Horus and Thoth purifying Ptolemy XIII at the temple of Kom Ombo - Sauneron _The Priests of Ancient Egypt_

I don't know when O.Tiano took that photo. The original French version of the book was published in 1957. I came across a color photo of this scene, taken in 2007, and apparently the Kom Ombo temple has two versions of this, for along with considerably more damage, the hieroglyphs are different:


The photographer goes by the name 'shutterbug257', and uses an Olympus C3100Z,C3020Z, and Olympus Camedia Master software
Original here, taken May 2007 and saved here

This Ptolemy, the last, was not very blessed, as he was rather unimpressive, for he plotted against his sister. Being only a teenager, he may have been influenced heavily by his advisor, but it was clear he had no love for his sister (and wife!) Cleopatra VII. He also didn't do very well in battle, ending up drowning. Wikipedia gives details:

"Son of Pharaoh Ptolemy XII of Egypt (80–58 BC and 55–51 BC), he succeeded his father in the spring of 51 BC as co-ruler of Egypt by his marriage to his older sister Cleopatra VII of Egypt (69–30 BC). In October of 50 BC, Ptolemy XIII was promoted to senior ruler along with her, although the eunuch Pothinus acted as regent for him.

"In the spring of 48 BC, Ptolemy XIII and Pothinus attempted to depose Cleopatra VII due to her increasing status as Queen. Her face appeared on minted coins, for example, while Ptolemy XIII's name was omitted on official documents. Ptolemy intended to become sole ruler, with Pothinus acting as the power behind the throne.

"They managed to force her to flee to Syria, but she soon organized her own army and a civil war began in Egypt. Soon their other sister started to claim the throne as Arsinoe IV (48–47 BC), further complicating the situation.

"At this point defeated Roman general Pompey came to Egypt seeking refuge from his pursuing rival Julius Caesar. Initially, Ptolemy XIII and Pothinus pretended to have accepted his request, but on September 29, 48 BC, Pothinus himself murdered the general, in hopes of winning favor with Caesar when the victorious general arrived. When Caesar did arrive he was presented with the head of his deceased rival and former ally, but reportedly, instead of being pleased, reacted with disgust and ordered that Pompey's body be located and given a proper Roman funeral. Cleopatra VII proved more successful in winning Caesar's favor and became his lover. Caesar arranged the execution of Pothinus and the official return to the throne of Cleopatra VII, though she had never officially abdicated her marriage to Ptolemy XIII.

"Still determined to depose Cleopatra VII, Ptolemy XIII allied himself with Arsinoe IV. Jointly, they organized the factions of the army loyal to them against those loyal to Cleopatra VII and the relatively small part of his army that had accompanied Caesar to Egypt. The battle between the warring factions occurred in mid-December of 48 BC inside Alexandria itself, which suffered serious damage, including (according to some sources) the burning of some of the buildings which comprised the Library of Alexandria.

"The arrival of Roman reinforcements from Pergamum gave the victory to Caesar and Cleopatra VII, forcing Ptolemy XIII and Arsinoe IV to flee the city. Ptolemy XIII reportedly drowned on January 13, 47 BC while attempting to cross the Nile. Whether he was attempting to flee or was seeking negotiations remains uncertain from sources of the time
(Wikipedia accessed April 24, 2008)