The House of Ptolemy:
Ptolemaic Egypt and its Culture

Ptolemaic Egypt and its Culture

The Literate:

[ Items on The Rosetta Stone ] [ Items on Literature ]
• --- Checklist Of Editions Of Greek And Latin Papyri, Ostraca And Tablets
  Last revised 20 July 2000. By: John F. Oates, William H. Willis, Roger S. Bagnall, Klaas A. Worp, Joshua D. Sosin with
  the assistance of Sarah J. Clackson and Terry G. Wilfong
  © American Society of Papyrologists; reprinted with permission
  
  
  This is the Beta version of the new, expanded Checklist. Coptic material has been added. The authors hope in the near future to add Demotic material as well, in an effort to make a more comprehensive guide to the papyrological evidence. They urge users to send us suggestions for improvement etc.
  
  
  The primary purpose of the Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets is to provide for scholars and librarians a ready bibliography of all monographic volumes, both current and out-of-print, of Greek, Latin and Coptic texts on papyrus, parchment, ostraca or wood tablets. Texts published in periodicals as journal articles are normally excluded, since they are regularly republished in successive volumes of Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten (SB), the volumes of which are included. Many volumes containing documentary texts publish literary and subliterary texts as well, and such volumes are of course included, together with volumes of the same series that are exclusively literary. No systematic attempt to include all exclusively literary and subliterary volumes has been made. Supplementary material - Corpora, Instrumenta, Series, etc. - has been added as seemed appropriate.
• --- The Leuven Homepage of Papyrus Collections World Wide
  Under the direction of Willy Clarysse, Herbert Verreth, Hans Proost, Inge Uytterhoeven, Katelijn Vandorpe, Peter van Minnen.
• --- Tebtunis Papyri Collection and APIS, the Advanced Papyrological Information System project at The Bancroft Library
  This web site, which is still under development provides electronic access to the images of the Tebtunis Papyri as well as textual information. The site will try to enhance understanding of the collection by providing information about the site where they were found, the intellectual and physical history of the collection, and the contents of the papyri contained in it. An interesting facet of the collection is that the Tebtunis Papyri contain many related groups of texts, which can either be traced back to actual archives, or can be collected to form small dossiers. Since texts in context can provide more information than singular texts, we have presented texts belonging to such archives and dossiers as far as they have been established and analyzed.

  This web site was created by Arthur Verhoogt, member of the Papyrological Institute of the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, in 1997-1998 on loan to the Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS) at the Bancroft Library, Berkeley. This project was made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The information presented in this site is based upon:
  The Tebtunis Papyri, Vols. I-IV (1902-1976).
  C. Gallazzi, Fouilles anciennes et nouvelles sur le site de Tebtynis, BIFAO 89 (1989), p. 179-191
  E.H. Kase Jr., Report on the collection of Papyri in the University of California (15 Aug 1940).
  Arthur M.F.W. Verhoogt, The Tebtunis Papyri at The Bancroft Library, Bancroftiana 107, Jun 1994, p. 4-7.
  Menches, Komogrammateus of Kerkeosiris. The Doings and Dealings of a Village Scribe in the Late Ptolemaic Period (120-110 B.C.), Leiden: E.J. Brill (Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava 29, 1998).
  Copyright © 1997 UC Regents. All rights reserved. Document maintained at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/APIS by Merrilee Proffitt (mproffit@library.berkeley.edu). Last update 8/5/97.

• --- Life on the Edge of the Desert: High Fashion and Low Crimes Emerge from an Egyptian Outpost
  by M. Lauretta Moioli in the March/April 2000 of Discovering Archaeology Magazine. The author is with the Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità at the Università degli Studi in Milan and has translated many of the Tebtunis papyri. She works closely with Claudio Gallazzi, director of the Tebtunis excavations.
• --- Homer and The Papyri
  Homer and the Papyri. is a database consisting of 1.) lists of published papyri and related items for the Iliad and the Odyssey, and b.) a repertoire of the textual variants presented by this body of material, hypertextually linked to the lists of papyri. A more detailed description of aims and methods is provided in the Introduction. This Web-based version replaces an earlier one distributed on disk by the American Philological Association. (by Dana F. Sutton, The University of California, Irvine).
• --- Egyptian Stelae in Field Museum of Natural History: Ptolemaic (pp 43-70)
  By Thomas, George Allen. Egyptian Stelae in Field Museum of Natural History
  Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1936.
  Field Museum of Natural History: Anthropological Series; Vol. XXIV, No. 1 (PJ1511.F45A4).
  From EOS (Electronic Open Stacks), the University of Chicago Library's home for image-based texts.
• --- Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project
  This site introduces the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project. Best viewed in Frames mode.
• --- University of Michigan collections of ancient manuscripts on papyrus
  
