Great Revolt of the Thebaid
From 206 BCE a native Egyptian uprising — the so-called 'revolt of the brothers' Horwennefer and Ankhwennefer — seized control of Upper Egypt and the Thebaid, proclaiming indigenous pharaohs in opposition to the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty for roughly two decades. The revolt reflected the collapse of the Ptolemaic compact with the priestly elite and peasantry under the pressure of war taxation levied to fund the Syrian Wars against the Seleucids. The young Ptolemy V's Memphis decree of 196 BCE (the Rosetta Stone) was in part an attempt to rebuild priestly support amid this crisis. Though eventually suppressed, the long secession demonstrated that Ptolemaic authority over native Egypt was contingent on fiscal forbearance the state could no longer afford.
- Year: 206 BCE
- Category: Political
