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The book provides an easily digestible introduction to Cleopatra's world... A fascinating introduction to an era when the political and military face of the Mediterranean world was changing rapidly. ―Patricia Spencer, Egyptian Archaeology

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.

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CHOICE Review

After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt for 300 years. Chauveau offers a detailed and vivid portrayal of these three centuries from the perspective of an Egyptian. Following Alexander's conquest, Greek and Egyptian cultures coexisted in an uneasy alliance. The introduction of a monetary economy, banking systems, new deities, laws, and a transformed bureaucracy are detailed within a context of clashing cultures. Information derived from written texts and archaeology is combined to offer insights into the daily life of farmers, slaves, bureaucrats, and the aristocracy. The role and nature of excessive taxation, labor revolts, and strikes; the interpretation of dreams; the storage of cadavers; the biography of a religious recluse; the role of temple virgins; and the construction of the city of Alexandria, with its Museum, Library and Lighthouse, provide a vivid social history of a dynasty in which no less than seven Cleopatras ruled Egypt. This excellent work richly reveals two cultures, Egyptian and Greek, involved in colonialism, imperialism, and acculturation. Their confrontation transformed the ancient world. Numerous illustrations, a glossary, and extensive footnotes with bibliography. Upper-division undergraduates and above. C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky; Harvard University

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Michel Chauveau is a former member of the Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale in Cairo, and is currently director of studies at L'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. David Lorton, an Egyptologist, lives in Baltimore, Maryland.