Ptolemaic Egypt

1. Sardonyx cameo of Ptolemy II and his wife (Leningrad: Hermitage). When Alexander of Macedon conquered Kemet and had himself adopted as the son of Amon, he left behind the Macedonian general Ptolemy to govern in his absense. He created a new capital for that administration, Alexandria. From here the Ptolemies ruled what is now properly called Egypt until it was incorporated into the Roman Empire. There was little social or cultural interaction between the Greeks in Alexandria and the rest of Kemet.

2. Supposed head of Cleopatra, the last of the Macedondian rulers in Alexandria, Egypt. (London: British Museum).