Social Life in Egypt Under the Ptolemaic Rule

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The main aim of Ptolemy I was to establish a country based on Eastern principals in a Greek style . That is , in spite of the Ptolemies' desire to mix with the Egyptian society , they wanted to keep their own Greek style .
The Ptolemies opened the door widely for the foreigners especially the Greeks . Being welcomed in Egypt , the Greeks were chosen to occupy the high positions . It was the Greeks who developed the city of Alexandria and cities in Upper Egypt and kept the city of Naucratis (which was built in the Late Period) . The Greeks did not exclusively dwell these cities , rather , they existed all over Egypt , and new villages were built for them . They were also keen to build a number of gymnasiums . Gymnasiums were complete institutes containing social , cultural , and sport activities . One had to be a Greek citizen to be a member of a gymnasium . It's said that the Jews wanted to join the gymnasiums in an attempt to become Greek citizens , but their attempt always failed .
At first , Greeks or Ptolemies mistreated the Egyptians considering themselves superior to them . Later , this way of thinking changed from the time of King Ptolemy IV , as the Egyptians started to learn Greek and the Greeks started to learn the Egyptian language . What marks this change is that the Greek citizens also gave Egyptian names to their children and respected the Egyptian gods .
Not only did the Greek citizens show signs of this change but also soldiers and officers . At first , unlike the Greeks who enjoyed everything , the Egyptian officers lost all their rights . But from the time of the Battle of Raphia , the Egyptians showed great professionalism in this battle which made them start gaining their rights once again .
As for the Egyptians administrators , they lost all their positions for the Greeks , and most of them kept low rank positions with very low salaries just to keep them alive .
In spite of this bad situation , Egyptians tried hard to keep their laws and traditions: they continued to worship their gods and the Egyptian temples remained sacred places . Even those who learned the Greek language and culture still kept all their old traditions .