October 2020
·
29 Reads
This introduction discusses the character of the different epigraphic traditions in Egypt under the Ptolemies (332–30 BC), Greek and Egyptian, in both Hieroglyphic and Demotic. The book is intended as a complement to the complete collection of editions of these monuments. It summarizes the way in which the following chapters discuss and analyse many aspects of the format, content, and presentation of these Greek and bilingual or trilingual inscriptions. It sketches some of the main themes addressed by the authors and indicates what value the collection adds to our appreciation of the cultural and monumental landscape in which the Greeks absorbed features of the indigenous religion and the Egyptians adapted to the introduction of dynastic royal cult. Rather than offering novel arguments or radical innovations in interpreting the monuments, the chapters in this volume contribute to a deepening understanding of the social and cultural complexities of this bicultural landscape.