Classics 596A: Hellenistic Egypt


*NOTE: This is an old document. Many of the links may be broken.*


Instructor:

John Bauschatz

Time/Location: W, 4:30–7:00 p.m.; Education 535
Contact Info:

Office: Learning Services Building 215
Phone: (520) 621-7422 (office)
email: jbausch1@email.arizona.edu


OVERVIEW

This seminar explores the Egypt of the Ptolemies in virtually every aspect: its history, literature, art, architecture, religion and archaeology. We will consider how over the roughly 300-year period of Ptolemaic rule (332–30 B.C.) the kingdom changed, how the Ptolemies interacted with their neighbors—conquering weaker challengers but eventually succumbing to the Romans—and how Ptolemaic Egypt fit into the so-called "Hellenistic world" as an entity. The majority of the evidence we will examine will derive from Egypt itself, but we will also employ evidence from the other successor kingdoms for comparative, and sometimes supplementary purposes.


GOALS

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Give a brief overview of the history of Ptolemaic Egypt, as well as of the Hellenistic period more broadly.
  • Identify no fewer than 20 different settlements in Ptolemaic Egypt and describe the evidence we have from each both qualitatively and quantitatively.
  • Describe the literature produced in Hellenistic Alexandria—as well as the literature which it inspired/spawned elsewhere in the last few centuries B.C.—and explain how it fits into the larger tapestry of life in Egypt.
  • Talk your friends' and colleagues' ears off about papyri: their contents, findspots, usefulness as evidence and uniqueness.
  • Cite a variety of ways in which scholarly views about Ptolemaic Egypt and the Hellenistic world in general have changed over the past few decades, and in fact continue to change in light of new evidence and the reinterpretation of old evidence.
  • Speak with ease and authority on at least one subject connected with course readings and class discussions: i.e., whatever you choose to write your seminar paper on.

PREREQUISITES

If you are an M.A. student in the Classics Department, you probably know by now that you aren't allowed to register for CLAS 596A unless you have demonstrated proficiency in a modern foreign language, as per the instructions on the Classics homepage. (This page is specifically for the Ancient History emphasis, but the bit about modern language applies to all of the emphases.) If you're not in the Classics Department, well, beats me.


READINGS

There is ***no required book to buy*** for this course. I ordered J.G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305–30 BC (Princeton UP, 2009) at the bookstore, but you don't need to buy it, since is also freely available online via the UA Library catalog as an ebook: go here. If you want your own copy, buy away! You can (probably) get it for less elsewhere (try amazon - Barnes & Noble - abe Books).

Also available online (here) via the UA Library catalog: G.R. Bugh, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World (Cambridge UP, 2006; abbreviated as CCHW). We'll be reading a number of its chapters over the course of the semester. Five other books which are not available for free online but which will be heavily used in this course are A. Erskine, ed., A Companion to the Hellenistic World (Blackwell, 2003; I abbreviate BCHW); R.S. Bagnall and P. Derow, eds., Historical Sources in Translation: The Helenistic Period (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003; I abbreviate as B&D), a sourcebook of documents; J.J. Clauss and M. Cuypers, eds., A Companion to Hellenistic Literature (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010; I abbreviate as BCHL); R.S. Bagnall, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology (Oxford, 2011; I abbreviate as OHP); and N. Lewis, Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt: Case Studies in the Social History of the Hellenistic World (2nd ed.; American Society of Papyrologists, 2001). I will post pdfs of the relevant sections of these texts—as well as any other readings—on the course D2L site. See the course schedule (below) for details. And make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download available here) in order to view them!


GRADING

Grading for the course will be based on the following breakdown:

  • Attendance (15%): How often you come to class (duh). Your grade for attendance = the number of hours you actually spend in the classroom / the total number of hours you're scheduled to spend in the classroom. There are no exceptions to this policy, but I will allow you to make up up to three hours (= 1 class) of missed time. The only way to do this is a 1/1 time trade: i.e., you'll spend however many hours you missed—up to three—in my office doing course-related work.

