Ptolemy I was mummified and his remains were placed in the Soma which was in the royal quarter of Alexandria, in fact most of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt were placed in the Soma or its expanded funerary complex. However the exact location of this mausoleum is unknown and the royal quarter of Alexandria along…

The region of Lower Nubia between the 1st and 2nd Cataracts actually were part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and were known as the Dodekaschoinos, or Twelve Cities and were conquered by Ptolemy II around 275 which opened up the trade in gold and ivory to the Ptolemaic Kingdom through Ptolemais Theron and Elephantine. African elephants…

Well none of them really. The Ptolemies set themselves up as kings of Egypt, but they incentivised immigration from regions like Macedon, Athens, Thrace, Samos and Thessaly in the hopes of creating a population of settler soldiers that could support the Ptolemaic military. Some have seen the establishment of Greek cities like Alexandria and Ptolemais…

So far as we know there was no specific ceremony or ritual for marriage in Dynastic Egypt which sounds crazy but it is important to keep in mind that even in the West the elaborate and iconic wedding with the cake, rings, champagne and all is a relatively recent phenomenon. Marriage for both the elites…

It is fairly inaccurate, not only because gladiatorial games were a Roman tradition, but even Roman games were not the wild death matches we know from media. But the Ptolemies did introduce new sporting venues in Egypt through the gymnasia, where Hellenic men went to learn athletic and intellectual skills. Although armed contests and deadly…

Cats were sacred animals (not gods) and they were treated with care and respect by all members of Egyptian society, being mourned as one would a family member when they died. A recorded penalty for killing a cat was death by the 4th Century BCE at least and the Roman historian and geographer Diodorus Siculus…

there is not a singular, catch-all answer as the religious environment in Egypt was different between regions and social strata before and after the Roman conquest. For instance, the Hellenised cultural centers adopted many aspects of Roman religion more readily than their Egyptian counterparts. Part of this is because of the close relationship between Hellenistic…