Part 2 – Origin of the stone

Part 2 – Origin of the stone

The Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 323 BC to 30 BC, issued a series of decrees over the course of their reign. The Rosetta stone is a well-known example of one of the decrees.

The Rosetta stone was included in the third part of a series of three decrees, the first from Ptolemy III (the Decree of Canopus), the second from Ptolemy IV (The Memphis Stele) and the third from Ptolemy V.

Several copies of the Ptolemaic Decrees were erected in multiple temple courtyards, as specified in the text of the decrees. The Stele of Nubayrah, found early 1880s, and the text engraved in the Temple of Philae contain the same decree as the Rosetta stone. The Stele of Nubayrah was used to complete missing Rosetta stone lines.

The Rosetta stone is a slab of black basalt dating from 196 BC inscribed by the ancient Egyptians with a royal decree praising their king Ptolemy V.

After Alexander the Greats’ death in 323 BC, his empire was divided between his most powerful generals among who was General Ptolemy Soter, son of Lagus, later known as Ptolemy I. Ptolemy Soter was offered and accepted Egypt and some surrounding lands as his share of Alexander’s Macedonian Empire and immediately moved there and took possession of the Egyptian throne.

Macedonian custom decreed that to be king one had to bury the predecessor and Alexander was not yet buried. To increase his chances of becoming a king, Ptolemy bribed the commander of the funeral cortege to hide Alexander’s body. It is still unknown where Alexander was buried. His body was neither taken home to the royal tombs at Aegae nor was it conveyed to the Siwah oasis. Ptolemy Soter took the body first to Memphis for a pharaoh’s burial and then to Alexandria where it was put on permanent display in a gold coffin.

Ptolemy Soter was welcomed by the Egyptians as part of Alexander the Great’s family and allowed him to become pharaoh.

Ptolemy Soter son of Lagus may have been just a general in Alexander’s army but he came from a royal family that once ruled Macedonia. He was born in Pelagonia, in a town now known as Ptolemais (Kailiari) located in south-western geographical Macedonia. By becoming a pharaoh of Egypt Ptolemy I managed to hang on to power during turbulent times and set the name standard for the 32nd Dynasty which unfortunately turned out to be the last of Egypt’s great dynasties. All of his male successors took the name Ptolemy and all of his female successors were called Cleopatra.

As mentioned earlier, the Ptolemies ruled Egypt for 293 years from 323 BC to 30 BC. Ptolemy I, Soter married Eurydice, daughter of Antipater another of Alexander’s Macedonian generals, and ruled Egypt from 323 BC (declared himself king in 305 BC) to 284 BC. (Antipater at the time was regent of Macedonia appointed by Alexander the Great). Ptolemy II - Philadelphus, son of Ptolemy I, ruled Egypt from 284 to 246 BC. Ptolemy III – Eurgetes, son of Ptolemy II ruled Egypt from 246 to 221 BC. Ptolemy IV – Philopator, son of Ptolemy III ruled Egypt from 221 to 205 BC. Ptolemy V – Epiphanes son of Ptolemy IV ruled Egypt from 205 to 180 BC. Ptolemy VI – Philometor son of Ptolemy V ruled Egypt from 180 to 145 BC. When Ptolemy V succeeded his father in 205 BC he was only three years old and could not be crowned king until he was twelve. All of the above mentioned Ptolemies were Macedonians and heirs to the Ptolemaic dynasty.

As mentioned earlier, the Rosetta stone inscription, dated from 196 BC, is a decree (one of a series) passed by a council of priests that affirm the royal cult of the 13-year-old Ptolemy V on the first anniversary of his coronation.