A Stomach for Wealth: Trade, Networks and Complexity in Ptolemaic Egypt

When Alexander the Great’s empire fell apart after his death in 323 BCE, one of his generals, Ptolemy, quickly claimed Egypt as his realm, and founded the successful Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled the country for 300 years. The dry Egyptian climate has preserved thousands of papyri containing detailed information on the inner workings of Ptolemaic society, including its rich economic life. Trade seems to have made up a good part of economic activity in the country: the papyri paint a colourful picture of all kinds of merchants and vendors, from the international merchants visiting the bustling harbour city of Alexandria to the local town grocer. Despite this apparent wealth of information, trade in Ptolemaic Egypt has been severely understudied in the past few decades. The two most extensive studies date from 1932 and 1972 respectively, but they largely focus on trade with regions outside of Egypt, the theoretical models they use to understand the economy are outdated, and they forgo quantitative analysis. Moreover, these studies largely ignored the Egyptian source material, focusing on Greek material instead. The proposed project seeks to fill the lacunae in our understanding of Ptolemaic trade by studying it on a solid theoretical foundation provided by recent advances in economic and sociological theory. The results will not only broaden our knowledge of the Ptolemaic economy, but hold larger implications for understanding the way past societies functioned.