  The collection of papyri is the largest in the western hemisphere and ranks fifth or sixth world-wide.... The University of Michigan collection holds more than ten thousand pieces, of which only approximately a fifth has been published.
• --- Duke University Libraries Online Catalogue of Papyri
  Literary papyri, Subliterary papyri (magical texts etc.), Documentary papyri
• --- The Yale Papyrus Collection (P.CtYBR inv.)
  Beinecke Rare Book And Manuscript Library, Yale University Catalog Introduction
  by Stephen Emmel, 1993
• --- DEMOTIC TEXTS published on the World Wide Web
• --- The Literary Culture of Early Alexandria
  English version of a catalogue-essay from the exhibition, La Gloire d'Alexandrie, musée du Petit Palais, Paris, 7 May 1998 - 26 Jul 1998 (pp 133-135).
• --- Clay Seal from a Papyrus (Stereoview 3D Image)
  Image of a clay seal, about one inch across, used to close a Greek document written on papyrus.
  For a similar seal in the webmaster's collection click HERE.
• --- Alexandrian Scholarship
  By Ellen Brundige (Dec 1995). In this historical and factual paper Ms Brundige attempts to present a survey of Alexandrian scholarship, including links she discovered on the web that appear to be stable, after a year of existence, and have valuable information concerning the topics she discusses. Her focus is not to argue and support any one point, which is believed to be suited to the traditional form of linear, scholarly papers. Instead, she tries to stitch together a useful backbone of information about Alexandria, the Museum, its scholars and their chief subjects, which students of these topics can browse at their leisure. It is both a serious experiment in the use of this new medium, and a resource which she hopes will prove useful to others. The root for this paper was her exposition of Alexandrian scholarship written for Gregory Crane's Greek Science class.
• --- Hellenistic Greek Language
  Hellenistic Greek was the dialect of Greek spoken between 300 BCE and 600 CE. In particular, it was the language of the New Testament. These pages provide the premier resource for the scholarly study of the Hellenistic Greek language.
  [Maintained by James K. Tauber / jtauber@entmp.org
  Last updated:Friday, 16 Aug 1996 14:00:42 EDT]
• --- Prosopographia Ptolemaica
  The Prosopographia Ptolemaica lists all inhabitants of Egypt between 300 and 30 BCE, from Greek, Egyptian and Latin sources, both authors and documents. Nine volumes of have thus far seen the light, in which were collected persons for whom the occupation is attested. Soon to be available via the WWW.



• The following items are from Oxford University Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents: Image Bank of Inscriptions. Check out the section on Egypt

• --- Ptolemaic Inscription from Egypt
  SEG, II, 849 (Dedication to Apollo by Dorion at Alexandria)
• --- Chian Decree for Apollophanes (SEG, XIX, 569)
  Honorific decree, Subject: Chian Decree for Apollophanes, sent as judge by Ptolemy (Philadelphos?).
  Date: First half 3rd. century BCE
• --- Fragmentary Koan Decree (Iscrizioni di Kos ED 130b)
  Decree, fragmentary Koan regulations mentioning Ptolemy I(?).
  Date: Late fourth/early 3rd century BCE(?)
• --- Samian Honorific Inscription for Berenike
  (M. Schede, MDAI(A) 44, 1919, 20-21, no.8 (SEG, I, 369))Catalogue Record
  Category: Honorific Inscription
  Subject: Honorific inscription on statue base for Berenike, daughter of Ptolemy II; inscribed by the "Cutter of Samos 161" (S.V. Tracy, Chiron 20, 1990, 65-7)
  Date: ca. 278-270 BCE
  Provenience: Samos
  Location: Samian Heraion (Inv. 139)
• --- Letter of Ptolemy III(?) to Kos (Welles, Royal Correspondence 27)
  Royal letter, Subject: Letter of Ptolemy III(?) to the island of Kos recognizing the inviolability of the sanctuary of Asklepios.
  Date: ca. 240 BCE
• --- Honorific decree of Itanos for Ptolemy III Euergetes and Berenike (I.Creticae III.iv.4)
  Decree, Subject: Decree of Itanos, Crete for Ptolemy III and Berenike, establishing a temenos and annual sacrifices for them.
  Date: shortly after 246 BCE
• --- Dedication to Ptolemy IV Philopator and Arsinoe by a Roman (I.Creticae III.iv.18)
  Dedication, Subject: Dedication by Lucius son of Gaius, a Roman citizen, of a nymphaeum and reservoir at Itanos, Ctere to Ptolemy IV Philopator and Queen Arsinoe.
  Date: ca. 217-209 BCE
• --- Sundial with dedication to Ptolemy II from Herakleia (OGIS 24)
  Dedication, Subject: Sundial dedicated to Ptolemy by Apollonios Apollodotou.
  Date: ca. 285-247 BCE

The Rosetta Stone

• THIS SECTION HAS BEEN MOVED TO A NEW, SEPARATE PAGE AT
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  PLEASE UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS


Literature


• --- Athanaeus: The Great Spectacle and Procession of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 285 BCE
  When Ptolemy II Philadelphus became king of Egypt (285 BCE), he celebrated his accession by a magnificent procession and festival at Alexandria. The following is only a part of the description [by Athanaeus] of the very elaborate spectacle. The mere enumeration of all this pomp, power and treasure conveys a striking idea of the riches of the Ptolemaic kings, the splendor of their court, and the resources of their kingdom. Source: William Stearns Davis, Readings in Ancient History: Illustrative Extracts from the Sources, 2 Vols., (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1912-1913), Vol. I: Greece and the East, pp. 329-332. Appearing as part of Ancient History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
  For a fuller discussion of the procession see: The Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus (by E.E. Rice)
  This book is now out of print but you can have Amazon.com track down a copy for you.

