Cleopatra II Was Second of Seven Ptolemaic Queens Named Cleopatra

Summary: Cleopatra II was the second of seven queens named Cleopatra in Ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic Kingdom, which ended with Cleopatra VII's death in 30 BCE.

ca. 175-115 BCE peridot intaglio of head of Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra II (reign: 173-116 BCE) in profile to the left; purchased 1942 by the Museum as accession number 42.1319; Walters Art Museum, Centre Street, second floor Ancient Treasury: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cleopatra II was the second of seven queens named Cleopatra in Ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic Kingdom, an Ancient Greek state that ended with the death of the seventh Cleopatra in 30 BCE.

Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλομήτωρ Σωτείρα, Kleopatra Philometor Soteira; ca. 185-116 BCE) was born ca. 187-185 BCE as the only daughter of Ptolemy V Epiphanes Eucharistos (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Ἐπιφανής Εὐχάριστος, Ptolemaios Epiphanes Eucharistos, "Ptolemy the Manifest, the Beneficent"; Oct. 9, 210-September 180 BCE) and Cleopatra I Syra (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα ἡ Σύρα; ca. 204-176 BCE). Ptolemy V's reign as fifth pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Kingdom (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία, Ptolemaike basileia) had begun March 26, 196 BCE, according to Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Welsh historian specializing in ancient Greece and ancient Iran, in "The Cleopatras -- Part 1: Cleopatra I, the Syrian," posted June 8, 2023, as an Ancient Egypt magazine feature on The Past website. The Macedonian Greek royal dynasty had ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom since the Ancient Egypt-based, Ancient Greek state's founding in 312 BCE by Seleucus I Nicator (Ancient Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, Seleukos Nikator, "the Victorious"; ca. 358-281 BCE), commander of the Macedonian army's elite infantry corps, the Hypaspist Corps (Ancient Greek: ὑπασπιστής, hupaspistes, “shield bearer”).

Cleopatra I was a princess of Western Asia's Seleucid Empire (Ancient Greek: Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, Basileia ton Seleukidon, "Kingdom of the Seleucids"; 312-63 BCE). Cleopatra II's parental ancestries represented the rival empires of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.

Cleopatra II had two brothers who both became her sibling husbands. She received the female dynastic name introduced by her mother into the Ptolemaic dynasty. Her brothers were given the male Ptolemaic dynastic name. Ptolemy VI Philometor (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Φιλομήτωρ, Ptolemaios Philometor; ca. 186–145 BCE) was born as King Ptolemy V's first heir.

Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης Τρύφων, Ptolemaios Euergetes Tryphon, "Ptolemy the Benefactor, the Opulent"; ca. 184/183-June 28, 116 BCE) birthed as the second heir. Ptolemy VIII accrued at least two rather unflattering nicknames, according to American Egyptologist Christopher "Chris" John Bennett (1953-Jan. 10, 2014) in notes 3 and 4 of the "Ptolemy VIII" section of Ptolemaic Dynasty: The Genealogy on his Tynsdale House-provided website, Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Alexandrians punned Ptolemy VIII's epithet of Euergetes (Εὐεργέτης, "Benefactor") as Kakergetes (κακεργετης, "Malefactor"). Tryphon (Τρύφων, "Opulent") was converted to Physcon (Φύσκων, Physkon, "Potbelly; Fatso") in recognition of Ptolemy VIII's obesity.

Cleopatra II married Ptolemy VI as her first husband ca. March 175 BCE (Chris Bennett, "Cleopatra II). The marriage was dated to April 176 BCE by English-Australian papyrologist and classicist John Whitehorne (July 2, 1944-March 5, 2020) in Cleopatras, published in 1994 (Chapter 8: Cleopatra II and Ptolemy VI, page 91).

Cleopatra II had at least four children with Ptolemy VI. Their two dynastically named sons were Ptolemy Eupator (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαίος Ευπάτωρ, Ptolemaios Eupator, "Ptolemy the Well-fathered [God]"; ca. 166-152 BCE) and Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Νέος Φιλοπάτωρ, Ptolemaios Neos Philopator, "Ptolemy the Father-loving [God]"; ca 152-142 BCE). Their two daughters were dynastically named as Cleopatra Thea Eueteria (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Ευετηρια, Kleopatra Thea Eueteria, "Cleopatra the Goddess of Plenty"; ca. 164-121 BCE) and Cleopatra III Euergetis Philometor Soteira (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Εὐεργέτις Φιλομήτωρ Σωτήιρα, Kleopatra Euerghetis Philometor Soteira; ca. 160/155-ca. September 101 BCE).

