussed in the text. There is a meaty bibliography, organized by topic, at the end, and a detailed chronology at the beginning. The author is a learned man and a prolific scholar, a specialist in the field of Hellenistic jewelry and plate, and widely read in Hellenistic art and history; the text accordingly is dense and full of information. REVIEW: Although much is left to the imagination, the basic facts do come to light, and the facets and surfaces of the Getty’s golden treasure enrich us with new understanding. READER REVIEWS: REVIEW: This is a very well produced Getty Museum paperback catalogue describing in great detail with many photographs and diagrams a small collection of 12 items of Hellenistic jewelry thought to have been made in Egypt, rather than from Greece or the Black Sea area, whence many items have been recovered from graves and burial mounds, to be seen in Athens, and the Hermitage in St Petersburg. Interesting for the specialist, as I was unaware that this type of jewelry was made in Egypt as well as the usual regions, though as the source of the collection is unknown, the Egyptian origin is deduced, not proven. REVIEW: Very beautiful book with interesting jewelry. This book features unique pieces that I have not seen before. REVIEW: Five stars! Well written overview, compact. REVIEW: Lovely, beautiful, I really enjoyed it. Such exquisite ancient jewelry! ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: Ancient Jewelry: The art of the jeweler. Metalsmiths’ shops were the training schools for many of the great artists of the Renaissance. Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Verrocchio, Ghi-berti, Pollaiuolo, and Luca della Robbia all were trained as goldsmiths before they embarked upon the higher arts. The goldsmith made silver vases for the dinner tables of cardinals; knights sent sword blades to be mounted in rich hilts; ladies came to have their jewels set; princes needed medals to commemorate their victories; popes and bishops wished to place chased reliquaries on the altars of their patron saints; and men of fashion ordered medallions to wear upon their hats. Although many materials-including iron-have been used for jewelry, gold is by far the most satisfactory. One could not expect the same results from any other metal, for the durability and the extraordinary ductility and pliancy of gold and its property of being readily drawn out or flattened into wire or leaf of almost infinite fineness have led to its being used for works in which minute-ness and delicacy of execution were required. Gold may be soldered, it may be cast, and any kind of surface, from the rough to the highest possible polish, given to it. It is the best of all metals upon which to enamel. Gold was easily retrieved from the gravel of river beds, where it was washed from the eroded rocks; hence it is one of the oldest metals known. Unlike most metals, gold does not tarnish on exposure to the air but remains brilliant. Pure gold is too soft for general use, but it can be hardened and toughened by alloying with most of the other metals. Color is one of its important qualities. When the metal is pure, it is nearly the orange-yellow of the solar spectrum. When it contains a little silver, it is pale yellow or greenish yellow; and when alloyed with a little copper, it takes a reddish tinge-all so effective in varicolored jewelry. These alloys have an ancient history, electrum, an alloy of gold and silver which assured beautiful hues, having been used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and other ancient peoples. The ancients, from the most remote times, were acquainted with the art of beating gold into thin leaves, and this leaf was used for other purposes besides personal adornment. Gold leaf was used in buildings for gilding wood, and Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were adepts in applying it. It was no great departure to introduce gilded backgrounds to paintings or figures in mosaic and finally to illuminated manuscripts. In the use of gold Byzantium went beyond Rome or Athens. When more skill was attained by painters, backgrounds in perspective took the place of those in gold. Early examples of leaf work in this exhibition may be seen in the headdress and jewelry of Queen Shubad’s ladies-in-waiting from the excavations of the royal tombs at Ur in Mesopotamia. They date from a period between 3500 and 2800 B.C. A second step was the cutting of gold leaf into thin strips to make wire. It is still a question whether the art of wire-drawing was known to the ancients. Plaited wire-work, as used in many places and over a wide period of time, is well represented in ancient history. Fusing and soldering are also ancient techniques. Granular work, the soldering of minute grains of gold one beside the other in a line or disposed ornamentally over a surface, was known to the ancient Egyptian jewelers, as well as to the classical, oriental, and barbarian gold-smiths. This traditional technique can be traced through the centuries, splendid granular work of the ancient and modern civilizations being well represented in archaeological finds. Filigree, the arranging of wires in patterns, usually soldered to a base, is often associated with granular work. The oriental nations, especially the Moors, knew how to execute filigree with rare delicacy and taste, this technique adapting itself particularly to their designs. Embossing and chasing are techniques of widespread use. The relief effect of embossing is produced by various means. A thin pliable sheet of metal may be pressed into molds, between dies, or over stamps, or it may be molded free hand. An excellent example of an embossed gold sheet which was pressed or hammered may be seen in the Greek sword sheath from South Russia. In handwork the sheet of metal is placed against a ground with a yielding surface and the design is raised from the back by a series of punches. The work of the chaser is closely related to that of the sculptor, the ornament on the face of a casting or an embossed work being finished with chisels or