Ptolemy III Euergetes

Gold oktadracm of Ptolemy III Euergetes (www.metmuseum.org)

Three gold ocktadracms of Head of Ptolemy III, minted in Alexandria (www.metmuseum.org)

Black Bronze head of Ptolemy II or III, Ptolemaic Period from Egypt (www.metmuseum.org)

Ptolemy III Euergetes lived 246 through 221 B.C. as a Macedonian king of Egypt. He waged the Third Syrian War against the Seleucids because of the death of his sister Berenice whom Ptolemy Euegetes' father had given in marriage to Antiochus II Theos. Berenice II Ptolemy Euergetes' wife dedicated a lock of her hair to Aphrodite to thank her for Ptolemy Euergetes' safe return to Egypt after the Third Syrian War's end. The Egyptians called Ptolemy III and Berenice II, "benefactor gods" because Ptolemy III so well maintained Egyptian cults. Ptolemy III kept the original plays of Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides at the Alexandria Library. He left Egypt peaceful and powerful after his death.

Sources: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482164/Ptolemy-III-Euergetes and
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ptolemyiii.htm