Ptolemy II Philadelphos, 285-246 BC, Tetrobol

Ptolemy II Philadelphos, tetrobol, AE, 285–246 BC, Alexandria mint, 33.01 g, 37 mm. Obverse with the head of Zeus-Ammon right, wearing the ram’s horn and diadem. Reverse with an eagle standing left on a thunderbolt, surrounded by the Greek legend ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ (“of King Ptolemy”). Struck on a thick, large flan consistent with the heavy Alexandrian bronze issues of the reign. Reference: Svoronos 1167.

Ptolemy II Philadelphos developed the Ptolemaic kingdom into a major Hellenistic power centered on Alexandria, consolidating control over Egypt and projecting influence through naval strength, diplomacy, and patronage of scholarship. The Zeus-Ammon portrait type reflects the dynasty’s use of syncretic religious imagery to connect Greek royal authority with Egyptian sacred traditions, while the eagle on thunderbolt, ultimately derived from Ptolemaic dynastic iconography, served as a widely recognized emblem of royal power across the eastern Mediterranean.