chasing tools. Jewelry was often enriched by stamping, a simple process by which a design is made in depression with a punch, and the gold fixed by heating to redness; and the surface finally burnished. In all countries the work of the lapidary was combined with that of the goldsmith. Much jewelry depended for its splendor of effect chiefly upon its inlay of brilliantly colored stones, jaspers, agates, lapis lazuli. Much of the commoner kinds of jewelry, such as buckles for the belts of warriors or brooches for the vestments of ecclesiastics too poor to buy silver or gold, were made of bronze, enameled and mercury-gilded. Mercury-gilding is a process of great antiquity. The object was first carefully polished and rubbed with mercury; thin gold was then laid on and pressed down, the mercury being subsequently volatilized, and so forth, or upon colored glass inlays. The Egyptians and Greeks were incomparable artists in intaglio (cutting concave designs or figures) in gold, and one notes with astonishment the mastery they possessed over the stubborn hard stones, including the sapphire. A Greek gold ring with an intaglio engraving of a girl stretching herself is one of the finest in ancient history. The engraver’s art both in cameo and in intaglio attained a high degree of excellence about 500 B.C., which lasted until about the third or fourth century A.D. The classical artists used rich and warm-tinted oriental stones, the increased intercourse with the East after the death of Alexander the Great having a marked influence on the development of the art. In gem-engraving the ancients used essentially the same principle that is in use today, that is, drilling with a revolving tool. They also used a sapphire or diamond point set in a handle and applied like a graver. In early medieval times gem-engraving was little practiced, but antique cameos were held in peculiar veneration on ac-count of the belief, then universal, in their potency as medicinal charms. With the Renaissance, the art of gem-engraving was revived, and engravers from that time onward have produced results equal to the best ancient work. Glass in ancient times was so precious that some nations demanded tribute in this fragile material instead of gold. It is said that a citizen invented a method for making malleable glass and was invited to visit the Roman Emperor Tiberius. He brought a vase, which was thrown to the ground but only dented. A hammer again rounded it into shape. Tiberius then asked whether any other man knew the secret of manufacture. The artisan answered no, whereupon the emperor ordered him beheaded. Glass inlay, widely used from Egyptian times, is often wrongly called enamel. It is not enamel, which, although a vitreous material, is employed in the powdered state and always fused into position by heat, whereas the glass inlay was always cut or molded and cemented into position. This glass inlay is often referred to as paste, which in the modern sense means glass with a high refractive index and high luster employed to imitate the diamond. Good examples of paste may be seen in some eighteenth-century English and French. For centuries Egypt was the “promised land” of the ancient civilized world, for the Pharaohs had at their disposal enormous stores of gold. The Egyptians excelled in metal-work, especially in gold, and many techniques employed by goldsmiths today can be seen in ancient Egyptian jewelry, particularly for instance the treasure of el Thuin, which was recovered in its entirety and in nearly the same perfect condition in which it had been placed in the tomb; or the jewelry which had once graced the person of the Princess Sit Hathor Yuinet, daughter of King Se’n-Wosret II, who reigned from 1906 to 1887 B.C. and near whose pyramid, at el Lahfin, she was buried. Her girdle, one of the outstanding pieces of ancient jewelry, is of amethyst beads and hollow gold panther-head ornaments, inside which pellets tinkled whenever the wearer moved. From the same treasure there is the neck-lace with a pectoral of King Se’n-Wosret II. On either side of the pectoral the hawk of the god Horus supports the cartouche of the king and a group of hieroglyphics which signify, “May King Se’n-Wosret II live many hundreds of thousands of years.” The pectoral is gold inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, and turquoise, and the eyes of the shape made of actual flowers, fruits, and leaves, which were presented to guests to wear at banquets and other festivities. Brilliant color is one of the most attractive characteristics of Egyptian jewelry. It had its origin in the beads, both of semi-precious stones and of faience, which were widely worn during the Old Kingdom (2800-2270 B.C.). Beads of faience of different colors were also in fashion during the XVIII Dynasty. The composition of the broad collars of faience of this period was derived from ornaments of the same engraving, soldering, and metal intaglio. The Greek jeweler, like the Egyptian, excelled in the arts of embossing and chasing. Greece had little access to precious stones before Alexander’s Eastern conquests, and so from the sixth to the fourth century B.C. the jeweler specialized in metalwork. He was a master of both granulated and filigree decoration, and he did exquisite work in plaiting gold into chains and in modeling it into little figures, both human and animal. Much of the best of Greek jewelry is sculpture in little. Ornamental goldwork naturally required more minute workman ship than sculpture in bronze and marble, and excellent modeling often makes little objects impressive as well as intricate. A few famous examples of ancient Greek jewelry, such as an earring in the form of a siren, is a charming example of Greek jeweler’s modeling. Other examples include a pair of earrings of the fourth century B.C. from Madytos on the Hellespont, as well as an eagle and a palmette made of hammered gold sheets; the feathers of the eagle are incised; each leaf is edged with beaded wire; and the fruit is covered with granulation. Another example might be a bracelet, of rock