Ptolemy I Soter (“savior”). The founder and first king of a Greek-speaking dynasty that ruled over Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great until it was annexed by Rome in 30 bc.

Ptolemy (ca. 367–282 bc), also known as Lagides, was the son of Lagus, a Macedonian general, and Arsinoe, who may have been a concubine of King Philip II of Macedon. Ptolemy became satrap over Egypt following Alexander the Great’s death. He hijacked Alexander’s corpse before it reached its burial site in Macedonia and relocated it to Memphis, Egypt, while he built a suitable tomb for him in Alexandria. In 319 bc he attempted to gain control of Syria-Palestine. Although he failed in this endeavor, he took many Jewish prisoners of war—the beginnings of a great Jewish community in Alexandria.

In the years following Alexander’s death, the king’s successors continued to fight for control of his empire. In 315 bc Ptolemy gave refuge to another of Alexander’s generals, Seleucus, who fled his Babylonian satrapy when a third general, Antigonus I, seized the area. Ptolemy and Seleucus joined forces and defeated Antigonus at Gaza in 312 bc. In 306 bc Antigonus thwarted another of Ptolemy’s attempts to expand his territory beyond Egypt.

Ptolemy took on the title “king” in 305 bc and finally gained control of Syria-Palestine. Eventually he also gained control of Cyprus, the Aegean islands, and southern Asia Minor. In 285 bc he made his son Ptolemy II (son of Ptolemy’s third wife, Berenice) his co-regent. Ptolemy I died in 282 bc. The dynasty that Ptolemy I established ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years (323–30 bc). During his rule, Ptolemy I moved the Egyptian capital from Memphis to Alexandria, where he founded the city’s famed museum and library and instituted the worship of Serapis (Greek Osiris).