372 Ptolemies Greco-Roman world, such as the Delphic oracle Written around 140 c.e they lay out a structure of history, the coming of a Jewish messiah, and the judgment of the nations The Pseudepigrapha are written after the voices of prophecy had ended and before the New Testament and hence are often referred to as intertestamental literature They are filled with apocalyptic revelations that are supposed to fortify Jewish resolve to endure the hardships of the Greco-Roman world Often they speak of a transcendent messiah-like figure and a future age of fulfillment for the Jewish people, and these ideas are somewhat different from those of biblical prophecy Yet, even though they are not books of the Bible, the New Testament often adopted their language and concepts Apocrypha means “hidden things” and refers to materials that show an otherwise unknown side of the Bible The Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical writings, are biblical for many Christians They are books and parts of biblical books that are in the Bible that Greekspeaking Jews used, yet they are not in the Bible that Jews eventually accepted as the official text There are 12 or more books or parts of books that were not in the official text Protestant Christians follow the official text, but many of the Apocrypha have been found among the ancient manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, bolstering the argument that even the Jews of Palestine must have known and used the Apocrypha These books include and Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Additions to Daniel, Additions to Esther, Baruch, Sirach, and Wisdom, and the books of the Maccabees The New Testament Apocrypha include Christianinspired works that are modeled on New Testament books The most important of these materials are “gospels,” because they give a perspective on the four Gospels of the Bible Some are fragmentary gospels gleaned from the writings of the fathers of the church (such as the Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of the Nazoreans, and Gospel of the Ebionites); others are recently discovered from such places as Nag Hammadi and Oxyrhynchus in Egypt Many of these latter gospels show an unfamiliar, perhaps Gnostic, Jesus (Christ) of Nazareth, and the date of their writing often cannot be determined They show the life of Jesus in formats emphasizing such things as his childhood, his sayings, and his afterlife dialogues Other apocryphal gospels are discounted because they not exist in ancient manuscripts, but they may have some claim for early roots These include the Protevangelium of James, the Gospel of Thomas, the Apocryphon of James, and the Gospel of Peter Nongospel apocryphal writings are less helpful for New Testament studies, including the pseudo-Pauline letters, the “acts” of various apostles, and various apocalypses Many of these types of writings show definite late and Gnostic tendencies Whether these apocryphal materials reflect the “true beliefs” of the early church or affected the New Testament is unknown Some of the strongest voices asserting the authenticity of these writings minimize the later Gnostic influences in the very areas where such texts have been found The New Testament Apocrypha of these areas might be Gnostic editions or perhaps complete Gnostic fabrications See also apocalypticism, Jewish and Christian; Christian Dualism (Gnosticism); Christianity, early; Jewish revolts; Judaism, early; messianism; prophets Further reading: Charlesworth, J H The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha New York: Doubleday, 1983; Hennecke, E., and W Schneemelcher New Testament Apocrypha Westminster, UK: John Knox Press, 1991 Mark F Whitters Ptolemies One of Alexander the Great’s conquests in the eastern Mediterranean was Egypt On Alexander’s death his empire broke up for lack of a suitable designated successor Ptolemy (367–283 b.c.e.), a trusted general under Alexander, had counseled that the empire be divided into a series of satrapies, each under the control of a leading general The alternative, he believed, would be anarchy or warfare between the Macedonians Ptolemy took control of Egypt, establishing a dynasty of Ptolemies that lasted for nearly 300 years until the death of Cleopatra VII, who died in 30 b.c.e., after which Egypt was incorporated as a province of the Roman Empire Ptolemy I took the name of Soter and set about establishing a formidable, independent Hellenistic state He improved methods of administration and captured territories, adding to Arabia and Libya, which were already within the satrapy of Egypt These territories included Cyprus and parts of Cyrenaica and Syria Ptolemy was drawn into warfare with Perdiccas in Asia Minor as one of the Diadochi to Alexander During the subsequent reallocation of satrapies, Antipater of Macedon was named as regent of Alexander’s empire, and Ptolemy strengthened his possessions by marrying Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater Further wars among the successors brought mixed fortunes, but Ptolemy was never seriously threatened with losing his core Egyptian territories By presenting himself as an Egyptian ruler in appearance