Dakhleh Oasis and the Western Desert of Egypt under the Ptolemies

James C. R. Gill

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2016
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785701368
• Subtopic: Egyptian Ancient History
• Index: Social Sciences

Through an analysis of recently discovered Ptolemaic pottery from Mut al-Kharab, as well as a re-examination of pottery collected by the Dakhleh Oasis Project during the survey of the oasis from 1978–1987, this book challenges the common perception that Dakhleh Oasis experienced a sudden increase in agricultural exploitation and a dramatic rise in population during the Roman Period. It argues that such changes had already begun to take place during the Ptolemaic Period, likely as the result of a deliberate strategy directed toward this region by the Ptolemies.
This book focuses on the ceramic remains in order to determine the extent of Ptolemaic settlement in the oases and to offer new insights into the nature of this settlement. It presents a corpus of Ptolemaic pottery and a catalogue of Ptolemaic sites from Dakhleh Oasis. It also presents a survey of Ptolemaic evidence from the oases of Kharga, Farafra, Bahariya and Siwa. It thus represents the first major synthesis of Ptolemaic Period activity in the Egyptian Western Desert.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• List of Illustrations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Mut Al-Kharab
• Chapter 3: Ptolemaic Pottery From Dakhleh Oasis
• Chapter 4: Ptolemaic Sites In Dakhleh Oasis
• Chapter 5: Ptolemaic Activity In The Western Desert
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Appendix 1: Mut al-Kharab: Context Descriptions
• Appendix 2: Pottery Assemblages from Mut al-Kharab
• Appendix 3: Ptolemaic Pottery Forms: Examples and Parallels
• Appendix 4: Catalogue of Ptolemaic Sites in Dakhleh Oasis
• Appendix 5: Pottery Assemblages from Dakhleh Oasis Sites
• Appendix 6: Catalogue of Ptolemaic Sites in the Western Oases
• Bibliography
• Plates