Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt | The First Ptolemies: Greek Greatness (Lecture 11)

Lecture 11: In this lecture, we see the beginning of the end for ancient Egyptian civilization. Under the rule of the first Ptolemies, Egypt was reorganized and run like a business. Taxation was heavy and administration oppressive. The Greeks viewed the Egyptians as existing only to enrich their coffers. The great achievements of the first Ptolemies were purely Greek conceptions: the famous Library of Alexandria and the Pharos Lighthouse. The library was the first institution of its kind to encourage the sharing of ideas among scholars; Egyptian libraries, in contrast, were housed in temples and open only to priests. The lighthouse was constructed to attract trade to Alexandria. These accomplishments, however, did not bring lasting respect to the Ptolemy dynasty; as we see in the next lecture, later Ptolemies were disparaged by the people

Essential Reading:
Michael Grant, From Alexander to Cleopatra.

Supplementary Reading:
Peter A. Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, pp. 208–212.

Lecture 12: https://rumble.com/v6z0eye-great-pharaohs-of-ancient-egypt-cleopatra-the-last-pharaoh-lecture-12.html