The Celtic Mercenaries of Ancient Egypt
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2022-04-08

The Celtic Mercenaries of Ancient Egypt 

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In the 3rd century BC, Celtic mercenaries served in the army of Ptolemy II of Philadelphos, a pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt who ruled from around 285 to 246 BC. Known in the region for their fighting prowess, Celts were brought into the pharaoh’s army sometime around 274 BC, but perhaps earlier. Some argue that the Celts helped defeat an attempt by rival Ptolemy Keraunos who sought to rule Egypt instead of his half-brother Ptolemy II. 

Regardless of the precise details as to why the Celtic mercenaries were hired, this arrangement didn’t last long. 

The Celts began to see Ptolemy II’s position as weak. Pressure from both his half-brother to the west, Magas of Cyrene, who ruled a kingdom in modern Libya, and Antiochos I to the east, who ruled the Seleucid Empire, meant that the Celtic mercenaries felt Ptolemy II’s days were numbered. 

The Celts rebelled, fuelled in part by the potential riches of Egypt. 

Sources:

Exploring the Little Known History of Celtic Warriors in Egypt, Ancient Origins https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/exploring-little-known-history-celtic-warriors-egypt-005100 

Barry Cunliffe (2018) – The Ancient Celts (Second Edition) (Oxford University Press)

Thanks to Ketoun for commenting about this subject… 

Creative Commons Imagery:

Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ptolemy_II_MAN_Napoli_Inv5600.jpg Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/deed.en 

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egyptian_king_Ptolemy_II_Philadelphus_and_queen_Arsinoe_II,_deified._Ptolemaic_Period,_c._285-246_BCE._From_the_temple_of_Ptolemy_II_and_Arsinoe_II_at_Tanis,_Egypt._The_British_Museum.jpg  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egyptian_king_Ptolemy_II_Philadelphus_and_queen_Arsinoe_II,_deified._Ptolemaic_Period,_c._285-246_BCE._From_the_temple_of_Ptolemy_II_and_Arsinoe_II_at_Tanis,_Egypt._The_British_Museum.jpg 

Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magas_as_Ptolemaic_governor,_first_reign,_circa_300-282_or_275_BC_Didrachm.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en 

Isidora Lazović https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_museum_in_Po%C5%BEarevac,_Scordisci_warrior.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 

Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stater_of_Ptolemy_Keraunos.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en 

Cattette https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seleucid_Empire_alternative_map.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 

#AncientEgypt #Celtic #History