• --- Ancient History Sourcebook: Theocritus - Fifteenth Idyll, c. 250 BCE
  A most famous idyll: Gorgo, a lady of Alexandria, goes by appointment to the house of her friend Praxinoi, where the dialogue begins.
  Source: Mitchell Carroll's Greek Women, (Philadelphia, USA: Rittenhouse Press, 1908), pp. 369-375. Appearing as part of Ancient History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
• --- Sotades the Obscene of Maronea (275 BCE) - Inventor of the Palindrome
  (from The Palindromist, a journal for people who WRITE and read palindromes, Fall 1996, p5)

  --- Electronic Bibliography for Apollonius of Rhodes

  An electronic bibliography for Apollonius of Rhodes ("Apollonius the Rhodian") including texts, commentaries, translations, secondary literature and recent dissertations. The site is being compiled by Jackie Murray.

  • --- The Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius (fl. 3rd Century B.C.)
    
    (from the Online Medieval and Classical Library Release #27b). This edition is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN in the United States.
    Originally written in Ancient Greek sometime in the 3rd Century BCE by the Alexandrian poet Apollonius Rhodius ("Apollonius the Rhodian"). Translation by RC Seaton, 1912. The text of this edition is based on that published as Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, edited and translated by RC Seaton (Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1912).

  --- Book of the Dead Belonging to Paheby, Son of Ankhpakhered and Takhebyt

  Fragment of a Book of the Dead Belonging to Paheby, Son of Ankhpakhered and Takhebyt.
  Ptolemaic Period, 2nd - 1st centuries BCE. Size: 8 x 11-1/4 in (20.3 x 28.5cm).
  Copyright © Emory University. Part of the Permanent Collection of Ancient Egyptian Art.

  --- Fragment of a Book of the Dead

  Fragment of a Book of the Dead Belonging to Paheby, Son of Ankhpakhered and Takhebyt. Ptolemaic Period, 2nd - 1st centuries BCE. Copyright © Emory University.

  --- Book of the Dead

  Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, ca. 332-30 BCE. Papyrus and ink, 30.0 cm H, 72.0 cm W (scene pictured) Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Milbank Anderson (1919); OIM 10486

  
  

Art and Architechture

• --- Fayoum Mummy Portraits. Original Version, No Frames
  --- Fayoum Mummy Portraits. New Frames Version (Mar 1997)
  from the World Art Treasures WWW Server. Located some one hundred kilometers south of Cairo, Fayyum is a green and fertile region in a vast circular depression. Its diameter from east to west is approximately 60 kilometers, northwest of the lake of Birket Qarun. The ancient Egyptians called this region Mer-our (The Great Lake). Fayyum played a significant role during the 12th Dynasty, and later under the Ptolemies. The Fayyum portraits conflict in an intriguing manner, scattered as they are around the world in museums and collections and, which, here, bring together the image to be viewed as a whole. An ideal museum, which may be visited city by city, to which we soon become attached, to the extent that, during the visit, already familiar traits await us, as one of this art's truly ambiguous features is its ability to multiply effigies which, at first sight, quickly, even too quickly, elicit a feeling of déjà-vu.
  
  
• --- Mummy portrait with cartonnage case
  Probably from the Faiyum, Roman Imperial Period (90-100 CE). This entry in includes a RealPlayer audio file description of the item. From the exhibition Splendors of Ancient Egypt formerly at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA (22 Sep 1996 - 30 Mar 1997). See URL http://130.80.29.3/content/interactive/voyager/egypt/tour/index.html where Ptolemaic and Greco-ROman items are interspersed throughout the exhibit.
• --- http://wwar.com/brooklyn_museum/means.html
  The Brooklyn (NY) Museum - A Ptolemaic Mummy Case.
• --- Wrapped Mummy with Cartonnage Trappings
  Wrapped Mummy with Cartonnage Trappings, Probably late Ptolemaic Period, ca. 167-30 BCE. Copyright © Emory University.
• --- Mummy mask, Probably from the Faiyum Ptolemaic Period, Late first century BCE
  This mummy mask from the late Ptolemaic Period is still indebted to pharaonic norms for its decoration.
• --- Mummy: Graeco-Roman Period, 332 BCE - CE 330
  Mummy: Graeco-Roman Period, 332 BCE - CE 330
  Linen, gesso (a kind of plaster), painted and gilded with a wooden panel painted with pigments suspended in hot wax, perhaps from the Faiyum.
• --- Iret-iruw: Mummy, Mask, and Pectoral
  Iret-iruw: Mummy Mask and Pectoral: cartonnage, painted and gilded
  Coffin: wood, painted and gilded
  Date: Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BCE); Provenance: Attributed to Akhmim
  (last items on the page). Images and text copyright 1991 and 1996, The University of Memphis
• --- Mummy Covering (Cartonnage), c. 300 BCE
  Egyptian, Ptolemaic Period. Made of gessoed linen, size: H 60 x W 14-3/8 x L 12-1/4 in (152.4 x 36.5 x 31.2 cm) From The North Carolina Museum of Art: Egyptian Collection
• --- The Farnese Cup
  The Farnese Cup is an exceptional example of Hellenistic glyptics, being unique in size, formal quality, figurative complexity and historical importance. Carved in a single piece of four-layer sardonyx agate, it is decorated in relief both on the outside and on the inside, and has the shape of a phiale, the cup used in libations. (From the gem collection of the Naples Archaeological Museum, Italy.)
• --- La Tazza Farnese (It - Italian)
  A few paragraphs in Italian.
• --- The Nilotic Mosaic at Praeneste
  (click on picture for detailed images). By James Higginbotham and Ryan Dunn
• --- Sculptural Images from Ptolemaic Egyptian history
  1. Sardonyx cameo of Ptolemy II and his wife Arsinoe II.
  
