Egyptian burial and elite self-presentation in Ptolemaic Egypt

Lecture | November 4 | 4-6 p.m. | Barrows Hall, 254 Barrows

Speaker: Professor Jacco Dieleman, University of California, Los Angeles

Sponsor: Near Eastern Studies

Abstract: 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?

Event Contact: Benjamin Porter, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, Department of Near Eastern Studies, bwporter@berkeley.edu, 510-642-7794