  • Participation (20%): The quality and quantity of your participation in class discussions. I expect you to actively engage in class discussions. This is a seminar, after all! To a degree, your participation will be forced, as I will call on you. But I also expect you to volunteer. If you do not, your grade will suffer.
  • Book Review (15%): Each student in CLAS 596A will be responsible for reading a monograph on some aspect of Hellenistic Egypt and then writing a professional book review of the book. In doing this, you will potentially help identify a seminar paper topic. I will provide you with a selection of monographs from which to pick, as well as some sample book reviews to give you an idea of how the genre works. Your book review will be due in class on Wednesday, October 10.
  • Presentations (5% each, 20% total): Each student enrolled in Classics 596A will give four 10–15-minute presentations in class over the course of the semester. The first three of these will be presentations on subjects connected with the course readings and will be assigned by the instructor/chosen by the student; the fourth will be a presentation on the final paper topic (see below). All presentations should be professional and rehearsed, and students should consult Appendix N on the Classics Department website for guidelines and suggestions. A schedule of presentations and presenters will be distributed in class by the beginning of the second week of the semester.
  • Final Paper (30%): Students will select a topic of their own choosing and write a ca 25pp seminar paper. Information on the formatting of the final paper can be found in Appendix M on the Classics Department website. When the final paper is handed in, it should include a completed copy of the Department's Checklist for Submitting Final Papers (Appendix O on the website). The final paper is due by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 14. Late papers lose a full letter grade for every day they are late.

OTHER INFO

Surprise! Cheating is not allowed. If you cheat, and I find out, you will receive a grade of 0 for the assignment and other bad things will happen. (See the U of A's code of academic integrity.)

Office hours will be held M–Th, noon–1 p.m. in my office (#215) in the Classics Department (on the second floor of the blandly-named Learning Services Building). You are also welcome and encouraged to make an appointment to meet with me. Call, email or holler.

D2L: As mentioned above, students in CLAS 596A will be expected to be familiar with D2L ("Desire2Learn"), the University's online course content management system. If you are unfamiliar with D2L, see the D2L homepage. As noted above, course readings will be posted on the course D2L page. Your grades will be posted there, as well.

Students with disabilities should contact the UA Disability Resource Center (520 621-3268) for any special needs or accommodations.


COURSE SCHEDULE

What follows is an outline of the Fall semester. Reading assignments are due on the dates specified. For a typical class you'll read a substantial amount of primary and secondary literature, and we'll discuss it. I may supply you in advance with a list of reading questions to keep in mind while you're doing the reading. These questions will help direct our class discussions.

Check this page often. Readings and assignments are subject to change. I'll try to give a heads-up in class if a major shake-up is imminent. I'll also try to provide you with the readings at least one week in advance.


Week Wednesday
1

8/22 Introductions, Prefaces and Backstory

READ (SECONDARY): (63pp total) Manning, Introduction (pp1–18) and Chapter 1 (pp19–28); B&D, Preface and Note on Reading Documents (ppxvii–xxix); BCHL, Introduction (pp1–14); CCHW, Introduction (pp1–8)

2

8/29 Historical Overview... and Source Problems

READ (SECONDARY): (72pp total) BCHL, Chapter 2 (pp17–29); Green (2007) Introduction (ppxv–xxxiii); OHP, Chapter 10 (pp216–255)

READ (PRIMARY): (58pp total) B&D, Part 1 (pp1–55) and Tables and Charts (pp289–291)

PRESENTERS: BCHL, Chapter 25 (pp384–394), Bauschatz; OHP, Chapter 21 (pp495–520), Bauschatz

3

9/5 Models of, for and in Ptolemaic Egypt

READ (SECONDARY): (87pp total) Manning, Chapters 2 and 3 (pp29–72); Samuel (1993), pp168–210

READ (PRIMARY): (93pp total) B&D, Part 1 (pp55–110) with OHP, Chapter 16 (pp358–394)

PRESENTERS: BCHW, Chapter 11 (pp177–195), Bauschatz; BCHW, Chapter 25 (pp431–446), Grantham

4

9/12 Setting up Shop: Bureaucracy

READ (SECONDARY): (93pp total) Manning, Chapter 4 (pp73–116); Lewis (2001), Chapter 1 (pp8–36); Verhoogt (1998), Chapter 4 (pp50–69)

READ (PRIMARY): (23pp total) B&D, Part 4 (pp144–162) and Appendix (pp285–288)

PRESENTERS: CCHW, Chapter 3 (pp52–72), Browne; OHP, Chapter 22 (pp521–540), Bauschatz

5

9/19 It's the Economy, Stupid

READ (SECONDARY): (79pp total) Manning, Chapter 5 (pp117–164); Lewis (2001), Chapter 3 (pp46–55); Von Reden (2007), Chapter 2 (pp58–78)

READ (PRIMARY): (36pp total) B&D, Part 5 (pp163–198)

PRESENTERS: CCHW, Chapter 4 (pp73–92), Browne; OHP, Chapter 8 (179–196), Rick

6

9/26 Law and Order

READ (SECONDARY): (105pp total) Manning, Chapter 6 (pp165–201) and Appendix (pp207–216); Thompson (1997), pp961–966; Bauschatz (2007), pp13–39; McGing (1998), pp159–183

READ (PRIMARY): (30pp total) B&D, Parts 6 (pp199–205) and 7 (pp206–228)

