Octadrachm (Coin) Portraying King Ptolemy III Euergetes (Ptolemaic Period (221–205 BCE), issued by King Ptolemy IV, reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (247–222 BCE)): Artwork and History

Octadrachm (Coin) Portraying King Ptolemy III Euergetes (Ptolemaic Period (221–205 BCE), issued by King Ptolemy IV, reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (247–222 BCE)) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Greek, Ptolemaic; minted in Egypt.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Under the rule of Ptolemy III, Egypt’s realm reached its greatest geographical limits, stretching from Cyrene in North Africa to Babylon in Mesopotamia. Rather than pursue further conquests, Ptolemy concentrated on developing prosperity within Egypt. His reign marks the apogee of the dynasty’s power. Surprisingly, Ptolemy III never issued a coin with his own portrait, rather this coin was struck by his son Ptolemy IV and presents the dead king with the attributes of three gods: the crown of Helios, the sun god; the armor of Zeus; and the trident of the sea god, Poseidon.

Object facts

• Title: Octadrachm (Coin) Portraying King Ptolemy III Euergetes
• Date: Ptolemaic Period (221–205 BCE), issued by King Ptolemy IV, reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (247–222 BCE)
• Artist attribution: Greek, Ptolemaic; minted in Egypt
• Place of origin: Alexandria
• Medium: Gold
• Dimensions: Diam.: 2.6 cm (1 1/16 in.)
• Type: Coin
• Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
• Reference number: 1922.4935

Collection credit

Gift of Martin A. Ryerson

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.