crystal, with gold finials, each finely embossed with a ram’s head, which shows skillfully modeled figures, as well as plaited chains, and filigree and granular work of rare minuteness. The Ganymede jewelry, made soon after 350 B.C., is one of the most precious sets that have come out of antiquity. Most techniques are represented on the earrings, bracelets, brooches, necklace, and emerald ring. On the earrings the figures of Ganymede are solid castings; Ganymede’s drapery, the wings and tail. The technique of Etruscan goldwork is much the same as that of the Greek. The metal is thin, it is pressed or beaten out in designs in low relief, and it is further decorated by the surface application of filigree and small granules of gold. Several molds of stone have been discovered, and it is probable that the thin gold was pressed into the mold by means of a metal or agate style, solder being used to fix the separate pieces of gold together whenever necessary. Some of the granulated work is so fine that without a magnifying glass it is almost impossible to believe that the patterns are actually laid on with an infinite number of minute spherical grains. The burial chamber of an Etruscan lady, near Vulci, opened over a century ago, yielded a rich parure. Archaeologists have recovered several headdresses reflecting the custom Chinese women had of decking their hair with floral ornaments. These are richly colored, and some of the materials used in them, besides gold, are amber, coral, seed pearls, and an exclusively Chinese material-bright blue kingfisher feathers. In Chinese jewelry the art of the metal-worker achieves an exquisite delicacy. A famous golden phoenix crown shows perhaps most clearly of all the works in the exhibition the ability of the goldsmith to take infinite pains. It has more than thirty separate ornaments, made of different con-formations of gold wire and decorated with pearls and other stones. Many of the ornaments are set on tiny springs so that they quiver with the slightest movement. jade, exquisitely carved. With the exception of pearls, the Chinese did not use precious stones. The prettiness and color of Chinese jewelry tempt one to describe it at length, but according to a Chinese proverb, “A thousand words do not compare with one look.” The Japanese also rank high as metalworkers, their sword furniture, the jewelry of the Japanese nobleman, especially showing the subtle skill of the artist in manipulating hard and soft metals. In enriching the fittings many processes of metal ornamentation-relief carving, relief inlay or appliqué, overlay, incised and recessed carving-are employed. It is the combination of techniques and alloys which makes their work of outstanding interest to jewelers as well as to the amateur. Today these fittings are often worn as jewelry in the West. In Japan sword furniture is frequently signed by masters as well known as famous painters. A glance at the magnificent weapons from Persia, Turkey, and India will remove any impression that the love of personal adornment is a purely feminine attribute. Orientals often wear daggers embellished with silver and semiprecious stones even over their most ragged clothes, which shows that they take life with a gesture. In India perhaps more than anywhere else, jewelry has played a vital role in the life of the people, from the lowest rank to the highest. Although none of the Indian jewelry is much older than the eighteenth century, it represents designs and methods of decoration that go back to much earlier periods, some of them reflecting the influence of Hellenistic civilization. Some pieces are made of gold or silver alone, others are richly set with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds or decorated with enamel. The Greek jeweler, like the Egyptian, excelled in the arts of embossing, chasing, Much of this jewelry was made in Jaipur, which was particularly famous for its enamelwork. A gold bracelet with dragon-head terminals is an outstanding example of combined jeweled and enameled work. The backs of jeweled ornaments were often enameled with fine patterns, so that the reverse of a necklace or pendant would be as fine in effect as the right side. The jewelry of the nomadic Iranian tribes is represented by a few choice pieces cast in gold and chased. These include many Scythian ornaments, winged griffins, stags, and rosettes, which were used as decoration on clothing; and two clasps of about the first century A.D., Sarmatian and Parthian in origin. The Middle Ages are perhaps best represented by an extensive collection of jewelry from the Morgan collection, of the period of the barbarian migrations and of the Byzantine period. The gold ornaments in the Albanian Treasure (seventh-ninth century) are thought to be the work of nomad craftsmen in the train of barbarian tribes migrating through the Balkans from Central Asia. The splendid collections of Gallo-Roman, Germanic, and Merovingian jewelry, distinctive features of which are the colored glass inlays and the filigree and beaded work in gold, need only be mentioned, for they have been described and illustrated in the catalogues of Seymour de Ricci. They were made from the fourth to the eighth century A.D., the latest probably not exceeding the reign of Charlemagne (742- 814). It was Charlemagne who stopped the custom of burying the dead with their weapons and jewelry because all the wealth was going into the ground instead of into the treasury. The result is that much fine jewelry was melted down. The Eastern influence which had come westwards after the year 330, when Constantine transferred his court from Rome to Byzantium (Constantinople), is seen in many pieces of ancient jewelry. The goldsmiths followed the Emperor Constantine to Byzantium, and from there came many marvels of art and beauty as presents to the Western churches. The jewelry in the treasure (sixth century) found on the island of Cyprus is in the Eastern style. It was probably buried during the Arab invasion of the island. About the beginning of the eleventh century the Byzantine influence