This was accepted only reluctantly, and often rejected outright, by the Greek cities, but Alexander's prolific founding of cities alone secured for him a divine status there, since Greek cities traditionally rendered their founder (Greek: κτίστης, romanized: ktistēs) divine honours. When Ptolemy took over Egypt, he incorporated the heritage of Alexander into his own propaganda to support the claims of his own dynasty. As part of this effort, Alexander was elevated from a simple patron god of Alexandria to the status of a state god for the Greek populations of the entire Ptolemaic empire, even beyond the confines of Egypt.