2/8: The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra Hardcover – April 8, 2025 by Toby Wilkinson (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Last-Dynasty-Ancient-Alexander-Cleopatra/dp/1324052031 Alexander the Great and Cleopatra may be two

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🗓️ 17 May 2025

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2/8:
The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra Hardcover – April 8, 2025
by Toby Wilkinson (Author)

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Dynasty-Ancient-Alexander-Cleopatra/dp/1324052031

Alexander the Great and Cleopatra may be two of the most famous figures from the ancient world, but the Egyptian era bookended by their lives―the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BC)―is little known. In The Last Dynasty, New York Times best-selling author Toby Wilkinson unravels the incredible story of this turbulent era, bringing to life three centuries’ worth of extraordinary moments and charismatic figures.
Macedonian in origin and Greek-speaking, the Ptolemies presided over the final flourishing of pharaonic civilization. Wilkinson describes the extraordinary cultural reach displayed at the height of their power: how they founded new cities, including Alexandria, their great seaside residence and commercial capital; mined gold in the furthest reaches of Nubia; built spectacular new temples that are among the foremost architectural wonders of the Nile Valley; and created a dazzling civilization that produced astonishing works of sculpture, architecture, and literature. Stunningly, he also shows how such expansionist ambitions led to the era’s downfall. The Ptolemaic period was a time when ancient Egypt turned its gaze westward―in the process becoming the unwitting handmaid to the inexorable rise of Rome and the consequent loss of Egyptian independence.
Featuring a superb blend of first-rate scholarship and evocative narrative history, The Last Dynastyprovides fresh insights into this overlooked period of history and its legacy in shaping the world as we know it.

1908

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0:00.0	This is CBSI of the world. I'm John Batchez, speaking to the Egyptologists. It's great joy, Toby.
0:06.7	Great joy to talk to an Egyptologist whose new book, The Last Dynasty, is about Egypt. Too late for the
0:14.4	geopologists, mostly, not Toby, and too early for the Roman historians who care about Cicero.
0:21.6	Not me, because Toby's filled in the bit between.
0:25.5	Ptolemy himself is a man who's born with an understanding of the world via the Macedonians.
0:35.5	And for reasons having to do with court intrigue, he and Alexander
0:41.3	study under Aristotle. You know, Toby, except for the fact that this is history, it doesn't,
0:46.5	you can't make this stuff up. You really can't. I mean, how extraordinary to have had Aristotle
0:52.7	as your tutor and to have learnt alongside the future
0:56.8	Alexander the Great. I mean, what an extraordinary start in life. You know, the thing about
1:01.9	Ptolemy the first, and he is the sort of founding figure of the Ptolemy dynasty, I think he is
1:08.1	looked, he's overlooked by historians because what he manages to achieve in Egypt is quite remarkable.
1:18.0	He's a great general himself.
1:19.8	He has served at Alexander's side in many of the great battles.
1:24.2	He's also a very learned man.
1:26.6	He's a deep thinker. He's a great scholar. And he's also a very learned man. He's a deep thinker.
1:29.3	He's a great scholar.
1:31.0	And he's also a brilliant strategist.
1:33.0	And the rest of Alexander's generals,
1:36.2	when they inherit bits of Alexander's empire at his death,
1:40.5	they try and go about ruling them
1:42.5	as if they're just Greek city states, not Ptolemy.
	...

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