had been largely spent, and new styles were introduced. Families of monks, animated by one spirit and educated in the same way, lived in monasteries which were schools of ecclesiastical goldsmiths. They built and adorned their churches; they hammered, chased, and enameled gold, silver, and bronze. Altar fronts, pyxes, lamps, patens, chalices, crosses, candlesticks, and reliquaries were made, and most of their motives of design, methods of working, and chemical processes were the common property of the abbeys. Lay craftsmen, too, devoted more of their energies than previously to building cathedrals and creating ecclesiastical art, and there is consequently a close connection between the work of the architect and the mediaeval goldsmith. This ecclesiastical influence is seen in a late eleventh-century book cover of silver-gilt, ivory, cabochons, and enamel, from the cathedral of Jaca. Before the multiplication of books by printing, their covers had more to do with the goldsmith’s art than with that of the binder. Architectural influence is shown in the French thirteenth-century reliquary of Saint Margaret. Reliquaries like this were master-pieces of work in precious metals. They were built up of innumerable plates soldered together, with buttresses, pinnacles, and traceried windows, like little models of churches or small chapels. During the Renaissance, everything that could be gold was gold, not only jewelry but plate; and dresses for men and women and even horse trappings were made of cloth of gold. It was an age when the setting of a gem or the molding of a goblet was a matter that would occupy a grave potentate to the exclusion of affairs of state. In order to satisfy the demands of the time Columbus set out not to discover another continent but to find a convenient route to India, the land of gold, pearls, and spices. The Renaissance goldsmiths made the most of the mediaeval tradition in technique and in due course they developed perfection in workmanship. The rich and varied pendants are splendid examples of the renaissance jeweler’s art. This type of ornament originated in devotional usage, and during the Middle Ages its decoration was almost always of religious significance. The pendant was a conspicuous ornament and was usually of fine workmanship. Portrait medallions, especially those of historical personages, were made by distinguished masters. A splendid pendant, representing Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland, is signed by Jacobus Veron (Gian Jacopo Caraglio) and is dated 1554. The cameo portrait of the queen is sardonyx, her chain and hair ornament gold. The Visconti-Sforza arms on the reverse are enameled gold. Among the enseignes, ornaments worn on the turned-back brim of the hat or cap, one superb historical example is one in gold skillfully embossed. Cellini, in his “Treatise on Goldsmithing,” explains how such embossing was done. In principle, a sheet of gold is beaten from the back with punches until it is bossed up much like the wax model. He completes the explanation by telling of a visit to his workshop by Michelangelo, who complimented him on a gold medal embossed in high relief. Michelangelo reputedly said: “If this work were made in great, whether of marble or of bronze, and fashioned with as exquisite design as this, it would astonish the world; and even in its present size it seems to me so beautiful that I do not think ever a goldsmith of the ancient world fashioned aught to come up to it!” Another technique explained by Cellini is the “beautiful art of enameling.” A splendid example of this technique may be seen on a fine cups, of red jasper mounted with enameled gold and precious stones. It should be compared with the Cellini cup in the Altman collection. Personal jewelry of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries can be characterized by snuffboxes and carnets de bal (dance programs), precisely executed, showing the quality of the era’s workmanship. Such boxes, of varicolored gold, jeweled, and set with miniature portraits of their donors, were the favorite gifts of kings and princes. They were enormously costly in their day and they have always been precious collectors’ items. Some of them be- longed to persons famous in history, some are signed by famous jewelers, and all illustrate the extravagant vanities of the time. During the seventeenth century, there developed an increasing fondness for faceted gems set close together to produce glittering masses. Gradually the setting was subordinated to the precious stones, and this is the modern style. Ancient Egyptian Faience Jewelry: Egyptian faience is a glassy substance manufactured expertly by the ancient Egyptians. The process was first developed in Mesopotamia, first at Ur and later at Babylon, with significant results but faience production reached its height of quality and quantity in Egypt. Some of the greatest faience-makers of antiquity were the Phoenicians of cities such as Tyre and Sidon who were so expert in making glass that it is thought they invented the process. The Egyptians took the Phoenician technique and improved upon it, creating works of art which still intrigue and fascinate people in the present day. Faience was made by grinding quartz or sand crystals together with various amounts of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and copper oxide. The resulting substance was formed into whatever shape was desired, whether an amulet, beads, a broach or a figurine and then said pieces were heated. During heating, the pieces would harden and develop a bright color which was then finely glazed. It is thought that the Egyptian artisans perfected faience in an attempt to imitate turquoise and other hard to find gem stones. The calcium silicates in the mixture were responsible for the bright colors and the glassy finish. Among the most famous of faience statuary is the blue hippopotamus popularly known as “William”, currently on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, NY, USA. This piece was one of a pair found in the shaft of the tomb of the