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Ptolemy V

 

 

Ptolemy V Epiphanes Eucharistos1 king of Egypt, son of Ptolemy IV by Arsinoe III2, born late year 12 or early year 13 of Ptolemy IV = 2103, official birthday 30 Mesore4, associated on the throne with his father 30 Mesore year 12 = 9 October 210 or 17 Phaophi year 13 = 30 November 2105, succeeded him summer 204 before 1 Mesore = 8 September 2046, ruler under the regency of Sosibius7 and Agathocles till October 2038, then of Tlepolemus till 202 or 2019, then of Aristomenes till his majority was declared in c. Oct/Nov 19710, was incorporated in the dynastic cult with Cleopatra I probably in 194/3 as the Manifest Gods, Qeoi EpifaneV11, recaptured rule of Upper Egypt from Ankhwennefer between Epeiph year 14 = 6 August - 4 September 191 and Mesore year 15 = 5 September - 4 October 19012, victor in the Panathenaian Games of 18212.1, died Mesore year 25 (Eg.) = September 18013, rumoured to have been poisoned14, and was succeeded by Cleopatra I and Ptolemy VI with no intervening coregency15.

Ptolemy V's titles as king of Egypt were:16

Horus               Hwnw xaj-m-nsw-Hr-st-jt.f17
Two Ladies        wr-pHtj smn-tAwj snfr-TAmrj mnx-jb-xr-nTrw18
Golden Horus     wAD-anx-n-Hnmmt nb-HAbw-sd-mj-PtH-TATnn jty-mj-Ra19
Throne Name     jwa-n-nTrwj-mr(wj)-jt stp-(n)-PtH wsr-kA-Ra sxm-anx-n-Jmn20
Son of Re          ptwlmjs anx-Dt mrj-PtH21

Ptolemy V had one marriage, to Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus III of Syria22, by whom he had Ptolemy VI23, Ptolemy VIII24 and presumably Cleopatra II25. Additionally, there were marriage negotiations for him between the Egyptian and Macedonian courts on his accession; the identity of the Macedonian princess involved is unknown26.

[1] PP VI 14546. Gr: PtolemaioV EpipfanhV EucaristoV. Usually known only by the first epithet, Epiphanes ("manifest"). The title first appears in Tybi year 7 = February/March 198 (pReceuil 8 = pdem Dublin 1659 = pdem Hincks 2). C. G. Johnson, Historia 51 (2002) 112, notes that OGIS 98, an altar dedication by Ptolemy V, Cleopatra I and their son Ptolemy (VI), names the parents as the Qeoi EpifaneiV, the first recorded use of divine epithets by a living monarch.

R. A. Hazzard, HThR 88 (1995) 415 notes the occasional appearances of two comets or stars on some coins of Ptolemy V (J. N. Svoronos, Die Münzen der Ptolemäer Nos 1249 (pl. 41a.4,5), 1254 (pl. 41b.15), 1257 (pl. 41b.17,18); D. Kiang, ANSMN 10 (1962) 69) which he dates to the period 204 to 198 (years 1 to 7). He correlates these with the comets observed in Babylonia between June 24 and July 22 210 = c. 10-12 Duzu 102 SE (D. K. Yeomans, Comets: A Chronological History of Observations 364, citing a letter dated 13 November 1989 from H. Hunger to F. R. Stephenson on unpublished fragments of Babylonian diaries related to comets in the British Museum; cf now BM 45608+45717 in A. Sachs & H. Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia II 185) and in China the seventh month of year 3 of Han Kao Ti = 14 August - 11 September 204 (Pan Ku, Ch'ien Han Shu 27/3, 3/26b, cited in H. P. Yoke, Vistas in Astronomy 5 (1962) 128, 143 no. 23). Hazzard suggests that the epithet refers to these comets appearing around the times of his birth and his accession respectively. Ý

Update Notes:

10 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
21 Feb 2002: Split into separate entry
19 May 2002: Corrected Egyptian date equations as necessary
9 April 2003: Noted that Ptolemy V was the first king to take a divine epithet in his lifetime.
18 May 2003: Added Xrefs to the Lacus Curtius edition of Polybius; added published ref to the Babylonian sighting of the comet of 210
23 Aug 2003: Added Xrefs to online Justin
24 Feb 2004: Added Xrefs to online Commentary on Daniel
20 Nov 2004: Extended discussion of Hazzard coregency hypothesis
16 Dec 2004: Added notice of his Panathenaian victory
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcription
6 Oct 2005: Adjust discussion of Hazzard proposal to correct Rosetta date to 18 Phaophi based on SB 20.14659 and to correct and simply the argument
3 Dec 2005: Adjust discussion on Porphyry.
14 Sep 2006: Add links to Packard Humanities DB, Canon at Attalus
11 Nov 2007: Incorporate Morkholm/Kromann data into discussion of Hazzard's coregency theory -- thanks to Catharine Lorber for making me realise the omission
27 Nov 2010: Fix broken DDbDP links

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