L'egitto dopo i faraoni

by Alan K. Bowman

Tra le realizzazioni compiute dai greci in Egitto non esiste manifestazione più impressionante e maestosa della grande città che prese il nome da Alessandro. Essa dominò politicamente, culturalmente ed economicamente il Mediterraneo orientale per sei secoli e mezzo e rivaleggiò con la capitale dell'Impero bizantino, Costantinopoli, per i tre secoli successivi. L'affresco di Bowman ci restituisce il fascino di una terra e di una civiltà multiforme, il cui esotico e languido splendore riverbera ancora nella nostra cultura.

Genres: History, Egypt, Egyptology, Nonfiction, Ancient History

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Alan Bowman is Principal of Brasenose College and Emeritus Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford University. His research interests focus on papyrology, the Vindolanda Writing-Tablets, and the social and economic history of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt and the Roman Empire.

Reviews

[Omar Amer · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب من الكتب التقيلة. الترجمة كانت محتاجة تكون أحسن من كده بكتير لأنها ظلمت المادة.
أكتر حاجة عجبتني الصور الحية لناس عاشت في الفترة دي. خطابات كلها دراما.
واحدة قلقانة على جوزها
واحد زعلان من باباه عشان مش بيسأل عليه
واحد بيتبرأ من ولاده
واحد في الجيش.
تقسيمة الكتاب تخليه ممتاز للاستشهاد بيه في صناعة محتوى.

[Mogg Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb book and great background to British Museum expo "Faith after the Pharaohs"

[DAJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hellenistic and Roman Egypt was a fascinating blend of cultures (Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, Christian), and thanks to large-scale survivals of papyrus, we know more about it than most regions of the ancient world. Bowman describes it in vivid detail, with liberal use of quotations from documents. He's careful to say what we don't know or can't be sure of, and how our evidence is slanted toward the literate and largely Hellenized elite strata of society, without going into tedious academic detail about those problems. If you're a non-academic reader wanting to know more about Greco-Roman Egypt, Bowman is an excellent place to start.

The first chapter is a general description of Egypt (called, inevitably, "The Gift of the Nile"), and the second describes the changes in rulers from Alexander's conquest to that by the Arabs. Because the rest of the book is organized by subject rather than chronologically, this chapter is important for giving the historical framework for the changes during that vast length of time. The following chapters discuss how the government interacted with the populace, the economy, the ethnic and cultural relationships between Greeks and Egyptians, religion, and the all-important city of Alexandria. Ethnicity and religion in Greco-Roman Egypt were so complex that it's hard for an introductory book like this to discuss them adequately, but Bowman does a pretty good job.

My only major reservation is that there's been a huge amount of research on Ptolemaic and especially Roman Egypt in the 30 years since this book came out. Some of the details in it may be out of date, though I haven't spotted any that are, and its bibliography certainly is out of date. Egypt from Alexander to the Copts is no doubt more current. For anyone looking for more in-depth information, some of the more general recent books on this topic are The Last Pharaohs, Egypt in Late Antiquity, and the behemoth The Oxford Handbook of Roman Egypt, whose bibliographies will give you more further reading than you'll ever need.

[Tyler Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the place and period. This book was done by British Museum Publications, yet it is not a museum catalogue but a true introduction which is wonderfully illustrated by pictures throughout. Bowman is quite pleasant to read and covers a lot of ground without taxing the reader.

I must only give the disclaimer that I am a new reader in the field and cannot speak to the accuracy, fairness, or up-to-datedness of the material.

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, focussing on an unusual timeperiod. However, it's also quite old and the chapter-structure is big and unwielding.

[Erika Vernizzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro molto complesso ma interessantissimo, senza ombra di dubbio. Alcuni punti sono effettivamente noiosi, ma è da leggere.

[Lara]

I love this book. Scholarly but truly readable and user friendly. I still say I owe my place at university for my first degree to this book. If I hadn't read this the week before my selection interview I would never have been able to answer the questions on the Hellenistic kingdoms that ultimately got me accepted.

[Kholoud Aref · Rating 5 out of 5]

So perfect book