Memphis Under the Ptolemies: Second Edition

by Dorothy J. Thompson

Overview

Drawing on archaeological findings and an unusual combination of Greek and Egyptian evidence, Dorothy Thompson examines the economic life and multicultural society of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis in the era between Alexander and Augustus. Now thoroughly revised and updated, this masterful account is essential reading for anyone interested in ancient Egypt or the Hellenistic world.

The relationship of the native population with the Greek-speaking immigrants is illustrated in Thompson's analysis of the position of Memphite priests within the Ptolemaic state. Egyptians continued to control mummification and the cult of the dead; the undertakers of the Memphite necropolis were barely touched by things Greek. The cult of the living Apis bull also remained primarily Egyptian; yet on death the bull, deified as Osorapis, became Sarapis for the Greeks. Within this god's sacred enclosure, the Sarapieion, is found a strange amalgam of Greek and Egyptian cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691140339
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/26/2012
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dorothy J. Thompson is a fellow of Girton College, University of Cambridge, and a member of the faculty of classics at the University of Cambridge. She is a fellow of the British Academy and an honorary president of the International Association of Papyrologists.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This thoroughly revised and updated account presents a clear picture of one of the most important cities of Ptolemaic Egypt, but it also takes the reader deep into the world of Egyptian temples, the priests who served the various cults, and the religious, economic, and social practices of the diverse communities who lived in and around Memphis. Memphis Under the Ptolemies is one of the greatest studies of an ancient city and a true testament to one of the finest scholars of the Hellenistic world."—J. G. Manning, Yale University

Editorial Reviews

"This thoroughly revised edition of a masterpiece of historical writing examines with precision and verve the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis in the period between Alexander and Augustus. . . . She is especially sensitive to the syncretic, sometimes cacophonous, metropolitan life produced by a population drawn from throughout the Mediterranean basin, and by the confrontation of classical civilization itself on the verge of cultural upheaval, as Roman power gradually eclipsed Greek prestige and influence—with a civilization that reached back millennia. The result is a meticulous, vivid portrait of a profoundly foreign world."

The Atlantic

Winner of the 1989 James H. Breasted Prize, American Historical Association

From the Publisher