meetings
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
4:00 pm, 254 Barrows
"Egyptian Burial and elite self-presentation in Ptolemaic Egypt"
Jacco Dieleman, University of California, Los Angeles
In the Hellenistic Period, Egypt was home to an ethnically mixed population. Indigenous Egyptians formed a large majority, but by now they shared the land with a considerable number of settlers from abroad. Among these settlers, Greeks formed the largest and most important minority group, ruling the country since the conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE and the subsequent establishment of Ptolemaic rule. This influx of Greeks resulted in the coexistence of two spheres of life in Egyptian society, i.e. Greek and Egyptian, distinguished on the basis of language, cultural practices, and legal status. The Greek sphere was associated with government and social mobility, the Egyptian sphere with indigenous culture. In the course of the Ptolemaic period, more and more individuals were willing to, and capable of, partaking in both of these spheres of life. This aspect of Ptolemaic society is most insightfully exemplified by the practice of an individual carrying both an Egyptian and a Greek name, and using one over the other depending on the situation. But how did this aspect play out in death? Did one choose to be buried and commemorated in Greek or Egyptian fashion? This paper will review three cases of elite self-presentation on funerary monuments in which the deceased poses as both Egyptian and Greek in text and/or image. What does this say about the ethnic and cultural identity of these individuals? And what kind of social imaginary or imagined community underlies these constructions of identity?
Readings:
Discussants:
Stephanie Langin-Hooper, graduate student, Dept. of Near Eastern Studies
stephanie_langinhooper@berkeley.edu
Jean Li, graduate student, Dept. of Near Eastern Studies
jeanjzli@berkeley.edu