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Chapter 2: The Great Egyptian Revolt
205 – 188 BCE
The Ptolemaic dynasty was never truly accepted by the native Egyptians, the occasional small-scale riots and rebellions sparked by native frustration were a constant reminder of this. At best, the Greek dynasty was tolerated in the same vein as other foreign dynasties had been in the past. And perhaps the Ptolemaic reign would have continued, but the events of the last quarter of the third century set the Egypt on a chaotic trajectory. And while many thought the Revolt of 217 BCE that took place just after the Fourth Syrian War was the last demonstration of native resistance, it was in truth a prelude to a much larger and violent civil war.
To truly understand the course and causes of The Great Egyptian Revolt, it’s necessary to examine the society and history of Ptolemaic Egypt. Ptolemaic Egypt was established in 305 BCE when Ptolemy Soter I, a general of Alexander the Great, declared himself pharaoh of Egypt following the death of Alexander and the subsequent dissolution of his empire. Under the Ptolemaic dynasty, the native aristocracy was deposed and Greek settlers became the new upper class. Egyptians were largely excluded from government positions and the army, only allowed to serve at low level governing post and only in the military as either auxiliaries or sailors. While the Ptolemies emulated aspects of Egyptian culture to appease the natives, the general attitude among the aristocracy was that Egyptian culture was inferior to that of their own. Greek gods were widely worshipped among the elite and the native script of Demotic gradually lost its prestige and was slowly replaced by Greek as the legal language of contracts and agreements.
Greek control of Egypt was weakened by the events of the Fourth Syrian War. From 219 – 217 BCE, Ptolemaic Egypt warred against the Seleucid Empire for control over the Levant, which while brief was financially expensive, resulting in higher taxation which heavily impacted the lives of the lower classes, where native Egyptians were disproportionately represented. Additionally, approximately 30,000 Egyptians had served in the Fourth Syrian War in the main army due to manpower needs. This was highly unusual and the military experience these soldiers gained would prove useful during the Revolt. And the final straw was the return in 211 BCE of 10,000 handsomely paid Egyptian mercenaries that had fought for Carthage in the Second Punic War. They garnered great prestige among the peasantry for they represented an earlier time when Egyptians served in the army with distinction and earned a comfortable living. Certainly, contemporary Greek historians noted the increased assertiveness of these mercenaries and their acolytes. And so this was how Egypt’s third century ended: a quagmire of ethnic, economic, and religious tensions.
The Great Egyptian Revolt began in 205 BCE when there was a general uprising against the Ptolemaic Dynasty after the events of the Fourth Syrian War. It is unknown what exactly triggered the rebellion, but once ignited it quickly consumed the entire kingdom. The influence of the Egyptian mercenaries from both the Fourth Syrian War and Second Punic War was instrumental during this time as part of the leadership of the Revolt. People flocked to the cause as the mercenaries represented a chance to return Egypt to that of one ruled by powerful natives. They also used their extensive experience to train the rebellion’s army and advise the military tactics of their self-proclaimed pharaoh of Upper Egypt, a Nubian named Hugronaphor. Operating from his base in Upper Egypt and appealing to the masses as a pharaoh of old come to drive out the oppressive Greeks, he managed to extend his reach into Lower Egypt and the delta region by 202 BCE. In response, the Ptolemies mounted an offensive that managed to push Hugronahpor back down to Memphis where the two sides stalemated for several years and built up their armies that would reunite the country. During this time Macedon and Persia capitalized on Egypt’s civil war by conquering pieces of its land. Macedon invaded Egyptian held islands within Thrace and Caria in Anatolia while Antiochus III attacked the region of Coele-Syria. In the decisive battle of Panium in 198 BCE, Egyptian forces led by Scopas of Aetolia were soundly defeated by a Persian army led by Antiochus III the Great, reducing Egyptian dominance to parts of Judea.
