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J.G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies 305-30 BC, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2009; xvi + 264 pp, index, bibliography and index of sources. ISBN 978-0-691-14262-3; $61.00.
As a subject area, the Ptolemaic period is particularly complex and, at times, overwhelming. One must contend not only with the complicated dynastic history, but also the unique culture that developed from increased contact between Greeks and Egyptians. Into this mix, introduce the great abundance of source material in Greek, Hieroglyphic, Hieratic and Demotic and the temptation to launch into in-depth study leaves one wondering where to begin.
J.G. Manning's The Last Pharaohs is a comprehensive study of economics and governance in the Ptolemaic period.
Manning (M) focuses his work on the establishment of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt, particularly the problems faced by early Ptolemaic rulers and the strategies they adopted, whether intentional or accidental, to establish and maintain control over the Egyptian territory. By examining the institutions of Egyptian society and various social strata, M demonstrates the ways in which the Ptolemaic rulers changed Egypt and how they, in turn, were changed by the country and society they controlled.
The book is divided into six chapters - an overview of Egypt in the first millennium BC, the current historical understanding of the Ptolemaic state, an interpretation of Ptolemaic Egypt as a pre-modern state, the establishment of the Ptolemaic state, an overview of the Ptolemaic economy and the evolution of law during the Ptolemaic period.
The study begins with an overview of Egypt in the first millennium BC. M traces the origins of the Ptolemaic system of governance to the Saite kings of the Late Period. After hundreds of years of unrest and political fragmentation, the Saites reinforced Egypt's political, social and religious institutions. Egypt...