steward Senbi II who served under either Senusret I (circa 1971-1926 B.C.) or Senusret II (circa 1897-1878 B.C.), both of the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. The figure was molded of faience and painted with river and marsh plants, representing the natural habitat of the hippo. A pasted of copper, limestone, and quartz oxide was then applied all over the figure which, when heated, turned it a bright blue. The hippo was considered an extremely dangerous animal by the ancient Egyptians and were sometimes included with grave goods (whether as statuary, amulet, or as an inscription) for protection of the deceased in the afterlife. The soul of the dead person, however, also required protection from its protecting hippo and some provision had to be made for this. In the case of “William” the Hippo, three of its legs were purposefully broken after the statue was completed so it would not be able to run after Senbi II in the afterlife and harm him. Besides statuary, the Egyptians used faience for the manufacture of jewelry (rings, amulets, necklaces) but also for scarabs, to create the board and pieces for the game of Sennet, for furniture and even for bowls and cups. Among the most popular objects made from faience, however, were the Shabti dolls which were placed in the tombs of the dead. The Shabti was a figure, sometimes fashioned in the likeness of the deceased, who would take the dead person’s place at communal work projects, ordained by the god Osiris, in the after-life of the Field of Reeds. The Egyptian word for faience was tjehenet which means ‘gleaming’ or ‘shining’ and the faience was thought to reflect the light of immortality. The poor of Egypt, if they could even afford a Shabti doll, would have one made of wood, while the more wealthy and the nobility commanded Shabti of faience. The colors of the faience (as with color generally) were thought to have special symbolism. Blue represented fertility, life, the Nile river on earth and in the after-life, green symbolized goodness and re-birth in the Field of Reeds, red was used for vitality and energy and also as protection from evil, black represented death and decay but also life and regeneration, and white symbolized purity. The colors one sees on the Shabti dolls, and in other faience, all have very specific meaning and combine to provide a protective energy for the object’s owner. The Egyptian word for faience was tjehenet which means ‘gleaming’ or ‘shining’ and the faience was thought to reflect the light of immortality. So closely was faience associated with the Egyptian after-life that the tiles for the chamber walls of tombs were made of faience as was seen at King Djoser’s tomb at Saqqara and, most famously, in the tomb of Tutankhamun where over one hundred objects were entirely or partially of faience. The earliest evidence of a faience workshop has been unearthed at Abydos and dated to 5500 B.C. The workshop consists of a number of circular pits, clearly the remains of kilns, with a lining of brick and all of them fire-marked. Layers of ancient ash in the pits are evidence of continuous use over many years. Small clay balls were also discovered and it is thought that they may have been used as the surface on which faience beads were fired in the kilns. The names of the faience makers are lost to history save for one man, Rekhamun, who was known as “Faience Maker of Amun”, and another known as Debeni, the overseer of faience workers. Of the other craftsmen in faience, and there must have been many, nothing is known. [Ancient History Encyclopedia]. Ancient Egyptian Beads in a Danish Burial: The chemical composition of 23 glass beads unearthed in Denmark was examined with plasma-spectrometry, and compared with the trace elements found in beads from Amarna in Egypt and Nippur in Mesopotamia. One of the beads, made of blue glass, had come from a woman’s Bronze Age burial that was excavated in 1880 at the Ølby site. She had been buried in a hollowed-out oak trunk wearing a belt disc, a string skirt with small bronze tubes, a bracelet made of amber beads, and a single blue glass bead. Science Nordic reports that the research team, made up of scientists from Moesgaard Museum, the National Museum of Denmark, Aarhus University, and the Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux in Orléans, France, matched this bead’s chemical signature to beads made 3,400 years ago in an Egyptian workshop. They now think that Egyptian glass beads, perhaps symbolizing the Egyptian sun cult, traveled north from the Mediterranean on the amber route, which carried Nordic amber south. Amber and glass beads have been found together at sites in the Middle East, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Germany. [Archaeological Institute of America]. The Ptolemaic Dynasty & Hellenic Egypt: The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Egypt for almost three centuries, from 305 to 30 BC. It eventually fell to the Roman Empire. While they ruled Egypt the Ptolemies they never became “Egyptian”. Instead they isolated themselves in the capital city of Alexandria, a city envisioned by Alexander the Great. The city was Greek both in language and practice. There were no marriages with outsiders or to Native Egyptians. Brother married sister or uncle married niece. The last Ptolemaic monarch was Queen, Cleopatra VII/ She remained Macedonian but spoke Egyptian as well as other languages. Except for the first two Ptolemaic pharaohs, Ptolemy I and his son Ptolemy II, most of the family was fairly inept. In the end the Ptolemies were only able to maintain their authority with the assistance of Rome. One of the unique and often misunderstood aspects of the Ptolemaic dynasty is how and why the Ptolemies never became Egyptian. The Ptolemies coexisted both as Egyptian pharaohs as well as Greek monarchs. In every respect they remained completely Greek, both in their language and traditions. This unique characteristic was maintained through intermarriage. Most often these marriages were either between brother and sister or uncle and niece. This