Hugronahpor died around 197 BCE and his possible son Ankhmakis ascended to the role of pharaoh. During the stalemate, it became popular among the peasantry to carve the name of Ankhmakis and Hugronaphor onto the stomachs of stone and clay scarabs. Acts of rebellion such as desecrating the temples of priests that collaborated with the Greek nobility and graffiti praising “the pharaoh ordained by Amon” became commonplace. Additionally, taxes had been raised to pay for the civil war which led to further discontent and riots from the common folk which threatened internal stability. Knowing that the rebels soon intended to break the ceasefire and mindful of the threat within his own borders, Ptolemy V became fearful about the prospects of defeat and begins to enact harsher measures (curfews, taxes, stricter prohibition on Egyptians being able to serve in the bureaucracy and army) on the native Egyptian population, including selling those suspected of colluding with Ankhmakis into slavery. The most important result of this was the considerable desertion of the army by native Egyptians.
Knowledgeable of the Delta population’s discontent with Ptolemy V, Ankhmakis launched a new offensive with a focus on living off the land that resulted in his forces diving deep into the delta to attack and when forced to retreat, adopting a scorched earth policy. Battle after battle raged on, depleting the strength of both sides, but the public opinion turned steadily in favor of Ankhmakis, especially when he announced payment and opportunities to those who would join his army and commit sabotage within the Delta to the Grecian army. This strategy worked and the rebellion saw more and more of Egypt submit to them. Thus in 190 BCE, the siege of Alexandria began. Here the Egyptian veterans that fought in the Battles for Rome proved themselves invaluable with their experience. They instructed Ankhmakis in how to minimize the losses of his forces while maximizing his opponents’ and how to effectively break the will of a city under siege while chipping away at their defenses. Their leader, a wiry man named Abayomi, is to have remarked in disgust, “These perfumed Greeks do not have an ounce of the fire and rage of Rome. They deserve their fate.” The city fell late in the year in 189 BCE and Ptolemy V fled along with most of his court across the Mediterranean to Macedonia. Ptolemy V was promptly executed by order of Philip V of Macedon and his court either imprisoned, married off, or scattered. So ended Egypt's Diadochi dynasty.
In 188 BCE, Ankhmakis was crowned and officially recognized as pharaoh of all of Egypt by the priests of Alexandria. He lifted the bans on Egyptians fully serving in the different branches of the military and in government positions while also granting amnesty to the Macedonian troops that fought against him in the Revolt. He rewarded those in his army regardless of ethnicity who had served with great distinction with titles of nobility taken from Greek nobles that refused to recognize his rule or had fled Egypt to Persia or Macedonia. During his reign, he encouraged a revival in using Demotic in royal records and business transactions and proclaimed a return to the days of the pharaohs.
But Egypt had changed under 117 years of heavy Hellenic rule. Both the Egyptian language and Demotic script now included Greek words and were influenced by the Greek writing system. This new writing system was known as Late Demotic. To avoid the revolt of communities with large Greek populations, Ankhmakis gave Greek, Coptic, and Late Demotic equal standing in certain urban centers. While worship of the native Egyptian pantheon was still the dominant religion, much of the Greek population continued to worship the gods of their homeland instead of Egyptian gods, due to Ptolemaic efforts to retain a distinct Greek population. There were also a substantial number of Jewish, Arab, and Greek civilians in Egypt that were largely left to continue on as they had before the civil war. Hellenic cuisine had blended with the native fare and so had the art styles of the two cultures. Finally, the Greek play remained very popular with both the peasants and nobility and the amphitheaters continued to be supported. Egyptian plays were also performed in these open-air theaters and eventually borrowed aspects of Hellenic plays in their own routines while more traditional religious Egyptian performances were done by priests outside of Egyptian temples. Ankhmakis later took a half Egyptian-Ptolemaic wife named Cleopatra in 186 BCE to pacify any Ptolemaic loyalists and presided over an Egypt that now blended a predominant Egyptian culture with strong Greek influences.
