 In the 3rd century BC, Celtic mercenaries served in the army of Ptolemy II of Philadelphos, a pharaoh of Ptolemyic 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 to defeat an attempt by rival Ptolemy Kerenos, 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, Magus of Cyrene, who ruled a kingdom in modern Libya, and Antiochus I to the east, who ruled the Solicid 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. They had miscalculated, Magus of Cyrene had to halt his attack due to an internal revolt and return back to modern Libya, and Ptolemy II's army defeated Antiochus I in Palestine. This left Ptolemy II able to respond swiftly and decisively to the Celts, pushing nearly 4,000 of these Celtic mercenaries onto an island in the Seminitic branch of the Nile. The Greek geographer and traveller, Pocenius, would later write that these Celts perished by hunger in each other's swords. Many may have committed ritual suicide. This story once again shows that there is much more to the Celts than many would think. Thanks for watching, please subscribe and hit the bell, you can support this work through PayPal, Patreon and buy me a coffee. All the links are in the description below. Thanks for watching and I'll speak to you soon.