Ptolemais Theron(Ancient Greek:Πτολεμαῒς Θηρῶν[1]and Πτολεμαῒς ἡ τῶν θηρῶν[2]) ('Ptolemais of the Hunts') was a marketplace on the African side of theRed Sea,[3]whose location is now uncertain.[4]
According toStrabo(16.4.7), Ptolemais was founded as a base to support the hunting ofelephantsby a certain Eumedes (Ancient Greek:Εὐμήδης), who had been sent there byPtolemy II Philadelphus,king ofPtolemaic Egypt.[3]Eumedes, "secretly enclosed a kind of peninsula with a ditch and a wall, and then, by courteous treatment of those who tried to hinder the work, actually won them over as friends instead of foes." (Strabo 16.4.7). Ptolemais was only one of a series of such elephant-hunting stations along the Red Sea coast of Africa,Adulisbeing perhaps originally another. Pliny the Elder(2.75.1)[5]andDiodorus Siculus(3.41.1)[6]also mention the hunting of the elephants.
The earlyPtolemieshad seen the value ofwar elephantsby the military strength of theSeleucids.Cut off from any possibility of acquiringIndian elephants,they founded and actively sought to capture them from the neighboring regions of Africa. Although these animals helped in theBattle of Raphia,they proved unstable and theAfrican specieswere intimidated by the Asian species, which led to the Egyptians eventually abandoning the use of these animals in war.
Unlike most of the stations the Ptolemies established to the south of their kingdom, Ptolemais had enough fertile land immediately around it to sustain it as a town. By the time thePeriplus of the Erythraean Seawas written (mid 1st century), it had clearly declined in importance. The writer notes that it had "no harbor, and can only be reached by small boats" (ch. 3).[7]
Ancient authorities are vague on the location of Ptolemais, and the site remains unidentified. ThePeriplusdescribes it as 3000stadiasouth of theMoskhophagoi,and 3000 stadia north ofAdulis,inside the regions ruled byZoskales,the king ofAksum;Pliny the Elder(N.H. 6.168) notes that Ptolemais was close to Lake Monoleus.G.W.B. Huntingfordnotes that Ptolemais has been identified both with the locales ofArqiqoandSuakinsome 150 miles apart, and notes that Suakin lay at the end of an ancient caravan route that links it toBarbaron theNile.However, Stanley M. Burstein argues forTrinkitat,where he states that "classical architectural fragments" have been found.[8]
Ptolemais Theron is noted by Pliny as a place where shadows vanished under the noontime sun (meaning that the sun reached its zenith) 45 days before and 45 days after midsummer. Pliny claims that this gaveEratosthenesthe idea about how to calculate the circumference of theEarth(N.H. 2.183, 6.168).
Popular culture
edit- In theParadox Development Studiogrand strategy wargameImperator: Rome,Ptolemais Theron is controlled by an autocratic monarchy of the Blemmyan culture, in the Aksumite culture group, with Kemetic religion, starting in the game's main campaign during the time of theDiadochiin304 BC.[9]
- In theCreative Assemblystrategy gameTotal War: Rome II,Ptolemais Theron is a major settlement controlled by theBlemmyesfaction In the game‘s ‘grand campaign’.[10]
Notes
edit- ^Ptolemaeus, Geography, 4.7.7
- ^Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 4
- ^abRaoul McLaughlin,The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean,p. 114, Barnsley, Pen & Sword Military, 2012,ISBN9781-78346-381-7.
- ^Getzel M. Cohen,The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa,p.342, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press, 2006,ISBN978-0-520-24148-0.
- ^Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 2.75.1
- ^Diodorus Siculus, Library, 3.41.1
- ^Huntingford, G. W. B. 1980.The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea - by an unknown author; with some extracts from Agatharkhides "On the Erythraean Sea".Vol. 151, Works issued by the Hakluyt Society. Second series. London: Hakluyt Society.
- ^Stanley M. Burstein,Agatharchides of Cnidus, On the Erythraean Sea,p.144 n.2. (London: the Hakluyt Society, 1989).
- ^"Countries - Imperator Wiki".
- ^"Ptolemais Theron - Regions - Total War: Rome II".