Daughter of Ptolemy
V & Cleopatra I
Sister-consort of both Ptolemy
VI & Ptolemy
VIII.
As co-ruler of Egypt from an early age (170
BCE), Cleopatra played a pivotal role in the long running feud between her
brothers. As the loyal wife of her older brother (by whom she had 4
children), she negotiated his return to Egypt (164
BCE) after he had been
exiled by their younger sibling. Widowed at about age 40 (145
BCE), she
was married to her younger brother (Ptolemy VIII) who murdered her son (Ptolemy
VII) & married her daughter (Cleopatra
III). After years of feuding with her 2nd husband, Cleopatra drove him
into exile, leaving her as sole ruler of Egypt for three years (130-127
BCE). When he returned to Alexandria (127
BCE), she fled to Syria
where she was protected by her son-in-law, Demetrius
II. Three years later she was restored as dowager queen of
Egypt. After Ptolemy VIII died (116
BCE), she remained as co-ruler
of Egypt with her daughter (Cleopatra
III) & grandson (Ptolemy
IX).
Jews recall her & her
first husband as benefactors during the Maccabean revolt for supporting
the construction of a temple to Yahweh at Leontopolis [Tell el Yehudieh]
in the Nile delta when the young Seleucid emperor, Antiochus
V Eupator, took control of the temple in Jerusalem & installed a
radical Hellenist as high priest (164
BCE).
References: Josephus,
Antiquities 12.388,
13:63-70, 20.236.
Justin, Epitome
39.1-4.
Other resources on line:
Perspective on the
World of Jesus 