Artakama or Artacama (; fl. 324 BC) was a Persian noblewoman and the second wife of

Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pto ...

, a Macedonian general under

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and the first Pharaoh of the

Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty (; , ''Ptolemaioi''), also known as the Lagid dynasty (, ''Lagidai''; after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. ...

of Egypt.

Biography

Artakama (or as Plutarch calls her Apama ''Eum. 18.1'') was a daughter of Artabazus of Phrygia, a grandson of king

Artaxerxes II Arses (; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius II () and his mother was Parysatis. Soon after his accession, Ar ...

and queen Strateira. Her father was a

Satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...

of Dascylium under Artaxerxes III and

Darius III Darius III ( ; ; – 330 BC) was the thirteenth and last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. ...

, and a

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...

under Alexander. Her mother was most likely the only known wife of Artabazus, an anonymous sister of the Rhodian generals Memnon and Mentor, who were in Persian service in the late 340 BCs and the 330 BCs. Artakama married Ptolemy (then a general) in April 324 BC at a marriage festival in the city of

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

, as ordered by

. Many of the Macedonian and other Greek officers took Persian wives shortly afterward. Artakama was not mentioned in historical texts again, probably because Ptolemy quietly discarded her when he left Babylon for Egypt after Alexander's death. If so, his action was a contrast to that of his friend

Seleucus Seleucus or Seleukos (Ancient Greek: Σέλευκος) was a Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonian Greek name, possibly meaning "very bright" or “very white”. It is likely related to the ancient name Zaleucus (Ancient Greek language, Ancient ...

, whose Persian wife, Apama, married also on that occasion, remained with him permanently. Seleucus and Apama became the ancestors of the kings of the Seleucid dynasty and, through a future dynastic marriage, of the last rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty.Translation of Anabasis
by the Greek author Arrian of Nicomedia at www.livius.com Artakama is called Apama by

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, but this is likely an error. Ptolemy had no known children by Artakama. Family tree of the later Pharnacids complete

References

External links

Genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artakama Queens consort of the Ptolemaic dynasty 4th-century BC women Women from the Achaemenid Empire 4th-century BC Iranian people Wives of Ptolemy I Soter