Ptolemy

Etymology

Ptolemy is the English form of the Ancient Greek name Πτολεμαῖος (Ptolemaios), a derivative of πτόλεμος, an Epic form of πόλεμος 'war' and the suffix -αῖος -aios meaning 'pertaining' or 'belonging to'. A nephew of Antigonus I Monophthalmus was called Polemaeus, the normal form of the adjective. Ptolemaios is first attested in Homer's Iliad and is the name of an Achaean warrior, son of Piraeus, father of Eurymedon.

The name Ptolemaios varied over the years from its roots in ancient Greece, appearing in different languages in various forms and spellings:

Latin: Ptolemaeus

German: Ptolemäus, Ptolemaios

Italian: Tolomeo

English: Ptolemy

Ancient Egyptian: ptwꜣrwmys

Coptic: ⲡⲧⲟⲗⲉⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ Ptolemaios

Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤋𐤌𐤉𐤎 (ptlmys) or 𐤐𐤕𐤋𐤌𐤉𐤔 (ptlmyš)

Hebrew and Aramaic: תלמי (tlmy) Talmay

Middle Persian 𐭯𐭲𐭫𐭬𐭥𐭱 (ptlmywš) Patlamyōš

Persian: بَطلَمیوس، پتُلِمَیوس Baṭlamīūs/ Ptolemaios

Arabic: بَطُلِيمُوس Baṭulīmūs

The name Ptolemy spread from its Greek origins to enter other languages in Western Asia during the Hellenisation that followed the conquest of the known world by Alexander the Great.

The Aramaic name Bar-Talmai 'son of Talmai' (Greek Bartolomaios, English Bartholomew) may be related (Bartholomew the Apostle is thus thought to have been the son of a Ptolemy.)³

Claudius Ptolemaeus

Ptolemy commonly refers to Claudius Ptolemaeus (ca. 90 AD–ca. 168 AD), a writer, geographer, mathematician, astronomer and astrologer who lived in the Alexandrine Greek culture of Roman Egypt.

Ptolemaic dynasty

Ptolemy was the name of several pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty who ruled Hellenistic Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. The Greco-Egyptian pharaonic dynasty of Macedonian origin was established by Ptolemy I Soter (303–282 BC), and the male dynastic successors were all also named Ptolemy. Dynasty members who ruled Egypt include:

Ptolemy I Soter

Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Ptolemy III Euergetes

Ptolemy IV Philopator

Ptolemy V Epiphanes

Ptolemy VI Philometor

Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator

Ptolemy VIII Physcon

Ptolemy IX Lathyros

Ptolemy X Alexander I

Ptolemy XI Alexander II

Ptolemy XII Auletes

Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator

Ptolemy XIV Philopator

Ptolemy XV Caesarion

Several dynasty members ruled other territories not in Egypt:

Ptolemy Apion, King of Cyrene (150–145 BC)

Ptolemy Philadelphus (son of Cleopatra) (36 BC – 29 BC), King of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia (34-30 BC)

Ptolemy of Mauretania, client king of Mauretania (20–40 AD) for Rome

Early Greek rulers and generals named Ptolemy

Ptolemy of Thebes (12th century BC) – mythical ruler of the ancient Greek city of Thebes

Ptolemy of Aloros (ruled 368 to 365 BC) – Regent of Macedon

Ptolemy (somatophylax) (died 334 BC) – Macedonian bodyguard and general of Alexander the Great

Ptolemy (son of Seleucus) (died 333 BC) – Macedonian bodyguard and general of Alexander the Great

Ptolemy (son of Philip) (4th century BC) – Macedonian officer of Alexander the Great

Ptolemy (nephew of Antigonus I Monophthalmus) (died 309 BC) – Macedonian general

Ptolemy (son of Pyrrhus) (295–272 BC) – a son of king Pyrrhus of Epirus

Ptolemy of Epirus – King of the Greek frontier kingdom of Epirus c. 237 BC – 234 ВС

Other people named Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus

Born before 20th century

Ptolemy Macron (fl. 2nd century BC), governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.

Ptolemy Pindarion (2nd century BC), grammarian

Ptolemaeus of Commagene (201 BC - 130 BC), satrap and then first King of Commagene

Ptolemy son of Abubus, governor of Jericho (ca. 130 BC) in the First Book of the Maccabees; instigated the death of Simon Maccabees; and for whom Dante named the section of Hell reserved for traitors to guests ('Ptolemaea')

Ptolemy (son of Mennaeus) (rule ended ca. 40 BC), governor of biblical Abilene, a district of the disputed region of Coele-Syria

Ptolemy of Mauretania (d.40 AD)

Ptolemaeus Chennus (2nd century AD), a grammarian who lived in the Alexandrine Greek culture of Roman Egypt

Ptolemaeus and Lucius (d. c. 165 AD), Christian martyrs

Ptolemy (Gnostic) (c. 180 AD), a religious philosopher who was active in Roman Italy and Gaul

Ptolemy-el-Garib (fl. c. 300 AD), a Peripatetic pinacographer whose Life of Aristotle

Ptolemy I of Tusculum (d.1126), a count of Tusculum who asserted his family's descent from the Roman Julii

Ptolemy II of Tusculum (d.1153), a count of Tusculum who married Bertha, daughter of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor

Ptolemaios Sarigiannis (1882–1958), a Greek Army officer

Born in 20th century or later

Ptolemy Tompkins (born 1962) – American author

Ptolemy Dean (born 1968) – British architect, author, and TV presenter

Ptolemy Slocum (born 1975) – American actor

Barry Ptolemy (born 1969) – American film director and producer

People named Tolomeo or Tolomei

Tolomeo da Lucca or Bartholomew of Lucca (Bartolomeo Fiadoni c. 1236 – c. 1327), a medieval Italian historian

Bernardo Tolomei (1272–1348), founder of the Olivetan Roman

Tolomeo Gallio (1527–1607), an Italian cardinal

Tolomeo Faccendi (1905–1970), an Italian sculptor

Tolomeo Mwansa (1941-2014), a Zambian football goalkeeper

Giovanni Battista Tolomei (1653–1726), Italian Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal

Uses in arts and entertainment

The Ptolemy (1934) is a large reed organ built by Harry Partch, the American composer, named in tribute to Claudius Ptolemaeus

Tolomeo is an opera by Handel composed in 1728, a fictionalisation of some events in the life of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Egypt

Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise is a character in The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher by Beatrix Potter

Ptolemaios and Ptolemaios 2 are fictional spacecraft in the anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and film Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer

Ptolemy's Gate, published 2005, is the third book in The Bartimaeus Trilogy, a fantasy series by the English author Jonathan Stroud. The series includes a character called Ptolemy, from 2nd century BC Ptolemaic Egypt, who is nephew to Ptolemy VIII and cousin to Ptolemy IX

Ptolemaic Terrascope is a magazine founded in 1989. The name was inspired by "Ptolemy the turtle, who lives at Terrascope Towers". Various artworks and logos feature an astronomer peering through a 'terrascope', so Ptolemaic may here refer to Claudius Ptolemaeus

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is a novel by Walter Mosley, later adapted into a miniseries of the same name, whose titular character is a lonely 93-year-old man with dementia.

Ptolemy, a track by Aphex Twin from the 1992 album Selected Ambient Works 85–92

Ptolemaea, a song by Ethel Cain from her debut album Preacher's Daughter