and often co-ruling with them. Ptolemy I and other early rulers of the dynasty were not married to their relatives, the childless marriage of siblings Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II being an exception. The first child-producing incestuous marriage in the Ptolemaic dynasty was that of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III, who were succeeded as co-pharaohs by their son Ptolemy V, born 210 BC. The most well-known Ptolemaic pharaoh, Cleopatra VII, was at different times married to and ruled with two of her brothers (Ptolemy XIII until 47 BC and then Ptolemy XIV until 44 BC), and their parents were likely siblings or possibly cousins as well. Contemporaries describe a number of the Ptolemaic dynasty members as extremely obese, whilst sculptures and coins reveal prominent eyes and swollen necks. Familial Graves' disease could explain the swollen necks and eye prominence (exophthalmos), although this is unlikely to occur in the presence of morbid obesity. This is all likely due to inbreeding depression. In view of the familial nature of these findings, members of the Ptolemaic dynasty likely suffered from a multi-organ fibrotic condition such as Erdheim–Chester disease or a familial multifocal fibrosclerosis where thyroiditis, obesity and ocular proptosis may have all occurred concurrently. Gallery of images See also Argead dynasty, another Greek dynasty in Egypt which ruled immediately prior to the Ptolemies Donations of Alexandria Hellenistic period History of ancient Egypt List of pharaohs#Ptolemaic Dynasty List of Seleucid rulers On Weights and Measures, which contains a chronology of the Ptolemies Ptolemaic Decrees Roman pharaohs References Further reading A. Lampela, Rome and the Ptolemies of Egypt: The development of their political relations 273–80 B.C. (Helsinki, 1998). J. G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305–30 BC (Princeton, 2009). Susan Stephens, Seeing Double: Intercultural Poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria (Berkeley, 2002). External links Livius.org: "Ptolemies"—by Jona Lendering States and territories established in the 4th century BC States and territories disestablished in the 1st century BC Dynasties of ancient Egypt Hellenistic dynasties Ptolemaic African royal families Ancient Greek dynasties Ancient royal families 4th century BC in Egypt 3rd century BC in Egypt 2nd century BC in Egypt 1st century BC in Egypt 4th-century BC establishments in Egypt 1st-millennium BC disestablishments in Egypt 305 BC 300s BC establishments 30 BC 4th-century BC establishments in Greece 1st-century BC disestablishments in Greece