Roman Egypt Research Articles

Drawing Lots of the Gods in Roman Egypt

Drawing Lots of the Gods in Roman Egypt

Poll Tax Rates in Roman Egypt

Abstract Discussion of the various poll tax rates in Roman Egypt, which can be reduced to a simple scheme drawn up by the Romans upon their conquest of Egypt. This scheme suggests that in 30 BC the distribution of the population in Egypt was roughly uniform except for the Fayyum (underpopulated) and the western oases (overpopulated), possibly also Thebes (overpopulated). It also suggests that in 30 BC the distribution of the Greek population was uneven, with virtually no Greeks in Upper Egypt, possibly also the oases, and fewer Greeks in Oxyrhynchus than in other metropoleis in Lower and Middle Egypt.

Pliny’s Roman Economy: Natural History, Innovation, and Growth by Richard P. Saller

This book does not start out well. Saller writes, “Most recent efforts do not hold up to close scrutiny and so do not demonstrate sustained growth up to the Antonine Plague” (9). Saller cites Harper in this regard, but he fails to note Harper’s 2016 article that showed real wages increasing in Roman Egypt during those years.1Although wages are not strictly a proxy for the national product, rising wages are a good index of national income in an agricultural economy in which a plague did not reduce the quantity of labor. The rest of Chapter 1, which summarizes other publications about growth, seems pointless given its omission of an important source of ancient Roman economic data.Saller arrives at his main topic in Chapter 2, describing Pliny’s life and work habits, as well as a detailed description of Pliny’s Natural History and its probable readers. The chapters that follow discuss various topics in Pliny’s book. Pliny had a Stoic view of nature; he decried the damaging exploitation of the natural world. He condemned iron mining on the grounds that it could contribute to killing people. He also presented a list of power and agricultural innovations, about which Saller gives his opinions.When Saller turns to Pliny’s economics, he prefaces his analysis with the caveat, “The point is not to blame him for a lack of rationality but to show his thought was framed by different values and a bounded rationality.” Pliny’s discussion focuses on agriculture and trade. He cites my book about The Roman Market Economy, but he fails to discuss the rate of interest.2 Pliny the Younger—the ward and nephew of the Pliny the Elder, the subject of this book—explained to Emperor Trajan, well after his uncle’s time, that “no one wanted to borrow at 9 percent” (174). The Greeks, however, had already advanced sophisticated ideas about interest rates and risk before Pliny the Elder lived. Saller could have included them in his discussion of Roman economics since the use of interest was common in Rome as well.Saller closes his book with a dubious recommendation of Pliny’s Natural History as a good source of information for ancient historians. Yet, only potential readers with a particular interest in Pliny the Elder or in contemporary Roman agriculture and trade will find Pliny’s book to have much relevance for them.

Synagogues in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods: Archaeological Finds, New Methods, New Theories and The Synagogue in Ancient Palestine: Current Issues and Emerging Trends

Synagogues in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods: Archaeological Finds, New Methods, New Theories and The Synagogue in Ancient Palestine: Current Issues and Emerging Trends

Imperialism and Social Engineering: Augustan Social Legislation in the Gnomon of theIdios Logos

SummaryThis article examines the aims and impact of Augustan social legislation from the perspective of documentary evidence from Roman Egypt. The extensive presence of the laws in an epitome of an Augustan rulebook for a fiscal procurator in Egypt (the so-called Gnomon of theIdios Logos, BGU V 1210, P. Oxy. XLII 3014), where their application extends to citizens of Greek cities, speaks for the Augustan marriage and manumission laws being part of a broader vision of social order in the Roman empire.

Goitre in a Fayum mummy portrait from Roman Egypt (120-140 CE).

Goitre in a Fayum mummy portrait from Roman Egypt (120-140 CE).