  
  2. Supposed head of Cleopatra VII
  
  
• --- Head of a Man -- 3rd-2nd century BCE; Ptolemaic Period;
  Head of a Man -- 3rd-2nd century BCE; Ptolemaic Period;
  Basalt; height 8.9 cm (3 1/2 in.); City of Detroit Purchase; 40.48
• ---- Ptolemaic Egyptian Art: Art History and Architecture Works
• --- Sandstone Relief of a Goddess. Ca. 332-30 BCE (63Kb image)
  From Ancient Egypt: The Eternal Voice, exhibit at the Frank H. McClung Museum, located on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.
• --- The mourning Isis
  Middle Egypt Early Ptolemaic Period, 3rd century BCE
• --- Standing figure of the god Anubis
  Probably from Middle Egypt, Early Ptolemaic Period, 3rd century BCE
• --- Head of a Pharoah, over life-size, with serpent on crown and a Lower torso of a kneeling figure
• --- Limestone paintings from the cult chapel of Ptolemy I Soter
  From the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's "Splendors of Ancient Egypt" Exhibit. Limestone paintings from the cult chapel of Ptolemy I Soter, depicting the Pharaoh in front of the god Thoth. Many of these brilliantly painted blocks still retain traces of the red grid that enabled the craftsmen to design the scene.
  See also: Coffin of Djed-bastet-iuef-ankh and Mummy Mask (Probably from Faiyum, Ptolemaic Period, Later first century B.C.)
• --- Relief Fragment from a Temple
  30th Dynasty - Ptolemaic Period, 380 - 30 BCE. Copyright © Emory University
• -- About Hellenistic Sculpture ...
  A gateway page to a variety of links on Hellenistic Sculpture.
• --- Pylon of Ptolemy III, Euergetes at Karnak
  Karnak, "Ptolemaeertor" Euergetes I,
  from Antikensammlung Erlangen Internet Archive -- AERIA (Antikensammlung ERlangen Internet Archive)
  Institut fuer Altertumskunde - Klassische Archaeologie - und Antikensammlung, Kochstrasse 4, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
• --- Queen Arsinoe II (limestone relief)
  This image of a Ptolemaic (300-100 BCE) limestone relief represents one of the great queens of the Ptolemaic Period, Arsinoe II, who was a strong-minded and influential ruler with her brother/husband Ptolemy II. She wears a unique vulture headdress and is shown shaking a sistrum, or rattle, with the cow's head of the goddess Hathor. This relief was probably made after her death when she had been made a goddess and was called the "daughter of the god Amun." A thumbnail sketch of the period is prsented at URL http://dia.org/archives_resources/egypt/greco.html
• --- The Arsinoeon at Samothrace
  Includes three views: Reconstruction of the interior elevation; View from the Anaktoron; and Remains of the foundations (By James Higginbotham and Ryan Dunn)

Warfare

• --- Warefare in Hellas: The battle of Raphia, 217 BC
  From " Warfare in Hellas", part of Hellas:Net by Martijn Moerbeek (a gorgeous site). Egypt, the kingdom of the Ptolomies had two vulnerable spots: the trade route from the north over the Mediteranean, and another one from the north-east through the Sinai. To secure this second trade route, and to prevent that the Seleucids would invade Egypt, they controlled Palestine and southern Syria in Asia Minor. Still, the kingdom of the Seleucids wanted to expand and there were several conflicts between both kingdoms. See also the entries for "The Era of the Diadochs" and "The Kingdom of the Ptolemies"

Sciences and Mathematics

Science
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu:80/GreekScience/Students/Ellen/EarlyGkAstronomy.html

