Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook

Description

The period of Egyptian history from its rule by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty to its incorporation into the Roman and Byzantine empires has left a wealth of evidence for the lives of ordinary men and women. Texts (often personal letters) written on papyrus and other materials, objects of everyday use and funerary portraits have survived from the Graeco-Roman period of Egyptian history. But much of this unparalleled resource has been available only to specialists because of the difficulty of reading and interpreting it. Now eleven leading scholars in this field have collaborated to make available to students and other non-specialists a selection of over three hundred texts translated from Greek and Egyptian, as well as more than fifty illustrations, documenting the lives of women within this society, from queens to priestesses, property-owners to slave-girls, from birth through motherhood to death. Each item is accompanied by full explanatory notes and bibliographical references.

' ... a tremendously welcome book for scholars and students of women in the ancient Mediterranean world, ancient history, social and cultural studies, Egypt.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review 'This is a book of excellent quality and scope, and I shall be using it with my students.' Paul McKechnie, Prudentia 'It is, in short, a work of the highest quality, devised and executed with exceptional care. Its usefulness will stretch beyond courses solely about women: much of the material has wider application, as the title announces.' B. C. McGing, The Classical Review '... bridges the linguistic differences between the disciplines of Egyptology and papyrology and makes the rich textual sources for Greek and Roman Egypt available to a wider audience of scholars and students alike ... valuable ... a concise, helpful overview of technicalities ... Rowlandson and her collaborators are to be commended for this sound and readable volume, which will repay the reader who consults it for specific material, reads it straight through, or dips into it at will for a taste of Greek and Roman Egypt.' Journal of Egyptian Archaeology