New Evidence for Severus of Antioch’s Correspondence with the patricia Caesaria (CPG 7071,11): Ethiopic Fragments Related to the Origin of Evil and the Resurrection of the Dead

Abstract In late Roman Egypt, a woman of high-standing named Caesaria corresponded extensively with Severus of Antioch, a bishop who had relocated to Egypt in exile. A few complete letters from their correspondence survive, and many fragments are scattered in florilegia, in biblical catenae, and as quotations in other works. The present paper argues that a reading for the Thursday after Easter found in an Ethiopic homiliary for the season of Pentecost contains three genuine excerpts from their correspondence. These three excerpts discuss the origin of evil and the resurrection of the dead, drawing on both the biblical text as well as the writings of Gregory of Nyssa. The excerpts offer important information about Severus’s correspondence with Caesaria as well as the circulation of early Christian writings in early Solomonic Ethiopia. An edition and translation of the excerpts follow in the appendices.

Alison G. Salvesen and Timothy Michael Law, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint

Alison G. Salvesen and Timothy Michael Law, eds. <i>The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint</i>

AUGUSTO, L’EGITTO E I PAPIRI

The debate over the «Romanity» of Roman Egypt and on the creation of the province of Egypt between Ptolemaic continuities and Roman changes, lasting for nearly half a century, has involved both historians and papyrologists. This contribution summarises the main points of the controversy and attempts, in the lights of the most recent research, to offer a non-binary perspective on the question.

The Rhetoric of aikia in Petitions from Roman Egypt

This article discusses the rhetorical usage of the verb αικίζεσθαι (‘abuse’, ‘thrash’, ‘brutalize’) and its derivatives in petitions from Roman Egypt. Curiously, this description of violence only appears in petitions from the Roman period. Using theories of conflict resolution and social control, it is argued that the writers of these petitions, the majority of whom lived in villages in the Arsinoite nome, used the concept of aikia in an attempt to overcome the inefficiency of the Roman Egyptian legal system by augmenting the severity of the crimes they suffered. The usage of the verb αικίζεσθαι (often paired with the noun πληγαις) emphasized the brutality and socially transgressive nature of the attack and presented it as something that needed to be addressed by the authorities immediately, as it affected the entire social order. Over time the phrase πληγαις αικίζεσθαι became formulaic in its expression, suggesting that it was not just contained to a handful of petitions. Rather it was a linguistic phenomenon in itself that reveals the effects of the social and legal environment of Roman Egypt on the language of petitions.

A strategos on Trial before the Provincial Governor: a New Look at a Petition to the Roman Prefect of Egypt (P.Wisc. I 33)

Abstract P.Wisc. 1 33 is a petition reporting an act of violence, supposedly committed against a strategos of the Arsinoite nome. A re-examination of the papyrus reveals that the strategos in question was not the victim, but was himself being summoned for trial before the governor. The document thereby attests to the most high-profile prosecution of an official in Roman Egypt for which documentary evidence survives.

The Ecology of Exchange: The Monetization of Roman Egypt

Abstract The Egyptian experience of monetization—especially during the Roman period—subverts colonializing historiographies in which the adoption of (Western) coinage autonomously subdued passive and ‘primitive’ reciprocity and redistribution-based economies at the periphery. Many scholars now argue that cultural, religious and economic contexts directed exchange practices in Roman Egypt. This article argues that these embedding elements were themselves cultivated in a meta-context of place—namely, the fluvial geography and ecology of the Nile Valley, Delta and Fayyum Oasis. The rhythmic inundations of the Nile and Egypt’s related agricultural cycle shaped the meanings inhabitants attached to instruments of exchange, including the invading coins of Greek and Roman polities. Coinage thoroughly permeated Egyptian institutions, and yet ecologically-determined rituals, customs and traditions preserved aspects of indigenous exchange culture. Ecological forces nurtured and strengthened the cultural, economic and political forces that constrained Roman monetary imperialism. The monetization of Roman Egypt is, therefore, a critical historical case-study of broader geographic, temporal and thematic interest—one which enables scholars to better understand how ecology intersects with cultural, economic and political embeddedness.

Third-Century Inflation Reassessed

The conventional view of inflation in the Roman world, based on evidence from Roman Egypt, is that prices were steady from the middle of the first century AD until around AD 274, other than a doubling of prices between AD 160 and 190. By a quantitative treatment of the data for all available prices, and indicators of prices, this paper shows that this picture is broadly correct for wheat, but that prices for other goods increased throughout the period from AD 160 to 270. This pattern suggests that there were two co-existing market sectors. One for wheat, where prices appear to have been impacted by state action, and another where other commodities were left to find their own market level within a relatively free market.

