Ptolemaic Period
Ptolemy X Alexander I
Ptolemaic kings · 305-30 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Ptolemy X Alexander I owed his throne to his mother's favor and, according to ancient tradition, ended her life once she became inconvenient, before his own reign collapsed in an act so shocking to Alexandrians that it finished him: melting down Alexander the Great's own golden coffin to pay his soldiers. Additional detail: UCL Digital Egypt.
Reign dates: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
A mother's favorite, then her killer
Ptolemy X was installed on the Egyptian throne in 107 BCE by his mother, Cleopatra III, who had pushed out his elder brother Ptolemy IX to put him there, and he ruled for years as her junior partner. Ancient sources report that in 101 BCE Ptolemy X had Cleopatra III killed, removing the woman who had made him king in the first place once her continued authority became more obstacle than asset.
Melting down Alexander's coffin
When the Alexandrian population and army turned against Ptolemy X in 88 BCE, he fled the city and tried to raise a mercenary army to fight his way back to power. To fund it, he took the extraordinary step of melting down the solid gold sarcophagus housing the body of Alexander the Great, Egypt's own founding conqueror, and replacing it with one made of glass or rock crystal. The sacrilege only deepened public outrage against him, and he was killed in a sea battle attempting to cross to Cyprus, clearing the way for his exiled brother Ptolemy IX to reclaim the Egyptian throne.
Sources for this profile
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- University College London. Kings of Ptolemaic Egypt.
- UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Chronology. UCLA.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.