The Shifting Sands of History: Interpretations of Ptolemaic Egypt. Publication of the Association of Ancient Historians (2).

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Einband etwas berieben und besto�n, allgemein sehr guter Zustand / Binding somewaht rubbed and scuffed, in general in very good condition. - PREFACE My intention in this work is to delineate some significant aspects of Egypt under the Ptolemies, and I have taken advantage of the invitation to prepare it to offer my own views on how the evidence on some of these issues should be interpreted, as well as presenting current views. The study of the period after Alexander, in particular its manifestation in Ptolemaic Egypt, is in the midst of great change. After decades of general consensus and great advances in the investigations of social and economic phenomena which contributed to that consensus, some central themes in Ptolemaic history which have been heavily studied in past decades are just beginning to be given new interpretations. Because these areas are intrinsically of great interest, not only for the understanding of antiquity but for comprehending human interactions and human societies, I have chosen to focus on them in my treatment of Ptolemaic Egypt, and to deal with other aspects of society which have been heavily explored in the past�economy and religion�only as they impinge on my chosen themes of ethnic relations, administration and royal ideology. Many aspects of Ptolemaic society which have received great attention in the past and continue to do so in the present�I think of slavery, law, the position of women in the social structure, demography�are mentioned here only in passing or not at all, because I have not written this study as a survey of scholarship or a survey of knowledge. Both of those tasks have recently been done by the best minds in the field, and I therefore can concentrate on topics which are of particular interest to me and which, as views of them change, will greatly affect our understanding of Ptolemaic Egypt. ISBN 9780819173973