- Ptolemy III Euergetes
Ptolemy III Euergetes, (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης, "Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs", reigned 246 BC–222 BC) was the third ruler of the
Ptolemaic dynasty inEgypt . He was the eldest son ofPtolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife,Arsinoe I , and came to power in 246 BC upon the death of his father. He is most noted for his invasions of the northern kingdom ofSyria which he commenced upon the murder of his eldest sister Berenice Phernophorus; during this war, the Third Syrian War, he occupiedAntioch and even reachedBabylon . [See the [http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-ptolemy_iii/bchp_ptolemy_iii_01.html Ptolemy III chronicle] ] Ptolemy III was also the ruler who promoted the translation of Jewish scriptures into Greek as theSeptuagint .Fact|date=January 2008He married Berenice of Cyrene in the year corresponding to 244/243 BC; and they were parents of
Arsinoe III andPtolemy IV Philopator .Ptolemy III Euergetes was responsible for the first known example of a series of decrees published as
bilingual inscriptions on massive stone blocks in threewriting system s. Ptolemy III's stonestela is the Canopus Stone of 238 BCE. Other well-known examples are the Memphis Stele (Memphis Stone), bearing theDecree of Memphis , about 218 BCE, passed by his son,Ptolemy IV , and the famousRosetta Stone erected byPtolemy V his grandson, in 196 BCE.Ptolemy III's stone contains decrees about priestly orders, and is a memorial for his daughter Berenice. But two of its 26 lines of hieroglyphs decree the use of a leap day added to the
Egyptian calendar of 365 days, and the associated changes in festivals.He is also credited with the foundation of the
Serapeum inAlexandria .ee also
*
History of Ptolemaic Egypt -
*Ptolemais - towns and cities named after members of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
*Leap year
*Decree of Canopus Notes
External links
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/6*.html Ptolemy Euergetes I at LacusCurtius] — (Chapter VI of E. R Bevan's "House of Ptolemy", 1923)
* [http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_iii.htm Ptolemy III] — (Royal Egyptian Genealogy)
* [http://virtualreligion.net/iho/ptolemy_3.html Ptolemy III Euergetes] entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
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