The Role of Advertising and Trademarks Affections in Greco - Roman Egypt

Clearly, each advertisement must communicate some information in order to change an attitude or persuade people. In the meantime, advertising appeared in prehistoric times such as in ancient Egypt it adds product value by creating brands to compete for instance, they marked brand cattle to indicate ownership. Egyptians rulers used personal promotion to glorify their achievement so advertising used to support the rulers and purchase goods in ancient Egypt as a way to influence the thinking of people and the Egyptian writing was a key to gain public support also Greece merchants hired town criers to walk through the streets to announce the arrival of ships. Additionally, trademarks have pointed to the branding of cattle that depicted on ancient Egyptian wall paintings as source identifiers for purposes of sale because Egypt was a center for trade routes such as western Asia so peoples were often shown in Egyptian art bringing gifts or trade goods to the king in ancient Egypt.

Children’s Urban Environments in an Ancient City: Social and Physical Realities

ABSTRACT The crucial roles played by young people in the lives of ancient urban and civic spaces has been underestimated in discussions of urban life. Through our case study in Roman Egypt, we scrutinize expectations placed on young people, the specific roles they would have taken in these environments, and their agency in shaping, and responding to, the expectations and demands placed on them by their physical and social environments. The discussion addresses three major themes: young people’s visibility and accessibility within the city scape; expectations placed on young people and their agency in responding to them; and the geographical and practical limits of movement for young people. The research is based on papyri from the Roman Egyptian metropolis of Oxyrhynchos and its administrative area, from late first century BCE to sixth century CE, and a resulting database of over 700 cases mentioning children and young people.

المرأة والعنف ما لها وما عليها في مصرفي عصر الرومان دراسة وثائقية

تتناول هذه الدراسة موضوع المرأة والعنف في مصر في عصر الرومان، والمقصود بالعنف ضد المرأة [1]، أي عمل من أعمال العنف [2]، القائم على نوع الجنس، يترتب عليه إيذاء بدنى، أو جنسي، أو نفسى، أو معاناة للمرأة ، بما في ذلک التهديد بالقيام بأعمال من هذا القبيل، أو الإکراه أو الحرمان التعسفي من الحرية، سواء حدث ذلک في الحياة العامة أو الخاصة [3]“.أما عنف المرأة، فهو ذلک التصرف الخارج عن الطبيعة البشرية لها، من الهدوء والسکينة نتيجة عوامل نفسية واجتماعية تدفعها لهذا التصرف. إن ما لدينا من وثائق، ترجع للفترة محل الدراسة، يمکن أن يرسم لنا صورة، عن حقيقة ما واجهته المرأة في تلک الفترة من حوادث عنف وإهانة ὐβρις وشغب کن فيها معتديات في بعض تلک الحوادث ومعتدى عليهن في أخرى. رجح Bagnall [4] إن معدل وفيات الإناث منذ الميلاد إلى سن الرابعة والعشرين کان مرتفعا طبقا للبيانات الإحصائية المتوفرة من تلک الفترة فهل کان العنف سببا من أسباب تلک النسبة ؟ وما هي أنواع العنف التي تعرضت له النساء أو کن سببا فيه. (1) من الصعب للغاية تحديد الهوية العرقية للمرأة في مصر في عصر الرومان فوثائق العصر البطلمي تخص جميع النساء باستثناء أولئک في الأسرة المالکة ، بينما في العصر الروماني نجد المسمى يشمل جميع طبقات النساء وهنا التحدي الأصعب عند دراسة النساء في مصر اليونانية الرومانية نظرا لتنوع التصنيف العرقي فقد تم العثور على مائة وثمانية وسبعين مصطلحا عرقيا مختلفا عن النساء في الوثائق اليونانية (في إشارة إلى أشخاص محددين) مع تسعة فقط في الوثائق الديموطيقية.، يرجع تاريخ أقدم تسمية عرقية لهن إلى 310 ق.م ، والأحدث إلى القرن الأول قبل الميلاد. مثل نساء من اليونان ومقدونيا وقورينا. وهناک مصطلحات أخرى تشهد على وجود السوريين والعرب واليهود الخ. see, Nifosi, A., Becoming a Woman and Mother in Greco‑Roman Egyp, First published, Routledge,London, 2019,7. [2](2 ) عن العنف عموما في مصر الرومانية راجع Alston .R. Violence and social control in Roman Egypt . Proceeding of 20 th International Congress of Papyrologists , Copenhagen , 1992 , p. 519 [3](3) التعريف مقتبس من إعلان المفوضية الدولية لحقوق الإنسان بالموقع الإلکتروني: https://www.ohchr.org/AR/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/VAW.aspx (4)-Roger S. Bagnall, Bruce Wrigley Frier The demography of Roman Egypt, Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time, 1995 p.76[4]