PRESENTERS: Mélèze Modrzejewski (2005), pp343–354, Wehmeier; BCHW, Chapter 23 (pp389–404), Baker

7

10/3 Science and Technology

READ (SECONDARY): (51pp total) Lewis (2001), Chapter 2 (pp37–45); CCHW, Chapters 11 (pp223–240) and 12 (pp241–264)

READ (PRIMARY): (48pp total) Aratus, Phaenomena (48pp, not including introduction and notes)

PRESENTERS: BCHL, Chapter 14 (pp197–210), Grantham; OHP, Chapter 15 (pp338–357), Browne

8

10/10 Town and Country

READ (SECONDARY): (65pp total) BCHL, Chapter 4 (pp46–61); BCHW, Chapters 12 (pp196–215) and 15 (pp249–263); Crawford (1971), Chapter 3 (pp39–52)

READ (PRIMARY): (141pp total) B&D, Part 3 (pp119–143); Theocritus, Idylls and Epigrams (116pp, not including introduction and notes)

PRESENTERS: BCHL, Chapter 16 (pp224–237), Bauschatz; BCHL, Chapter 17 (pp238–250), Bauschatz

*Book Review due in class today.*

9

10/17 The Ptolemaic Army and Empire

READ (SECONDARY): (81pp total) Lewis (2001), Chapters 4 (56–68) and 8 (pp124–152); Bagnall (1976), Chapter 9 (pp213–251)

READ (PRIMARY): (61pp total) B&D, Part 2 (pp111–118); Aineias the Tactician, How to Survive Under Siege (53pp, not including introduction and notes)

PRESENTERS: CCHW, Chapter 13 (pp265–294), Bauschatz; Burliga (2008), pp92–101, Nobody

10

10/24 Art and Architecture

READ (SECONDARY): (65pp total) Pollitt (1986), Chapter 12 (pp250–263); Smith (1988), Chapter 9 (pp86–98); Doxiadis (1995), pp82–102; Borg (1995), pp229–235

READ (PRIMARY): (67pp total) Letter of Aristeas (67pp, not including introduction and notes)

PRESENTERS: CCHW, Chapter 7 (pp136–157), Baker; CCHW, Chapter 8 (pp158–185), Wehmeier

11

10/31 Hellenistic Literature

READ (SECONDARY): (66pp total) BCHL, Chapters 3 (pp30–45), 6 (pp81–91) and 22 (pp317–336); Stephens (2003), Introduction (pp1–19)

READ (PRIMARY): (82pp total) Callimachus, Hymns, Epigrams and Selected Fragments (82pp, not including introduction and notes)

PRESENTERS: BCHL, Chapter 7 (pp92–105), Bauschatz; BCHL, Chapter 8 (pp106–116), Bauschatz

12

11/7 Religion under the Ptolemies

READ (SECONDARY): (68pp total) Thompson (1988), Chapter 4 (pp106–154); Lewis (2001), Chapter 5 (pp69–87)

READ (PRIMARY): (47pp total) B&D, Part 9 (pp247–284); Kallixeinos of Rhodes, The Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus (9pp, not including introduction and notes)

PRESENTERS: BCHL, Chapter 24 (pp366–383), Rick; CCHW, Chapter 10 (pp208–222), Nobody

13

11/14 Ptolemaic Society

READ (SECONDARY): (51pp total) BCHL, Chapter 5 (pp62–77); Lewis (2001), Chapter 6 (pp88–102); CCHW, Chapter 14 (pp295–314)

READ (PRIMARY): (107pp total) B&D, Part 8 (pp229–246); Rowlandson (1998), Chapter 6 (pp280–368)

PRESENTERS: BCHL, Chapter 27 (pp415–428), Baker; BCHL, Chapter 28 (pp429–447), Wehmeier

14

11/21 *Thanksgiving Recess: No Class*

READ (PRIMARY): (161pp total) Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica (161pp not including introduction or notes)

15

11/28 The Outside World; Conclusions

READ (SECONDARY): (61pp total) Manning, Conclusions (pp202–206); BCHL, Chapter 30 (pp463–478); BCHW, Chapters 17 (pp280–293) and 18 (pp294–310); Coleman, JAEI 4.1 (2011): 1–8

READ (PRIMARY): (57pp total) Polybius 5.34–87 (40pp, not including introduction and notes); with Walbank (2002), Chapter 3 (pp253–269)

PRESENTERS: BCHL, Chapter 10 (pp136–150), Grantham; BCHL, Chapter 11 (pp151–165), Rick

16

12/5 Seminar Paper Presentations

17

12/12 No Class: Final Exams

*Final paper due by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 14.*

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