The Great Egyptian Revolt
205 – 188 BCE
The Ptolemaic dynasty was never truly accepted by the native Egyptians, the occasional small-scale riots and rebellions sparked by native frustration were a constant reminder of this. At best, the Greek dynasty was tolerated in the same vein as other foreign dynasties had been in the past. And perhaps the Ptolemaic reign would have continued, but the events of the last quarter of the third century set the Egypt on a chaotic trajectory. And while many thought the Revolt of 217 BCE that took place just after the Fourth Syrian War was the last demonstration of native resistance, it was in truth a prelude to a much larger and violent civil war.
To truly understand the course and causes of The Great Egyptian Revolt, it’s necessary to examine the society and history of Ptolemaic Egypt. Ptolemaic Egypt was established in 305 BCE when Ptolemy Soter I, a general of Alexander the Great, declared himself pharaoh of Egypt following the death of Alexander and the subsequent dissolution of his empire. Under the Ptolemaic dynasty, the native aristocracy was deposed and Greek settlers became the new upper class. Egyptians were largely excluded from government positions and the army, only allowed to serve at low level governing post and only in the military as either auxiliaries or sailors. While the Ptolemies emulated aspects of Egyptian culture to appease the natives, the general attitude among the aristocracy was that Egyptian culture was inferior to that of their own. Greek gods were widely worshipped among the elite and the native script of Demotic gradually lost its prestige and was slowly replaced by Greek as the legal language of contracts and agreements.
Greek control of Egypt was weakened by the events of the Fourth Syrian War. From 219 – 217 BCE, Ptolemaic Egypt warred against the Seleucid Empire for control over the Levant, which while brief was financially expensive, resulting in higher taxation which heavily impacted the lives of the lower classes, where native Egyptians were disproportionately represented. Additionally, approximately 30,000 Egyptians had served in the Fourth Syrian War in the main army due to manpower needs. This was highly unusual and the military experience these soldiers gained would prove useful during the Revolt. And the final straw was the return in 211 BCE of 10,000 handsomely paid Egyptian mercenaries that had fought for Carthage in the Second Punic War. They garnered great prestige among the peasantry for they represented an earlier time when Egyptians served in the army with distinction and earned a comfortable living. Certainly, contemporary Greek historians noted the increased assertiveness of these mercenaries and their acolytes. And so this was how Egypt’s third century ended: a quagmire of ethnic, economic, and religious tensions.
The Great Egyptian Revolt began in 205 BCE when there was a general uprising against the Ptolemaic Dynasty after the events of the Fourth Syrian War. It is unknown what exactly triggered the rebellion, but once ignited it quickly consumed the entire kingdom. The influence of the Egyptian mercenaries from both the Fourth Syrian War and Second Punic War was instrumental during this time as part of the leadership of the Revolt. People flocked to the cause as the mercenaries represented a chance to return Egypt to that of one ruled by powerful natives. They also used their extensive experience to train the rebellion’s army and advise the military tactics of their self-proclaimed pharaoh of Upper Egypt, a Nubian named Hugronaphor. Operating from his base in Upper Egypt and appealing to the masses as a pharaoh of old come to drive out the oppressive Greeks, he managed to extend his reach into Lower Egypt and the delta region by 202 BCE. In response, the Ptolemies mounted an offensive that managed to push Hugronahpor back down to Memphis where the two sides stalemated for several years and built up their armies that would reunite the country. During this time Macedon and Persia capitalized on Egypt’s civil war by conquering pieces of its land. Macedon invaded Egyptian held islands within Thrace and Caria in Anatolia while Antiochus III attacked the region of Coele-Syria. In the decisive battle of Panium in 198 BCE, Egyptian forces led by Scopas of Aetolia were soundly defeated by a Persian army led by Antiochus III the Great, reducing Egyptian dominance to parts of Judea.