inbreeding was intended to stabilize the family. Wealth and power were consolidated. Although it was considered by many an Egyptian and not Greek occurrence, the mother goddess Isis married her brother Osiris. These sibling marriages were justified or at least made more acceptable by referencing tales from Greek mythology in which the gods intermarried. Cronus had married his sister Rhea while Zeus had married Hera. Of the fifteen Ptolemaic marriages, ten were between brother and sister. Two of the fifteen were with a niece or cousin. Cleopatra VII was the subject of playwrights, poets, and movies. She was last Ptolemaic Monarch to rule Egypt. However Cleopatra VII was not Egyptian, she was Macedonian. According to one ancient historian she was a descendant of such great Greek queens as Olympias, the overly-possessive mother of Alexander the Great. However Cleopatra VII was also the only Ptolemy to learn to speak Egyptian and make any effort to know the Egyptian people. Of course Ptolemaic inbreeding was less than ideal. Jealousy was rampant and conspiracies were common. Ptolemy IV supposedly murdered his uncle, brother, and mother. Ptolemy VIII killed his fourteen-year-old son and chopped him into pieces. Rewinding to the origins of the dynasty brings us to the sudden death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. His death brought chaos and confusion to his vast empire. Alexander died without naming an heir or successor. Instead history has him saying instead that the empire was left ‘to the best’. Those commanders who had faithfully followed him from Macedon across the desert sands of western Asia were left to decide for themselves the fate of the kingdom. Some wanted to wait until the birth of Roxanne and Alexander’s son, the future Alexander IV. Others chose a more immediate and self-serving remedy, which was to simply divide Alexander’s empire amongst themselves. The final decision would bring decades of war and devastation. The vast territory was split among the most loyal of Alexander’s generals. They included Antigonus I (“the One-Eyed”), Eumenes, Lysimachus, and Antipater. Last was Ptolemy, often referred to as the ‘most enterprising’ of Alexander’s commanders. Ptolemy I Soter lived from 366 to 282 BC. The suffix appellation “Soter” meant “savior”). Ptolemy was a Macedonian nobleman. According to most sources he was the son of Lagos and Arsinoe. He had been a childhood friend of Alexander. He was Alexander’s official taster and bodyguard. He may even have been related to Alexander. Rumors abounded that he was the illegitimate son of Philip II, Alexander’s father. After the death of Alexander Ptolemy had led the campaign to divide the empire among the leading generals and in the partition of Babylon. To his delight Ptolemy received the land he had always craved, Egypt. In Ptolemy’s eyes Egypt was the ideal land, rich in resources. After years of oppression under the Persians the people of Egypt had welcomed Alexander and his conquering army. The Persian conquerors had been intolerant of the Egyptian customs and religion. Alexander was far more tolerant. Alexander publicly embraced their gods and prayed at their temples. He had even built a temple to honor the Egyptian mother goddess Isis. In Egypt Ptolemy saw vast potential, for himself. There was wealth beyond measure. That wealth was largely derived from agricultural production. Egypt’s borders were easy to defend. Libya lay to the west, Arabia to the east. He was not forced to be dependent upon the good will of the collegial commanders who had also served Alexander. Furthermore Egypt was on friendly terms with his homeland of Macedon. While the partition may have granted Egypt to Ptolemy, there were some who did not trust the cagey commander. Chief amongst those was Perdiccas, the self-appointed successor to Alexander. Cleomenes of Naucratis was had been named the Egyptian finance minister by Alexander. He was appointed by Perdiccas as an adjunct or hyparchos to keep watch (spy) on Ptolemy. Realizing Perdiccas’ ploy, Ptolemy knew he had to free himself of Cleomenes. He accused the unwary minister of ‘fiscal malfeasance’ – not a completely trumped-up charge – and had him executed. With Cleomenes gone Ptolemy could then rule Egypt without anyone watching over his shoulder. In so doing Ptolemy would establish a dynasty that would last for almost three centuries until the time of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII. During Ptolemy’s four-decade rule of Egypt he would put the country on sound economic and administrative footing. After the death of Cleomenes Ptolemy began quickly and firmly to consolidate his power within Egypt. His sole purpose was to make Egypt great again. Reluctantly however he became involved in the ongoing Wars of the Successors. These were the destructive wars between Ptolemy’s colleagues, Alexander’s former generals who had each received portions of Alexander’s empire. While Ptolemy I did not deliberately seek territory outside Egypt, he would take advantage of a fortuitous occurrence if given the chance. Ptolemy occupied the island of Cyprus around 318 BC. Another opportunity found him fighting a Spartan named Thribon who had seized the city of Cyrene on the North Africa coast. After a quick, decisive victory Ptolemy turned the fallen conqueror over to the city who promptly executed him. Unfortunately Ptolemy could not avoid some involvement with the other commanders. He gave refuge to Seleucus and later supported Rhodes against the invading forces of Demetrius the Besieger, son of Antigonus. And there was his ongoing rivalry with Perdiccas. The hostility did not subside when Ptolemy stole Alexander’s body as it was being transported to a newly built tomb in Macedon. As the king’s chiliarch (or adjutant, commander) Perdiccas had established himself securely after Alexander’s death. Perdiccas had always hoped to reunite under his control what had been Alexander’s Empire before it had been parceled out. Perdiccas possessed Alexander’s signet ring as well as the Alexander’s remains. The