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Ptolemy (name)

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Tetradrachm of Ptolemy II Philadelphus with the Eagle of Zeus. Greek inscription reads ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ lit. ' of Ptolemy'

Ptolemy (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος, Ptolemaios) is a male given name, derived from Ancient Greek and meaning 'warlike'. It is formed from the Epic Greek πτόλεμος ptolemos meaning 'war'. The name was used throughout the Greek world, but was particularly popular in ancient Macedon and its nobility. During the Hellenistic period, Ptolemy I Soter, a general of Alexander the Great, founded the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled their Kingdom in Ancient Egypt. All male rulers of the dynasty bore the name 'Ptolemy', the last being Ptolemy XII Auletes, father of Cleopatra. Common variants include Ptolemaeus (Latin), Tolomeo (Italian) and Talmai (Hebrew).

Etymology

Ptolemy is the English form of the Ancient Greek name Πτολεμαῖος (Ptolemaios), a derivative of πτόλεμος, an Epic form of πόλεμος 'war' and the suffix -αῖος -aios meaning 'pertaining' or 'belonging to'. A nephew of Antigonus I Monophthalmus was called Polemaeus, the normal form of the adjective. Ptolemaios is first attested in Homer's Iliad and is the name of an Achaean warrior, son of Piraeus, father of Eurymedon.

The name Ptolemaios varied over the years from its roots in ancient Greece, appearing in different languages in various forms and spellings:

Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Ptolemaîos

The name Ptolemy spread from its Greek origins to enter other languages in Western Asia during the Hellenisation that followed the conquest of the known world by Alexander the Great.

The Aramaic name Bar-Talmai 'son of Talmai' (Greek Bartolomaios, English Bartholomew) may be related (Bartholomew the Apostle is thus thought to have been the son of a Ptolemy.)³

Ptolemais is formed from this name by the Greek feminine adjectival ending -i(d)s.

Claudius Ptolemaeus

Ptolemy commonly refers to Claudius Ptolemaeus (ca. 90 AD–ca. 168 AD), a writer, geographer, mathematician, astronomer and astrologer who lived in the Alexandrine Greek culture of Roman Egypt.

Ptolemaic dynasty

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Ptolemy
in hieroglyphs
Main article: Ptolemaic dynasty

Ptolemy was the name of several pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty who ruled Hellenistic Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. The Greco-Egyptian pharaonic dynasty of Macedonian origin was established by Ptolemy I Soter (303–282 BC), and the male dynastic successors were all also named Ptolemy. Dynasty members who ruled Egypt include:

Several dynasty members ruled other territories not in Egypt:

Early Greek rulers and generals named Ptolemy

Other people named Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus

Born before 20th century

Born in 20th century or later

People named Tolomeo or Tolomei

Uses in arts and entertainment

See also

Footnotes

  1. The change from polemos to ptolemos is an example of a type of linguistic compounding called terpsimbrotos. The pt- in ptolemos (vs. earlier polemos) "war" is thought to arise from a re-analysis of the compound word *phere-t-polemos, metathesised to phere-ptolemos. George Dunkel, "Two old problems in Greek: πτόλεμος and τερψίμβροτος", Glotta 70:3/4:197-225 (1992) JSTOR 40266932.
  1. Harper, Douglas. "Ptolemy". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. πτόλεμος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  3. πόλεμος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  4. Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great by Waldemar Heckel
  5. Homer, Iliad, 4.228, on Perseus
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