The Jews of Ptolemaic Egypt - The History of a Diaspora Community in Light of the Papyri

This book offers a comprehensive and nuanced history of the Jews of Egypt, who constituted an important ethnic minority ever since they first appeared in the country. As part of the Greek-speaking ruling class, the Jews played an active role in the political, social and cultural life of Ptolemaic Egypt.
Drawing on old and new documentary papyri supplemented by literary and epigraphic evidence, Szántó's book focuses on reconstructing an overall picture of the Egyptian Jewish Diaspora and discusses different aspects of their life: onomastics, military life, social and legal position, religious customs and anti-Judaism. The incorporation of non-Greek (Aramaic and Egyptian) textual evidence into the research is innovative and offers new perspectives on certain topics whose understanding was previously limited.
Szántó provides a diverse picture of Jewish life and demonstrates how the Jews integrated into Graeco-Egyptian society and, at the same time, preserved their ethnic identity.

About the author

Zsuzsanna Szántó, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Product details

• Authors: Zsuzsanna Szántó
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 23.09.2024
• EAN: 9783111425047
• ISBN: 978-3-11-142504-7
• No. of pages: 293
• Dimensions: 165 mm x 20 mm x 236 mm
• Weight: 558 g
• Illustrations: 12 b/w and 12 col. tbl.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity; Ägypten, Literaturwissenschaft: Antike und Mittelalter, Alte Geschichte, Archäologie, Juden, Jüdische Texte: Tanach, Tora, Nevi’im, Ketuvim, Hellenismus, Egypt, Papyrus, Classical texts, Jewish Studies, Judaism, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Hellenism, Jews, HIS022000 HISTORY / Jewish, FOR016000 FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY / Latin, REL040030 RELIGION / Judaism / History