intention was to return Alexander’s remains to Macedon for internment. However at Damascus the body inexplicably disappeared. Ptolemy had stolen and taken the body to Memphis. From Memphis Alexander’s body was taken to Alexandria. It was interred in a golden sarcophagus which was displayed in the center of the city. Perdiccas to say the least was outraged. However to those in Egypt the legitimacy of the Ptolemaic Dynasty lay in its connection to the fallen king. Even in death Alexander played a major role in both the Egyptian and Ptolemaic imagination. And Alexandria was the city conceived by Alexander. However the theft of Alexander’s body was too much for Perdiccas. The long simmering animosity boiled over into a war between Perdiccas and Ptolemy which lasted from 322 to 321 BC. Perdiccas attempted three military assaults on the Ptolemaic pharaoh. However all three attempts to cross the Nile into Egypt failed. After the loss of over two thousand soldiers his army had had enough and executed Perdiccas. There were few if any tears shed among the other collegial former commanders of Alexander. Perdiccas had not been very popular with any of them. Ptolemy I died in 282 BC. He named his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus as his successor. “Philadelphus” translates to “sister-loving”. The younger Ptolemy had served as co-regent with his father since 285 BC, when he was 23. Ptolemy II would rule until 246 BC. He married Arsinoe I, the daughter of the Thracian regent/king Lysimachus. Lysimachus you’ll recall was one of Ptolemy I’s colleagues, another former general for Alexander. Lysimachus had married Arsinoe II, the daughter of Ptolemy I and his mistress Berenice around 300 BC. The marriage was for the purpose of maintaining the alliance between Ptolemy and Lysimachus. The marriage took place after the death of Lysimachus’s first wife. It was a marriage he would regret. Probably to secure the throne of Thrace for her own son Arsinoe II convinced her husband to kill his presumptive heir and oldest son by his first marriage. The trumped-charges used for justification were treason. But though we can presume Arsinoe’s motives, we cannot be certain. It is certain that the murder of the popular young commander caused uproar among many of his fellow officers. After the death of Lysimachus, Ptolemy I would marry Lysimachus’s widow Arsinoe II, who was also his sister. Unlike many of his successors Ptolemy II expanded Egypt with acquisitions in Asia Minor and Syria. Egypt also reclaimed the Greek/Hellenic colonial city Cyrene in Libya. Originally Cyrene was a Libyan colony of the island of Thera. Cyrene had declared independence from Ptolemaic Egypt. Ptolemy II also fought two wars known as the “Syrian Wars”. They were fought against Antiochus I and Antiochus II. Antiochus I was another of Alexander’s generals and thus collegial to Ptolemy I. Ultimately Ptolemy II would marry his daughter Berenice to Antiochus II. Unfortunately Ptolemy II also fought the Chremonidean War against Macedon from 267-261 BC. Ptolemy’s forces failed in that endeavor. In Egypt Ptolemy II established trading posts along the Red Sea. He also completed construction on the Pharos, and enlarged the library and museum at Alexandria. To honor his parents Ptolemy II established a new festival, the Ptolemaeia. According to history Ptolemy II was one the last truly great pharaohs of Egypt. Many of those Ptolemies who followed failed to strengthen Egypt both internally and externally. Jealousy and in-fighting were common. Upon the death of Ptolemy II in 246 BC, Ptolemy III Euergetes came to the throne. “Euergetes” translates to “benefactor”. Ptolemy III ruled until 221 BC. He married Berenice II who was from the Greek city of Cyrene. Among their six children were Ptolemy IV and a princess also named Berenice. The sudden death of Princess Berenice brought about the Canopus Decree in 238 BC. Among other proclamations she was honored as a goddess. Another proclamation was the decree of for a new calendar, one that included 365 days with one additional day every four years. However the new calendar was not adopted. In 246 BC Ptolemy III invaded Syria to support Antiochus II in the Third Syrian War against Seleucus II. Antiochus II was Ptolemy’s brother-in-law, i.e., his sister’s husband. However Ptolemy III gained little from the war other than the acquisitions of a few towns in Syria and Asia Minor. His successor and son was Ptolemy IV Philopator. “Philopater” translates to “father-loving”. Ptolemy IV ruled from 221 until 205 BC. Keeping with family tradition, he married his sister Arsinoe III in 217 BC. He gained a small degree of success in the Fourth Syrian War which was conducted from 219 to 217 BC against Antiochus III. However Ptolemy IV was otherwise largely ineffective. His only other accomplishment was the building of the Sema. The Sema was a tomb to honor both Alexander and the Ptolemies. Ptolemy IV and his wife were both murdered in a palace coup in 205 BC. Ptolemy V Epiphanes was the son of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III. “Epiphanes” translates to “made manifest”. Ptolemy V ruled from 205 to 180 BC. Due to the sudden death of his parents inherited the throne as a small boy 5 years of age. At age 17 he married the Seleucid princess Cleopatra I in 193 BC. Unfortunately war and revolt by Seleucid and Macedonian kings with hopes to seize Egyptian lands followed his ascension. Following the Battle of Panium in 200 BC Egypt lost valuable territory in the Aegean and Asia Minor, including Palestine. In 206 BC dissidence arose in the Egyptian city of Thebes, and it would remain outside Ptolemaic control for twenty years. Ptolemy V’s successor was Ptolemy VI Philometor. “Philometor” translates to “mother-loving. As did his father he began his reign as a small child. He ruled alongside his mother until her unexpected death in 176 BC. Ptolemy VI married his sister Cleopatra II and began his tumultuous reign. He had a seriously troubled relationship with his brother, the future Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II. Egypt was invaded twice between 169 and 164 BC by Antiochus IV, whose army even approached the city of Alexandria. With the assistance of Rome Ptolemy VI regained nominal control of Egypt. However ruling alongside his brother and his wife his reign remained characterized by unrest. In 163 BC his brother and he (Ptolemy VI and the future Ptolemy VIII) finally reached a compromise whereby Ptolemy VI ruled Egypt while his brother ruled Cyrene. In 145 BC Ptolemy VI died in battle in Syria. Intervening the reign of Ptolemy VI and his brother Ptolemy VIII one presumes would be a Ptolemy VII. However little is known of the reign or person known as Ptolemy VII. Indeed it is not even certain that a Ptolemy VII ever really reigned. However it is certain that upon the death of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII stepped onto the throne in 145 BC. Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II was the younger brother of Ptolemy VI. “Euergetes” translates to “benefactor”. In true Ptolemaic fashion he married his elder brother’s widow, Cleopatra II. However in short order he replaced Cleopatra II with her daughter (his niece) Cleopatra III. A civil war ravaged Egypt lasting from 132 to 124 BC. The capital city of Alexandria which happened to hate Ptolemy VIII was particularly devastated. It was not uncommon for the residents of Alexandria to dislike the reigning Ptolemy. There was little love lost between the city’s citizens and the royal family. This intense loathing brought about extreme persecution and expulsion for the inhabitants of the city. Finally, an amnesty was reached in 118 BC. Ptolemy VIII was succeeded by his eldest son in 116 BC. Ptolemy IX Soter II ruled from 116 to 80 BC. “Soter” translates to “Savior”, but Ptolemy IX was also known as “Lathyrus”, which translates to “Chickpea”. Like many of his predecessors he would marry two of his sisters. The first was Cleopatra IV, mother of Berenice IV. The second was Cleopatra V Serene who gave him two sons. He ruled jointly with his mother Cleopatra III until 107 BC. In 107 BC he was forced to flee to Cyprus after being overthrown by his brother, Ptolemy X. He regained the throne in 88 BC when in Egypt his brother Ptolemy X was expelled from Egypt and lost at sea. Restored to Egypt’s throne, Ptolemy IX would rule until his death in 80 BC. The next few Ptolemies made little impact if any on Egypt. For the first time Rome played a major role in the affairs of Egypt. Rome was a rising power in the west. Ptolemy X Alexander I was the younger brother of Ptolemy IX. He had served as governor of Cyprus until his mother brought him to Egypt in 107 BC. Once in Egypt his mother engineered replacing Ptolemy IX on Egypt’s throne with Ptolemy X. In 101 BC he supposedly murdered his mother Cleopatra IV. He then married Berenice III, daughter of his niece Cleopatra V Serene. He ruled Egypt until 88 BC. In 88 BC Ptolemy X left Egypt after being expelled and was lost at sea. Ptolemy X was succeeded briefly by his youngest son, twelve-year-old Ptolemy XI Alexander II. Ptolemy XI ruled for eight years. He was placed on the throne by the Roman general Cornelius Sulla after the young Ptolemy XI agreed to award Egypt and Cyprus to Rome. Ptolemy XI ruled jointly with his step-mother Cleopatra Berenice until he murdered her. Unfortunately he was then himself murdered by the Alexandrians in 80 BC. Replacing Ptolemy XI was Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (also known as “Auletes”). Ptolemy XII was another son of Ptolemy IX. He married his sister Cleopatra Tryphaena. Unfortunately his close relationship with Rome caused him to be despised by the Alexandrians, and he was expelled from Egypt in 58 BC.<> Ptolemy XII regained Egypt’s throne with the assistance of the Roman Syrian governor Gabinius. From that point onward he was only able to remain in power through his ties to Rome. Even then those ties required constant renewal through bribery as the Roman Senate actually distrusted him. The next pharaoh Ptolemaic Pharaoh was Ptolemy XIII, who ruled only through 47 BC whereupon he was executed at age 16. Ptolemy XIII was the brother and husband of the infamous Cleopatra VII. His time on the throne was short-lived consequence of his unsuccessful alliance with his sister Arsinoe in a civil war. They chose to oppose both Julius Caesar and Cleopatra in a fight for the throne. Initially Ptolemy XIII he had expected to gain favor with Caesar when he killed the Roman general Pompey, who had sought refuge in Egypt. Ptolemy XIII presented Pompey’s severed head to Caesar. However, the Roman commander grew irate because he had wanted to execute Pompey himself. In the civil war which ensued Ptolemy XIII’s army was defeated after an intense battle. Ptolemy XIII himself drowned in the Nile River when his boat overturned. His sister Princess Arsinoe was taken to Rome in chains. She was later to released. Following Ptolemy XIII was another brother Ptolemy XIV. Ptolemy XIV served briefly as governor of Cyprus. He later married his sister on the wishes of Caesar. He ruled for three years until his abrupt death in 44BC at age 15. His death is attributed by many historians to being poisoned upon the orders of his infamous sister Cleopatra VII. The last pharaoh of Egypt was Cleopatra VII, who is known to history as simply Cleopatra. She ruled Egypt for 22 years and controlled much of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Like many of the women of her era she was highly educated. Cleopatra VII had been groomed for the throne by her father Ptolemy XII in the traditional Greek (Hellenistic) manner. She endeared herself to the Egyptian people. She accomplished this by participating in many Egyptian festivals and ceremonies. She was also the only Ptolemy to learn the Egyptian language. Cleopatra also spoke Hebrew, Ethiopian, and several other languages. To secure the throne after defeating her brothers and sister in the civil war, she realized she had to remain friendly with Rome.
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