• --- Greek Science After Aristotle
  by Michael Fowler, (UVa Physics) . Index of Lectures and Overview of the Course. Includes information on Strato, Aristarchus, Euclid, Plato, Aristotle and Christianity, Archimedes, Archimedes' Principle, Archimedes and Leverage, Apollonius, and Hypatia.
• --- Pneumatics Of Hero Of Alexandria
  (1851) Translated For and Edited by Bennet Woodcroft, Professor of Machinery In University College, London. Taylor Walton And Maberly, Upper Gower Street and Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, London, UK
• --- Conon of Samos
  Court astronomer to Ptolemy III in Alexandria. >A paragraph and a few links describing his life and works (born: about 280 BCE on Samos; died: about 220 BCE in (possibly) Alexandria, Egypt)

Medicine


• --- Alexandrian Medicine
  In the fourth century BCE the most important locus of medical thought and practice was not Cos the island home of Hippocrates, but the great center of Greek learning at Alexandria. The "Alexandrian Medicine" page is just one taken from the on-line exhibition ANTIQUA MEDICINA: From Homer to Vesalius prepared in conjunction with the Colloquium Antiqua Medicina: Aspects in Ancient Medicine held in McLeod Hall, at the Health Sciences Center of the University of Virginia on 27 February, 1997.

Mathematics


• --- Euclide d'Alexandrie (environ 300 av.JC)
  Euclide d'Alexandrie (environ 300 av.JC) travailla à Alexandrie.
• --- Alexandrian Mathematicians (300B CE - 400 CE):
  Articles on: Euclid (c. 300 BCE), Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) (CE 100-178), Pappus of Alexandria (c. 320 ), and Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 370-415 CE)
• --- Pappus of Alexandria
  Born: about 290 BCE in Alexandria, Egypt Died: about 250 BCE. Mathematician

Technology


• --- The Antikythera Mechanism: Physical and Intellectual Salvage from the 1st Century BC
  The Antikythera Mechanism -The discovery of an ancient Greek clockwork astronomical computer has staggering implications for current theories of ancient Greek technology.
  (by Rob S. Rice, USNA Eleventh Naval History Symposium, Paper for Collected Volume)
• --- The Antikythera Mechanism
  The Antikythera Mechanism. Information on: the discovery, the wreck , salvage, construction, and reconstruction.
• --- Archimedes' Screw
  Archimedes' mechanical skill together with his theoretical knowledge enabled him to construct many ingenious machines. Archimedes spent some time in Egypt, where he invented a device now known as Archimedes' screw. This is a pump, still used in many parts of the world.
  The root of this site ( http://www.mcs.drexel.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/contents.html ) is a collection of Archimedean miscellanea under continual development.

Religions

• --- Ptolemaic Amulets & Charms
  From the online version of Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt, a Kelsey Museum exhibition mounted from 14 March to 15 June, 1997, and curated by Terry G. Wilfong. Copyright © 1997 The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan. All rights reserved.
  see also the main page at URL http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/WomenandGender/title.html
• --- The Cult of Dionysos: Dionysos in Ptolemaic Egypt
  The last section of this one-page overview of The Cult of Dionysos concerns itself with Dionysos in Ptolemaic Egypt
• --- Worship of Serapis
  The chief center of the worship of Serapis in Ptolemaic times was Alexandria, where it was established, according to tradition, by Ptolemy I, Soter. (from Egyptian Tourism Ministry site)
• --- Sarapis (Serapis)
  Originally from The Godfiles 1.0. © 1995-1999 Untangle Incorporated
• --- The mourning Isis
  Middle Egypt Early Ptolemaic Period, 3rd century BCE
• --- Standing figure of the god Anubis
  Probably from Middle Egypt, Early Ptolemaic Period, 3rd century BCE
• --- Crocodile-Headed God Sobek from Kom Ombo Temple
  Images and text copyright © 1991 and 1996, The University of Memphis.
• --- Inscriptions from Egypt and the Near East
  SEG, II, 849 (Dedication to Apollo by Dorion at Alexandria)
• --- Hermes Trismegistus: The Archaic Underground Tradition
   

See also the information about
• The Ptolemies and the Judeo-Christian Bible
• The Jews of Ptolemaic and Greco-Roman Egypt
  Philo of Alexandria
  Jews and Judaism in the Greco-Roman Diaspora

