Ptolemy II Philadelphus elephants in Egypt

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Ptolemy II Philadelphus
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Local name	Πτολεμαῖος Φιλάδελφος
Type	private
Founded	-309
Closed down	-246
Country	Egypt
Related persons
Owner

Zoological department
Elephant department
Record history
History of updates	2021-07-11

Latest document update	2021-07-11 11:08:07

Description

Ptolemy II Philadelphus elephants, Egypt , was founded in -309. Ptolemy II Philadelphus elephants closed down in -246.

Comments / picturesPtolemy II Philadelphus (309/8 – 28 January 246 BC) was the pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 to 246 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy I, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom after the death of Alexander, and Queen Berenice I, originally from Macedon in northern Greece.

Along the Egyptian coast, Philotera, Myos Hormos, and Berenice Troglodytica would become important termini of caravan routes running through the Egyptian desert and key ports for the Indian Ocean trade which began to develop over the next three centuries. Even further south was Ptolemais Theron (possibly located near the modern Port Sudan), which was used as a base for capturing elephants. Some authors speculate that the Adult elephants were killed for their Ivory, and the Juvenile elephants were captured in order to be trained as war elephants, contrary to traditions in India, where Adult elephants were captured and trained for war, so this may just be a speculation from authors, having zero experience of taming and training elephants.

A festival, called the Ptolemaia, was held in Ptolemy I\'s honour at Alexandria every four years from 279/278 BC. Twenty-four chariots drawn by elephants were followed by a procession of lions, leopards, panthers, camels, antelopes, wild asses, ostriches, a bear, a giraffe and a rhinoceros.[60] Most of the animals were in pairs - as many as eight pairs of ostriches - and although the ordinary chariots were likely led by a single elephant, others which carried a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) golden statue may have been led by four.

References for records about Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2025). Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=3324. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_II_Philadelphus
Scullard, H.H The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World Thames and Hudson. 1974

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