Cleopatra II also possibly birthed a fifth children during her first marriage. An unknown parentage for Berenice (Ancient Greek: Βερενίκη, Berenike; ca. 163/160-ca. 150 BCE) has possibilitized her parents as Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II. She was engaged to Attalus III (Ancient Greek: Ἄτταλος Γ΄, Attalos III; ca. 171/170-133 BCE), King of northwestern Asia Minor's Kingdom of Pergamum (Ancient Greek: Πέργαμον, Pergamon, "citadel").

Cleopatra II married Ptolmey VIII, her second brother, as her second husband ca. 145/144 BCE, according to Chris Bennett. Her second marriage produced her third son, Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Νέος Φιλοπάτωρ, Ptolemaios Neos Philopator, "Ptolemy the Father-loving [God]"; ca. 144/142-130 BCE).

Numerous coregencies with her brothers, her daughter and a grandson characterized Cleopatra III's royalty. Her second daughter, Cleopatra III, married Ptolemy VIII, Cleopatra II's second husband and Cleopatra III's uncle, ca. 141-140 BCE. At the time of her death, Cleopatra II ruled in association with Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX Soter II (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaios Soter, "Ptolemy the Saviour"; ca. 143-ca. 81 BCE). Ptolemy IX was the first of three sons and of at least five children born to Cleopatra III and her uncle, Ptolemy VIII.

Cleopatra II disappeared from the historical record ca. 116-115 BCE. Rulership by "two queens Cleopatra" and Ptolemy IX was noted on the ninth day of the ancient Egyptian calendar's second month, Phaophi (Ancient Greek: Φαωφί, Phaophi), in year 2, equated to Oct. 29(?), 116 BCE, according to note 21 of Chris Bennett's profile of "Cleopatra II." The mention of "only queen Cleopatra and king Ptolemy" on the 18th day of the ancient Egyptian calendar's seventh month, Phamenoth (Ancient Greek: Φαμενώθ, Phamenoth), in year 2, equated to April 6, 115 BCE, might imply Cleopatra II's death before that date (Chris Bennett, "Cleopatra II," note 22).

Cleopatra II, with cartouche of her name in hieroglyphics, drawn by Coimbra, Portugual-born Italian painter Giuseppe Angelelli (Dec. 7, 1803-Nov. 4, 1844), engraved by Italian engraver Carlo Lasinio (Feb. 10, 1759-March 29, 1838), in Ippolito Rosellini, I Monumenti Dell'Egitto e Della Nubia Disegnati Dalla spedizione Scientifico-Letteraria Toscana in Egitto, Tomo primo: Monumenti Storici (1822), No. XXII, Fig. 78: Free to use without restriction, via New York Public Library Digital Collections

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

ca. 175-115 BCE peridot intaglio of head of Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra II (reign: 173-116 BCE) in profile to the left; purchased 1942 by the Museum as accession number 42.1319; Walters Art Museum, Centre Street, second floor Ancient Treasury: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egyptian_-_Intaglio_Portrait_of_Cleopatra_II_-_Walters_421319.jpg; CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication, via Walters Art Museum @ https://art.thewalters.org/detail/758/intaglio-portrait-of-cleopatra-ii/

Cleopatra II, with cartouche of her name in hieroglyphics, drawn by Coimbra, Portugual-born Italian painter Giuseppe Angelelli (Dec. 7, 1803-Nov. 4, 1844), engraved by Italian engraver Carlo Lasinio (Feb. 10, 1759-March 29, 1838), in Ippolito Rosellini, I Monumenti Dell'Egitto e Della Nubia Disegnati Dalla spedizione Scientifico-Letteraria Toscana in Egitto, Tomo primo: Monumenti Storici (1822), No. XXII, Fig. 78: Free to use without restriction, via New York Public Library Digital Collections @ https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-4862-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cleopatra_I.jpg

For further information:

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Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20160313113330fw_/http://tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/cleopatra_ii_fr.htm
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Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035237fw_/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Egypt/ptolemies/nios_ii_fr.htm

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Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20160313131242fw_/http://tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_vi_fr.htm

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Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191231fw_/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_viii_fr.htm
Available via David Instone-Brewer @ https://www.instonebrewer.com/TyndaleSites/Egypt/ptolemies/ptolemy_viii_fr.htm

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