062: Ptolemaic Egypt - Egyptians in a Greek Land

The conquest of Egypt by Alexander and establishment of the Ptolemaic dynasty differed from previous foreign invaders like the Hyksos or the Persians. While the Ptolemies would very much present themselves as traditional pharaohs, they would bring thousands of Greek immigrants, founded poleis, and imported Greek culture en masse. For the indigenous Egyptians, Ptolemaic rule required them to live with two "faces": those like Manetho, an Egyptian priest of Amun-Ra who composed an influential history of Egypt in Greek known as the "Aegyptiaca", would continue to work under the new regime. Others were able to exploit "Hellenization" as a means of advancement, seen in the archives of the mixed Greco-Egyptian military family of Dryton and Senmonthis-Apollonia, revealing the complexities of ethnic and cultural identity. But we also can see the tensions between the Greek and Egyptian communities, which could explode in bouts of violence and rebellion. In this episode we look to see how the Egyptians responded to the arrival of a new political, social, and cultural elite.

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Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2021/08/01/062-ptolemaic-egypt-egyptians-in-a-greek-land/)

Episode 062 Transcript:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/062-ptolemaic-egypt-egyptians-in-a-greek-land-transcript.pdf)

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