Snapshots of Daily Life

• --- The Family Letters of Paniskos -- By J.G. Winter
  These letters came from Gerzah, the ancient Philadelphia, in the Fayyoum, and were purchased by the University of Michigan in 1923. They belong to the latter part of the third century or the beginning of the fourth and form part of a family archive repreenting the correspondence of a certain Paniskos with Ploutogenia, his wife, and Aion, his brother, as well as of Ploutogenia with her mother Heliodora.
• --- Prosopographia Ptolemaica
  The Prosopographia Ptolemaica lists all inhabitants of Egypt between 323 and 30 BCE, known from Greek, Egyptian and Latin sources, both authors and documents. The Prosopographia Ptolemaica will be available shortly on the Internet.
• Selections from Women's Life in Greece and Rome by Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B. Fant:
• --- 101. A marriage contract. Tebtunis, 92 B.C. (Tebtunis papyrus I 104. G)
  This contract not only specifies the financial obligations of both parties, but explains what constitutes unacceptable behaviour. Both husband and wife are required to be chaste within the context of the household, but although nothing prevents the husband from having relations with other women or men outside the home, the wife cannot leave the house for longer than a few hours without the husband's permission. This is a selection from Women's Life in Greece and Rome, see below.
• --- 228. The dildo. Egypt, 3rd cent. B.C.? (Herodas, Mime 6. G)
  A poem representing a discussion between two middle-class women about the virtues of a particular dildo, referred to here not by its generic name olisbos ('slipper'), but euphemistically as a 'pacifier' (baubon, from baubao, 'sleep'), made by a shoemaker named Kerdon, 'Greedy'. The poet manages to imply that the two famous women poets Nossis and Erinna are collaborators in their activities. This is a selection from Women's Life in Greece and Rome, see below.
• --- 229. Going to a festival. Egypt, 3rd cent. B.C. (Theocritus, Idyll 15, exc. G)
  This is a selection from Women's Life in Greece and Rome, see below.
• --- 230. The go-between. Egypt, 3rd cent. B.C.? (Herodas, Mime 1. G)
  A conversation between a hetaera, Metriche, whose man has been away in Egypt, and her old 'nurse' Gyllis (cf. Neaera's household arrangements in Megara, no. 90). This is a selection from Women's Life in Greece and Rome, see below.
• --- 415. A love potion. Alexandria, 3rd cent. B.C. (Theocritus, Idyll 2, exc. G)
  A dramatic representation of a courtesan's attempt to win back a handsome lover. This is a selection from Women's Life in Greece and Rome, see below.
Other selections from Women's Life in Greece and Rome by Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B. Fant.
--- Egyptian Women In Ptolemaic And Roman Egypt
The Economic And Legal Activities Of Women In Demotic Texts.
A dissertation proposal presented to The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations by ALEXANDRA A. O'BRIEN. © 1996 All Rights Reserved. The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, The University of Chicago. Approved* 15 July, 1996.
--- Sandal. Plant fiber. Ptolemaic (?) Period (332-30 BCE). (18Kb image).
From Ancient Egypt: The Eternal Voice, exhibit at the Frank H. McClung Museum, located on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.
--- Hairnet of Gold, garnet, and glass paste
Very few gold hairnets have survived from antiquity. This example, made to be worn over a bun at the back of a head, is remarkable for the quality and degree of its elaboration. (Alexandria, Egypt ca 220 - 100 BCE).
From the J. Paul Getty Museum collection of antiquities.
--- Shabti Chest - Ptolemaic Period (QuickTime VR)
If you don't have QuickTime VR, there is a link to a copy you can download.
--- "Strainer": Egypt, Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE) Second Century BCE
Strainer, bronze, (l:22.8 cm w:9.4 cm d:2.5 cm). Collection of the Memorial Art Gallery. Copyright © Emory University

Bibliographic Notes:
Ptolemaic Egypt and its Culture

THE LITERATE

	--- (BMCR 97.3.24), Bagnall, Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History by Bagnall, Roger S., Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. (Approaching the Ancient World) Pp. viii + 145, 8 plates. $55.00. ISBN 0-415-09376-7 (hb). $15.95. ISBN 0-415-09377-5 (pb). Reviewed by Fred W. Jenkins (University of Dayton) jenkins@data.lib.udayton.edu [Bryn Mawr Classical Review provides reviews of books of interest to classisists] Paperback: Order This book from Amazon.com or Hardcover: Order This book from Amazon.com
	--- A Bibliography of Hellenistic Poetry This site provides access to a series of bibliographies of Hellenistic poetry compiled from a database which at the last count (22 December 1997) contained over 3200 records: Bibliographies are available for: Aratus (68 records); Callimachus (412 records); Theocritus (400 records); Apollonius Rhodius (full bibliography 1496-1997, ca. 1360 records); Nicander (27 records); Hellenistic Epigram (166 records); Quintus Smyrnaeus (22 records) ; Nonnus (71 records); Hellenistic Poetry 1992-1997 (ca. 1050 publications from the period 1990-1997 which may be of interest to students); Publications on Hellenistic Society (79 records); One can also access the full archive (ca. 3200 titles) on which these bibliographies are based. Comprehensiveness is only claimed for Apollonius Rhodius but coverage of recent literature on other Hellenistic poets is fairly high as well. Feel free to download and exploit these files. If they do not contain publications you overlooked, they may at least save you some typing in compiling your own bibliography. Last updated: 22 December 1997. An update including major additions to the bibliographies of Aratus and Callimachus as well as summaries and a searchable index is scheduled for Summer 1998. Meanwhile additions, corrections, comments, or criticisms will be gratefully received at mcuypers@rullet.leidenuniv.nl . Compiled and maintained by: Martijn Cuypers Leiden University, Classics Department PO Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
	--- Parsons, Edward Alexander, The Alexandrian library, glory of the Hellenic world; its rise, antiquities, and destructions. Elsevier, Amsterdam-New York, 1952.

