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Ptolemy
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It was Ptolemy Soter who founded the Ptolemaic
Dynasty that ruled the country for the next 300 years. Ptolemy, who had been
Alexander’s boyhood friend, acted as the satrap of Egypt for Alexander’s two
immediate successors - Philip, his brother, and Alexander IV, his son. But both
were murdered, and Ptolemy ruled as virtual king, answerable only to Perdiccas,
Alexander’s regent. Ptolemy, however, wanted complete control of the country In
order to gain political and religious advantage, Ptolemy ordered his men to
seize Alexander’s body and bury it in Alexandria.
Perdiccas, who wanted to bury Alexander’s body
in Macedonia, was furious and he immediately marched against Ptolemy but he was
defeated. When the turmoil ended, Ptolemy had added Palestine and Lower Syria
to the Egyptian Empire. In order to forge a link with the old line of pharaohs,
he married the daughter of Nectanebo II, and began the usual pharaonic ritual
of building temples, towns, and monuments. The best known of them was the
Pharos, or lighthouse, of Alexandria, which became one of the Seven Wonders of
the ancient world.
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