Spun and Fleeced? Spinning, the Wool Tax, and Gendered Labour in the Ptolemaic Textile Industry

Abstract

Abstract This article proposes a new interpretation of the Ptolemaic wool tax, one of the best documented capitation taxes. The integration of Greek and Demotic sources makes clear that the women liable to this tax were involved in part-time spinning. This reinterpretation considerably enlarges our dataset for spinning, a crucial yet underrepresented stage in the manufacture of textiles. The article discusses the available evidence for spinning, the nature of the wool tax, and the implications for the organisation of the Ptolemaic textile industry and the role women played in it.