The Rosetta Stone

	--- The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt by James Cross Giblin Reading level: Ages 9-12 Paperback Reprint edition (February 1993) Publisher: HarperTrophy; ISBN: 0064461378
	---The Rosetta Stone by E.A. Wallis Budge Paperback - 325 pages, reprint edition (October 1989) Publisher: Dover Publications; ISBN: 0486261638
	--- The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum: The Greek, Demotic and Hieroglyphic Texts of the Decree Inscribed on the Rosetta Stone by Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge Hardcover (June 1973) Publisher: AMS Press; ISBN: 0404113621

RELIGION

--- (BMCR 97.2.1) Isis regina--Zeus Sarapis. Die griechisch-aegyptische Religion nach den Quellen dargestellt Bryn Mawr Classical Review 97.2.31 (mirror site) By: Merkelbach, Reinhold Publisher: Stuttgart-Leipzig: B.G. Teubner (1995). xxviii + 722 pp., 9 color plates, 35 drawings, 252 figures. List price: DM/SFr. 245. ISBN 3-519-07427-3 [Bryn Mawr Classical Review provides reviews of books of interest to classisists] Order This book from Amazon.com In this book the author of both insightful and provocative contributions to the study of Graeco-Roman religion epitomizes the results of enquires over the past 35 years.




ART & ARCHITECHTURE

	--- Hellenistic Sculpture (c.120-80 BC): Book Citations [69 Records] from the US Library of Congress Citations
	Kyrieleis, Helmut: Bildnisse der Ptolemäer. Bln. Mann (1975). 191 S. 108 Taf. 4°. OLn. DAI. AF 2 150.--

SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS

	--- (BMCR 97.1.5), Barnes, ed., The Sciences in Greco-Roman Society by Barnes, Timothy D. ed., The Sciences in Greco-Roman Society. Edmonton: Academic Printing & Publishing, 1994. Pp. 125. Price unspecified. ISBN 0-920980-60-0 (Bound); ISBN 0-920980-61-9 (Paper). (=Aperion: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science 27.4 [December 1994]) Reviewed by John M. McMahon (mcmahon@maple.lemoyne.edu), Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY 13214-1399 [Bryn Mawr Classical Review provides reviews of books of interest to classisists] Paperback: Order This book from Amazon.com or Hardcover: Order This book from Amazon.com
	--- (BMCR 97.9.20), Youtie, P. Mich. XVII Author: Youtie, Louise C., P. Michigan XVII, The Michigan Medical Codex (P.Mich. 758 =3D P. Mich. Inv. 21). American Studies in Papyrology, volume 35. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996. Pp. xxv + 87, 13 plates, indices. ISBN 0-7885-0276-X Reviewed by Dominic Montserrat, Department of Classics (d.montserrat@warwick.ac.uk), University of Warwick, UK [Bryn Mawr Classical Review provides reviews of books of interest to classisists] Order This book from Amazon.com
	Davis, H.T., Alexandria, the Golden City., Two volumes. Principia Press of Illinois, Evanston, 1957.

SNAPSHOTS OF DAILY LIFE

	--- (BMCR 99.6.13) Rowlandson, ed., Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook by Jane Rowlandson (editor), With the collaboration of Roger Bagnall, Alan Bowman, Willy Clarysse, Ann Ellis Hanson, Deborah Hobson, James Keenan, Peter van Minnen, Dominic Rathbone, Dorothy J. Thompson, and Terry Wilfong. Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook Published by Cambridge: (Cambridge University Press, 1998), Pp. xxii, 406; 3 maps, 57 illustrations. ISBN 0-521-58212-1 (hb). ISBN 0-521-58815-4 (pb). Reviewed by Joan Burton (Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, USA) Amazon.com provides this information about the book: This book makes available to students and other non-specialists a varied collection of over three hundred translated texts and fifty illustrations relating to women's lives in Greek and Roman Egypt. These are accompanied by an introductory chapter and full explanatory notes. It makes accessible to all those interested in social history, and in particular the lives of women, this extraordinarily rich body of material from the ancient world. Order This hard back book from Amazon.com ......... OR ........ Order This paperback book from Amazon.com
	--- Ethnicity in Hellenistic Egypt Edited by P Bilde et al. Eight essays from a 1990 Danish conference. Contributors include: D J Thompson (Language and literacy in early Hellenistic Egypt); J Blomquist (Alexandrian science: the case of Eratosthenes); K Goudriaan (Ethnical strategies in Graeco-Roman Egypt); A Kasher (The civic status of the Jews in Prolemaic Egypt); P Borgen (Philo and the Jews in Alexandria). 210p (Aarhus Univ Press; Dec 1992) ISBN: 8772883596 Hardbound Order This book from Amazon.com
	Strack, Max L.: Die Dynastie der Ptolemäer. Bln. Hertz 1897. XVI, 294 S. Faltübersicht. Bibl.-HLn.