Hugronahpor died around 197 BCE and his possible son Ankhmakis ascended to the role of pharaoh. During the stalemate, it became popular among the peasantry to carve the name of Ankhmakis and Hugronaphor onto the stomachs of stone and clay scarabs. Acts of rebellion such as desecrating the temples of priests that collaborated with the Greek nobility and graffiti praising “the pharaoh ordained by Amon” became commonplace. Additionally, taxes had been raised to pay for the civil war which led to further discontent and riots from the common folk which threatened internal stability. Knowing that the rebels soon intended to break the ceasefire and mindful of the threat within his own borders, Ptolemy V became fearful about the prospects of defeat and begins to enact harsher measures (curfews, taxes, stricter prohibition on Egyptians being able to serve in the bureaucracy and army) on the native Egyptian population, including selling those suspected of colluding with Ankhmakis into slavery. The most important result of this was the considerable desertion of the army by native Egyptians.
Knowledgeable of the Delta population’s discontent with Ptolemy V, Ankhmakis launched a new offensive with a focus on living off the land that resulted in his forces diving deep into the delta to attack and when forced to retreat, adopting a scorched earth policy. Battle after battle raged on, depleting the strength of both sides, but the public opinion turned steadily in favor of Ankhmakis, especially when he announced payment and opportunities to those who would join his army and commit sabotage within the Delta to the Grecian army. This strategy worked and the rebellion saw more and more of Egypt submit to them. Thus in 190 BCE, the siege of Alexandria began. Here the Egyptian veterans that fought in the Battles for Rome proved themselves invaluable with their experience. They instructed Ankhmakis in how to minimize the losses of his forces while maximizing his opponents’ and how to effectively break the will of a city under siege while chipping away at their defenses. Their leader, a wiry man named Abayomi, is to have remarked in disgust, “These perfumed Greeks do not have an ounce of the fire and rage of Rome. They deserve their fate.” The city fell late in the year in 189 BCE and Ptolemy V fled along with most of his court across the Mediterranean to Macedonia. Ptolemy V was promptly executed by order of Philip V of Macedon and his court either imprisoned, married off, or scattered. So ended Egypt's Diadochi dynasty.
In 188 BCE, Ankhmakis was crowned and officially recognized as pharaoh of all of Egypt by the priests of Alexandria. He lifted the bans on Egyptians fully serving in the different branches of the military and in government positions while also granting amnesty to the Macedonian troops that fought against him in the Revolt. He rewarded those in his army regardless of ethnicity who had served with great distinction with titles of nobility taken from Greek nobles that refused to recognize his rule or had fled Egypt to Persia or Macedonia. During his reign, he encouraged a revival in using Demotic in royal records and business transactions and proclaimed a return to the days of the pharaohs.
But Egypt had changed under 117 years of heavy Hellenic rule. Both the Egyptian language and Demotic script now included Greek words and were influenced by the Greek writing system. This new writing system was known as Late Demotic. To avoid the revolt of communities with large Greek populations, Ankhmakis gave Greek, Coptic, and Late Demotic equal standing in certain urban centers. While worship of the native Egyptian pantheon was still the dominant religion, much of the Greek population continued to worship the gods of their homeland instead of Egyptian gods, due to Ptolemaic efforts to retain a distinct Greek population. There were also a substantial number of Jewish, Arab, and Greek civilians in Egypt that were largely left to continue on as they had before the civil war. Hellenic cuisine had blended with the native fare and so had the art styles of the two cultures. Finally, the Greek play remained very popular with both the peasants and nobility and the amphitheaters continued to be supported. Egyptian plays were also performed in these open-air theaters and eventually borrowed aspects of Hellenic plays in their own routines while more traditional religious Egyptian performances were done by priests outside of Egyptian temples. Ankhmakis later took a half Egyptian-Ptolemaic wife named Cleopatra in 186 BCE to pacify any Ptolemaic loyalists and presided over an Egypt that now blended a predominant Egyptian culture with strong Greek influences.
- leopard9
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