PTOLEMY 



4S62 



PTOLEMY 



brane, forming a wing which looked something 

 like the wing of a bat. The jaws of the ptero- 

 dactyls were provided with teeth and came 

 together in a birdlike beak. In expanse of 



SKELETON OF THE PTERODACTYL 



wing these animals varied from twelve inches 

 to about twenty feet. See MESOZOIC ERA; FOS- 

 SIL. 



PTOLEMY, tol'emi, the name of sixteen 

 kings who ruled Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C., 

 constituting the Macedonian dynasty. Only 

 five of them are historically important. 



Ptolemy I, surnamed SOTER, or "Savior" (367- 

 283 B.C.), was a Macedonian Greek and a fa- 

 vorite general of Alexander the Great. He pos- 

 sessed much of the genius of Alexander for 

 conquest and organization. After Alexander's 

 death, when the vast empire was divided, 

 Ptolemy chose Egypt and made Alexandria his 

 capital. By marriage and by fighting he ex- 

 tended his territory, and during his reign Egypt 

 became foremost among nations in commerce, 

 the clearing house for the produce of the world. 

 To further this great trade Ptolemy built roads 

 and canals. He was not only a warrior and an 

 organizer, but a patron of learning as well. It 

 was his aim to make Alexandria both the com- 

 mercial center and the intellectual capital of 

 the world, and to this end he founded the Mu- 

 seum and the great Alexandrian Library. He 

 also extended many privileges to teachers, 

 philosophers and writers. In 285 B.C. he abdi- 

 cated in favor of his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. 



Ptolemy II, surnamed PHILADELPHUS (308- 

 247 B.C.), was a peace-loving king who accom- 

 plished with honor the task of carrying out his 

 father's plans for the commercial and intellec- 

 tual glory of the kingdom. Among the achieve- 

 ments of his reign were the opening of a canal 

 from the upper end of the Red Sea to the Nile, 

 and the erection of a lighthouse on the island 



of Pharos (see LIGHTHOUSE). This structure 

 was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient 

 world. According to tradition, not well 

 founded, Ptolemy had a Greek translation 

 made of the Hebrew Scriptures (see SEPTUA- 

 CINT). 



Ptolemy III, called EUERGETES, or "Benefac- 

 tor" (about 282-222 B.C.). Under this progres- 

 sive ruler Egypt reached the height of its 

 military glory and material prosperity. Ptolemy 

 III was a patron of learning and a famous 

 builder. 



Ptolemy V, surnamed EPIPHANES, or "Illus- 

 trious" (210-181 B.C.), was crowned when only 

 five years old. The kings of Syria and Mace- 

 donia promptly took advantage of this condi- 

 tion and proceeded to divide between them 

 the foreign possessions of Egypt. The infant 

 king's frightened guardians called upon Rome 

 for help. That state, only too eager for an 

 opportunity to interfere, forced the kings to 

 restore most of the lands by arranging a mar- 

 riage between Ptolemy and the daughter of the 

 Syrian king, who was to have as her dowry the 

 disputed provinces. This aid was the opening 

 wedge for the Romans, whose influence in- 

 creased until Egypt became a Roman province. 

 The coronation of Ptolemy in 196 B. c. was the 

 occasion for the inscribing of the famous Ro- 

 setta Stone (which see). 



Ptolemy XIV (about 61-47 B.C.) came to a 

 kingship already under a Roman protectorate, 

 and when he quarreled with his sister-wife, the 

 famous Cleopatra, and drove her from the 

 country, Caesar interfered and deposed him. 

 Ptolemy attempted to assert his rights, but was 

 defeated, and was drowned while endeavoring 

 to escape. See CLEOPATRA for subsequent 

 events. 



Consult Mahaffy's Empire of the Ptolemies; 

 Budge's A History of Egypt. 



PTOLEMY, a famous astronomer and geog- 

 rapher of antiquity, whose remarkable theory 

 that the earth is the center of the universe was 

 generally accepted throughout Europe until dis- 

 proved by the arguments of Copernicus and the 

 astronomers who followed him. Information 

 concerning the life of Ptolemy is meager, but 

 it is known that he was a native of Egypt and 

 that he belonged to that group of scholars 

 which flourished in Alexandria about A. D. 139. 



His system of astronomy, which has been 

 named the Ptolemaic system, is set forth in 

 the Almagest, a ponderous work of thirteen 

 books. This theory views the earth as a globe, 

 around which revolves the hollow sphere of the 



