Ptolemy IX (Soter II) at Thebes

"The divided reign of Ptolemy IX, Soter II, from 117 to 107 B.C. andagain from 88 to 80 B.C., marked both a tumultuous period in the decliningyears of the Ptolemaic dynasty and a pivotal era in the history --and ultimatedecline-- of the ancient city of Thebes.1 The present study examines oneaspect of that era: the phraseology of the royal Prenomen and itsmodification for propagandistic reasons. While this is admittedly a highlytraditional Egyptological concern for earlier periods, the student ofPtolemaic titularies is poorly served by available studies. Selective exampleswere collected by Gauthier for his valuable series Le Livre des Roisd’Égypte, and there are studies of the royal epithets in the Demotic, Greek,and, most recently, the hieroglyphic texts.2 The full phraseology of thehieroglyphic cartouches, in contrast, has received little attention, probablyon the assumption that these formal titles in then-arcane script were of littlehistorical importance..."