Nico Dogaer

A prominent feature of Ptolemaic fiscal policy was the “state” or “royal monopoly” on the production and sale of vegetable oils. As outlined in the so-called “Revenue Laws,” the entire supply chain of these commodities was controlled by the government, and in theory the oils reached consumers only through licensed traders, to whom the government awarded local monopolies. In practice, however, numerous papyri deal with the smuggling and illegal sale of vegetable oils. Although the volume of black market trade is impossible to quantify, it is clear that oil smuggling and illegal oil sales took place on a considerable scale in Ptolemaic Egypt. In this article, the nature, organization, and scale of these illegal activities are assessed, as well as the motivations and incentives for participating in the black market.

The beer industry was a major branch of the ancient Egyptian economy. In pre-Hellenistic Egypt, temples played an important role in the brewing business. During the Hellenistic period, however, the Ptolemies are generally thought to have introduced a state or royal ‘monopoly’ on the production of beer. In the traditional view, based on Greek sources, the temples continued to be active in beer production, but only as a ‘privilege’ or an ‘exception’ within the ‘monopoly’ framework. This study reviews all evidence for temple involvement in the Ptolemaic beer industry. In particular the Demotic Egyptian papyri show that these institutions played a much more integral role in the operation and taxation of the beer industry, illustrating the fiscal heterogeneity of the Ptolemaic state that cannot be reduced to ‘royal monopolies’. The study highlights the need for a further integration of the disciplines of Greek papyrology, traditionally associated with Classics, and Demotic papyrology, a subdiscipline of Egyptology, for the economic history of Hellenistic Egypt.

Λινεψοί are attested in some of the most famous papyri from the Ptolemaic period, but the nature of their activities and their role in the textile industry are disputed. Some scholars claim that linen boilers treated flax, whereas others think they were concerned with linen yarn or linen clothing. Further hypotheses include that they were dyers or producers of linseed oil. In this article, all evidence for their activities is reviewed, including Demotic Egyptian papyri, which suggest they were involved in bleaching and laundering finished textiles. In addition, some observations on the division of labor in the Ptolemaic laundering industry are offered.

With M. Depauw. In this article, network visualisation is presented as a new way to explore the formulaic framework of the Demotic papyrus letters. It also serves as an introduction of formal network analysis to the field of Demotic studies. This approach presents the evidence in a new light, focussing on the combination of formulae rather than on the phrases themselves, resulting in fresh observations on epistolary practices.

With M. Depauw.
This article explores the corpus of Greek hybrid onomastic derivations attested in Graeco-Roman Egypt. These linguistically ‘mixed’ names, e.g. Anoubion or Besodoros, provide valuable insights into the nature of cross-cultural contacts and the formation of identity in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Theophoric derivations in particular allow us to corroborate earlier assumptions about the practice of religious assimilation in personal names.

One of the distinct features of onomastics in the eastern Roman Empire is the popularity of the naming suffix '-ιανός'. It is generally understood that this was the Greek rendering of Latin '-ianus'. In this article, Greek forms ending in this suffix attested in Egypt are examined in detail.

This article provides evidence for the vitality of Egyptian naming traditions in the Roman period in the form of new ‘hybrid’ names, which incorporate foreign elements (mainly Greek and Latin) into traditional Egyptian names. A comprehensive overview of the names and their characteristics is provided, as well as an analysis of the context in which they appear. They were not limited to a ‘purely’ Egyptian milieu, suggesting an altogether more mixed society in Roman Egypt, as opposed to the Ptolemaic period.