Books about Ptolemaic from Amazon.com

Few other civilizations rival Ancient Egypt in its power to capture the modern imagination, and Cleopatra VII, monarch at the end of the Ptolemaic period, has always been preeminent among its cast of characters. Coming to power just before the unstable state was about to be absorbed into an autocratic empire, Cleopatra oversaw not only Egypt's progress as an influential regional power but also the fragile peace of its ethnically mixed population.

Michel Chauveau looks at many facets of life under this queen and her dynasty, drawing on such sources as firsthand accounts, numismatics, and Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphic inscriptions. His use of such sources helps to free the narrative of dependence on later (and usually hostile) Greek and Roman historians. By taking up such subjects as funeral customs, language and writing, social class structure, religion, and administration, he affords the reader an unprecedented and comprehensive picture of Greek and Egyptian life in both the cities and the countryside.

Originally published in French in 1997, Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra fulfills a long-standing need for an accessible introduction to the social, economic, religious, military, and cultural history of Ptolemaic Egypt..
Price: $17.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This 1967 edition of the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is a revision of a 1953 edition It includes a foreword by Albert Einstein, which is presented in en face German and English versions.
The translation itself is based on the definitive National Edition prepared under the direction of Antonio Favaro and published at Florence in 1897. The material specifically added to the text by Galileo himself after publication of the first edition (1632) has been included as well. In addition, the margins of the book include translations of Galileo's own postils (running notes), placed as nearly as possible beside their textual references..
Price: $15.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This is a reprint of Naphtali Lewis' important book on the uses of papyrus records reconstructing life in ancient Egypt. Published in 1986, the first edition of Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt complemented `Life in Egypt under Roman Rule' (reprinted in 1999 as `Classics in Papyrology 1') by providing a perspective on the earlier period. The author presents a series of portraits, describing the lives of inhabitants ranging from the grand (like the Strategos Diophanes) to the humble (like the village clerk, Menkhes). He sets these figures against a prosperous, busy backdrop which he terms 'Eldorado on the Nile'..
Price: $19.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Hellenistic Egypt brings together for the first time the writings of the preeminent historian, papyrologist, and epigraphist Jean Bingen. These essays, first published by Bingen from 1970 to1999, make a distinctive contribution to the historiography of Hellenistic Egypt, a period in ancient Egypt extending from its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. until its annexation as a province of the Roman Empire by Octavian (later Augustus) in 30 B.C., after his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Ruled by Ptolemaic kings during this period, Hellenistic Egypt was a sophisticated, rich, and fertile country. Its history is intimately bound up with the history of the Mediterranean as a whole, yet parts of that history remain relatively obscure and open to debate. New evidence, particularly from papyri, emerges frequently and shifts our understanding and interpretation of this significant time. For the last six decades Jean Bingen has been a leading editor and interpreter of such evidence. In particular his work on the Ptolemaic monarchy and economy, which illustrates how the Greeks and Egyptians interacted, has transformed the field and influenced all subsequent work. Historian and classicist Roger Bagnall has selected and introduced Bingen's most important essays on this topic.
Copub: Edinburgh University Press .
Price: $22.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

First book to explore the impact of Alexander the Great's introduction of coined money on the economy and society of Egypt and its political implications for the formation of the Ptolemaic state. It argues that the introduction of coinage happened slowly, spreading gradually from Alexandria into the chora. Under Ptolemy II, however, Egypt was aggressively monetised. Using both numismatic and papyrological evidence, the workings of a rural monetary economy are reconstructed where coinage was in high demand but short supply. It is argued that by the middle of the third century BC Egypt was much more thoroughly monetised than is usually assumed, but that the degree of monetisation was sustained only by an extensive credit economy as well as ad hoc commutation of monetary payments into kind. Contextualising the complexities of credit and banking in rural Egypt, the book offers a new picture of their function in the ancient economy..
Price: $94.41 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1898 edition by Methuen & Co., London. Half-title: A History of Egypt, vol. IV, The Ptolemaic Dynasty.
Price: $24.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

By revealing the dynamics between central and local power in Egypt, Joe Manning demonstrates that Ptolemaic economic power ultimately shaped Roman Egyptian social and economic institutions. His book offers a framework for understanding the structure of the Ptolemaic state and economy, as well as the relationship between the new Ptolemaic economic institutions and the ancient Egyptian legal traditions of property rights. Historians of Egypt and the Hellenistic world will welcome the volume..
Price: $33.86 [Notify me when price goes down.]