The Egypt of the Hebrews and HerodotosSayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
History
The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodotos
Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
Egypt -- History, Ancient
Though Ptolemy Philadelphus was fond of show, he was not extravagant, and
his income was sufficient not only to maintain a large army and navy and
protect efficiently the frontier of his kingdom, but also to leave a large
reserve fund in the treasury. It was said to amount to as much as a
hundred millions sterling. It was no wonder, therefore, that Alexandria
became filled with sumptuous buildings. The Pharos or lighthouse was
finished by Sôstratos, as well as the tomb of Alexander, whose body was
moved from Memphis to the golden sarcophagus which had been prepared for
it. The library of the Museum was stocked with books until 400,000 rolls
of papyrus were collected together, and men of science and learning from
all parts of the world were attracted to it by the munificence of the
king. The principal librarianship, however, changed hands on the accession
of the new king. Demetrius Phalereus, the ex-tyrant of Athens, who had
been the first librarian, had offended Philadelphus by advising that the
crown should descend to his elder brother instead of to himself, and he
had accordingly to make way for Zênodotos of Ephesus, famous as a critic
of Homer.
Among the books which found a place in the great library of Alexandria was
doubtless the Greek translation of the Pentateuch. Philadelphus showed
remarkable favour to the Jews. The Jewish captives of his soldiers were
ransomed by him and given homes in various parts of Egypt. One hundred and
twenty thousand slaves were thus freed, the king paying for each 120
drachmas, or 30 shekels, the price of a slave according to the Mosaic Law.
It is quite possible that there may be some truth in the legend that the
Greek translation of the Old Testament was made at his desire. Whether or
not we believe that he sent two Greek Jews, Aristæus and Andræus, with
costly gifts to Eleazar the high-priest at Jerusalem, asking him to select
fit men for the purpose, he was probably not unwilling that a copy of the
sacred books of his Jewish subjects, in a form intelligible to the Greeks,
should be added to the library. We must not forget that it was he who
employed Manetho, the priest of Sebennytos, to write in Greek the history
of his country, which he compiled from the hieroglyphic monuments and
hieratic papyri of the native temples.
Ptolemy III., Euergetês, the eldest son of Philadelphus, succeeded his
father in B.C. 246. A war with Syria broke out at the beginning of his
reign, and the march of the Egyptian army as far as Seleucia, the capital
of the Syrian kingdom on the Euphrates, was one uninterrupted triumph. On
his return, Ptolemy laid his offerings on the altar at Jerusalem, and
thanked the God of the Jews for his success. The Jewish community might
well be pardoned for believing that in the conqueror of Syria they had a
new proselyte to their faith.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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