Excavate the Fayum Mummy Portraits and Bury Ancient Egyptian Stereotypes

The Fayum mummy portraits from ancient Greco–Roman Egypt are exceptional in that they are the only surviving classical (ancient Greek and Roman) panel paintings from antiquity and are antecedents o...

الإیسفورا فی مصر خلال العصرین الیونانی والرومانی

ملخص باللغة العربية: تتناول هذه البحث دراسة في مصر خلال العصرين البطلمي والروماني، من خلال الوثائق البردية المؤرخة بالعصرين. وهي ضريبة کانت معروفة في بلاد اليونان خلال العصر الکلاسيکي، وفي أثينا بشکل خاص، وانتقلت إلى مصر خلال العصرين اليوناني والروماني. ولقد رکزت هذه الدراسة على طبيعة الإيسفورا بوصفها ضريبة کانت تفرض بشکل استثنائي خلال العصر البطلمي على أصحاب الأراضي الزراعية، وعلى کيفية فرضها وسداد قيمتها. وکيف أنها تحولت خلال العصر الروماني من ضريبة استثنائية إلى ضريبة عادية تفرض بانتظام، خاصة على الأراضي الزراعية، وإن کانت تفرض بشکل استثنائي إذا اقتضت الضرورة ذلک. This paper deals with the study of “eisphora” in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt through papyri documents dated both eras. It is a tax was known in Greek states, specially, Athena, during the classical era and moved to Egypt during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras. This study focused on the nature of eisphora as extraordinary tax was levied during the Ptolemaic period on the holders of agricultural lands, and how it was imposed and its value paid. and how it transformed during the Roman era from an extraordinary tax to a regular tax imposed regularly, especially on agricultural lands, although it was imposed as extraordinary tax in some times.

New evidence regarding Emerald Production in Roman Egypt at Wadi Sikait (Eastern Desert)

New evidence regarding Emerald Production in Roman Egypt at Wadi Sikait (Eastern Desert)

The underworld and its creatures of life in Turkic-Kazakh mythology: harmony with the mythology of the world and its differences, similarities in the characters' network

Based on the Turkic-Kazakh and a number of mythological materials presented in the article, the underworld and the underground creatures of the division of mythical heroes, the division of spirits are analyzed and compared with world examples. Their interconnections and features, historical stages, similarity and correlation of plots in the network of heroes are taken for scientific comparative, historical and comparative research. The lower spirits, the underworld and its life, ancient mythological concepts related to life after life are characteristic of all the nations of the world, but the comparative theoretical studies that have been studied in close cooperation are still insignificant. Ancient Greek, Roman, Kosozen and Ancient Egypt, the indigenous people of America (Inc, Maya, Aztec, etc.), Europe, the mythology of Chinese, Indian, Japanese people of eastern countries are strongly interconnected, and are not less typologically-researched, but historically majority of them are strangled in the ancient times and from an artistic point of view, the crucial Turkic mythology stays in the backstage., The folklorists of Western countries did not show much interest in Turkic mythology, except of the mythological scholars of the Turkic people. In large-scale researches and works about world mythology in a foreign language there are almost no chapters on Turkic mythology. This increases the importance of comparative historical research.