Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt who ruled from 175 to 115 BC with two successive brother-husbands and her daughter—often in rivalry with her brother Ptolemy VIII.
Cleopatra II
Wall relief of Cleopatra III, Cleopatra II and Ptolemy VIII before Horus
Image: Egyptian Head of a Queen, Perhaps Cleopatra II or Cleopatra III Walters 22407
Image: Lagid queen Isis Ma 3546
The Ptolemaic Kingdom or Ptolemaic Empire was an Ancient Greek polity based in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Macedonian general Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander the Great, and ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC. Reigning for nearly three centuries, the Ptolemies were the longest and final dynasty of ancient Egypt, heralding a distinctly new era for religious and cultural syncretism between Greek and Egyptian culture.
Ptolemaic Kingdom
Ptolemy as Pharaoh of Egypt, British Museum, London
Hellenistic bust of Ptolemy I Soter, 3rd century BC, now in the Louvre
A bust depicting Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus 309–246 BC