• --- (BMCR 1999-06-13) Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook
  (BMCR 1999-06-13) By Jane Rowlandson, ed., Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook
  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp. xxii+406; 3 maps, 57 illustrations. $64.95(hb). $24.95(pb). ISBN 0-521-58212-1 (hb). ISBN 0-521-58815-4 (pb).
  With the collaboration of Roger Bagnall, Alan Bowman, Willy Clarysse, Ann Ellis Hanson, Deborah Hobson, James Keenan, Peter van Minnen, Dominic Rathbone, Dorothy J. Thompson, and Terry Wilfong.
  Reviewed by Joan Burton (Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, USA).
  This article contains Greek, available in these formats: SMK Greek Keys; Latin transliteration; Sgreek; Ismini; Beta code.
• --- (BMCR 99.04.15) Writing, Teachers, and Students in Graeco-Roman Egypt. American Studies in Papyrology, 36
  (BMCR 99.04.15) By Raffaela Cribiore, Writing, Teachers, and Students in Graeco-Roman Egypt. American Studies in Papyrology, 36
  Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996. Pp. xiv+316; ill. $49.95. ISBN 0-7855-0277-8.
  Reviewed by James W. Halporn, Harvard/Indiana University.
• --- Arsinoe II Reidentified as Cleopatra VII
  The regal looking Ptolemaic Queen that had been previously identified as Arsinoe II, a relative of Cleopatra VII, has been reidentifed as Cleopatra herself, the queen made famous for her political shrewdness and love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
• --- Relief Fragment From a Temple
  30th Dynasty - Ptolemaic Period, 380-30 BCE. Limestone, 20.5 x 21.25 in. (30 x 54 cm). 1989.2.1 Gift of Harvey Smith. From the Emory University Michael C. Carlos Museum web site. You can search for other related items by using the SEARECH PAGE at http://www.emory.edu/CARLOS/search/AT-CARLOSquery.html . Using the term 'ptolemaic' returned a handful of other pages.

  For a Mummy see http://www.emory.edu/CARLOS/egypt13.html and for a close-p with explanation http://www.emory.edu/CARLOS/OLD/goldmummy.html

  For a strainer see http://www.emory.edu/CARLOS/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/egyptlife-l&d2.html The handle of this strainer is in the shape of a lotus. It was used to strain liquids.

  Egypt, Ptolemaic Period (332-30 B.C.) Second century B.C. "Strainer" Bronze, 9 x 3-11/16 x 1 inches Gift of C. Herbert Ocumpaugh, 28.337 Collection of the Memorial Art Gallery

• --- The Ancient Greek Sailing Ship Of Kyrenia
  The Kyrenia Ship: Professor Michael Katsev, leader of the team of archaeologists who undertook the recovery of the ship, says: "We came to Cyprus in 1967 at the invitation of the Director of Antiquities Dr. V. Karageorgis. The team of archeaologists ascertained from the type of amphorae, which originally contained wine, that the ship sank around the end of the 4th century B.C., at the time of Alexander the Great or shortly after his death.
• --- Alexandria Conservation Laboratory
  see also The Alexandria Conservation Laboratory for Submerged Antiquities
• --- (BMCR 98.5.2), Kramer et al., Akten des 21. Internationalen Papyrologenkongresses
  By Baerbel Kramer, Wolfgang Luppe, Herwig Maehler, Guenter Poethke (edd.)
  Akten des 21. internationalen Papyrologenkongresses, Berlin,13.-19.8.1995.
  Stuttgart, Leipzig: B.G. Teubner Verlag, 1997. 2vols., pp. xxxi + 329 + pl. xl. (DM 230.00 + 245.00).
  ISBN 3-8154-7535-X + 3-8154-7536-8.
  Reviewed by P. Schubert -- University of Neuchatel (Switzerland)
• --- Archaeology 201: Egypt and the Ptolemaic Dynasty
  The Archaeology 201 Home Page area is meant to be a medium through which relevant course materials are made available to students in a convenient fashion. It is divided into sections which reflect those listed on the course syllabus. The pages on the Ptolemies present selected images from the lectures on Egypt and the Ptolemaic Dynasty which have been divided into the following topics: Ptolemaic Coinage, Alexandria, The Nilotic Mosaic from Praeneste, Hermopolis, Temple of Horus at Pollinopolis Magna (Edfu), Temple of Sobek and Horus at Ombos (Kom Ombo), and the Temple of Isis on Island of Philae. The site keepers are Professor Higginbotham or Ryan Dunn of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine. The base page is at URL http://www.bowdoin.edu/dept/clas/arch201/.



• --- http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/AR/93-94/93-94_Epigraphic_fig5.html
  ORIENTAL INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORTS
  THE EPIGRAPHIC SURVEY: 1993-94 ANNUAL REPORT
• --- http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/AR/93-94/93-94_Epigraphic_fig8.html
  ORIENTAL INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORTS
  THE EPIGRAPHIC SURVEY: 1993-94 ANNUAL REPORT

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