Egypt, Ptolemaic Kingdom Ptolemy IV Philopator 1 Tetradrachm

History

1 Tetradrachm 221-204 BC, Svoronos# 1136A, Egypt, Ptolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemy IV Philopator

Obverse. Photo © Heritage Auctions

Description

The Ptolemaic Kingdom was an Ancient Greek state based in Egypt during the Hellenistic Period. It was founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander the Great, and lasted until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC. Ruling for nearly three centuries, the Ptolemies were the longest and most recent Egyptian dynasty of ancient origin.

Ptolemy IV Philopator ("Ptolemy, lover of his Father"; 244–204 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 221 to 204 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II. His succession to the throne was accompanied by a wide-ranging purge of the Ptolemaic royal family, which left control of the realm's government largely in the hands of his courtiers Sosibius and Agathocles. His reign was marked by the Fourth Syrian War (219–217 BC) with the Seleucid empire, which culminated in a decisive Ptolemaic victory at the Battle of Raphia, one of the largest battles of the whole Hellenistic Age. In the final years of his rule, control over the southern portion of the country was lost to the rebel pharaoh Hugronaphor. Ptolemy IV died in mysterious circumstances in 204 BC and was succeeded by his young son Ptolemy V Epiphanes under the regency of Sosibius and Agathocles.

In ancient sources, Ptolemy IV was criticised for being more interested in luxury and court ceremony than government, politics, and foreign relations. The decline of the Ptolemaic dynasty is usually traced to his reign.

Obverse	Deity (god, goddess etc.) Serapis, Isis Depicts jugate draped busts right of Serapis, laureate with miniature atef crown above forehead, and Isis, crowned with grain and miniature horned disc above forehead; dotted border. Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his realm. A serapeum was any temple or religious precinct devoted to Serapis. The cultus of Serapis was spread as a matter of deliberate policy by the Ptolemaic kings. Serapis continued to increase in popularity during the Roman Empire, often replacing Osiris as the consort of Isis in temples outside Egypt. Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom (c. 2686 – c. 2181 BCE) as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her slain brother and husband, the divine king Osiris, and produces and protects his heir, Horus. She was believed to help the dead enter the afterlife as she had helped Osiris, and she was considered the divine mother of the pharaoh, who was likened to Horus. Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. Originally, she played a limited role in royal rituals and temple rites, although she was more prominent in funerary practices and magical texts. During the New Kingdom (c. 1550 – c. 1070 BCE), as she took on traits that originally belonged to Hathor, the preeminent goddess of earlier times, Isis was portrayed wearing Hathor's headdress: a sun disk between the horns of a cow.
Reverse	Animal (fish, bird, mammal etc.) Eagle Depicts eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings closed; double cornucopia bound with royal diadem over right-wing; ME in left field, HP monogram in right field (these two monograms do not occur together on other coins, perhaps suggesting an origin in Syria or Phoenicia), dotted border. A commonplace symbol of the Ptolemaic dynasty is an eagle standing on a thunderbolt, first adopted by Ptolemy I Soter. ΠTOΛEMAIOY-BAΣIΛEΩΣ HP ME
Edge	Plain