Karanis, a town in Egypt's Fayum region founded around 250 BC, housed a farming community with a diverse population and a complex material culture that lasted for hundreds of years. Ultimately abandoned and partly covered by the encroaching desert, Karanis eventually proved to be an extraordinarily rich archaeological site, yielding tens of thousands of artifacts and texts on papyrus that provide a wealth of information about daily life in the Roman-period Egyptian town. This volume tells of the history and culture of Karanis, and also provides a useful introduction to the University of Michigan's excavations between 1924 and 1935 and to the artifacts, archival records and photographs of the excavation that now form one of the major components of the collection of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.

The province of Egypt provides unique archaeological and documentary evidence for the study of the Roman army. In this fascinating social history Richard Alston examines the economic, cultural, social and legal aspects of a military career, illuminating the life and role of the individual soldier in the army. Soldier and Society in Roman Eygpt provides a complete reassessment of the impact of the Roman army on local societies, and convincingly challenges the orthodox picture. The soldiers are seen not as an isolated elite living in fear of the local populations, but as relatively well-integrated into local communities. The unsuspected scale of the army's involvement in these communities offers a new insight into both Roman rule in Egypt and Roman imperialism more generally.

After Egypt became part of the Roman Empire in 30 BC, Classical and then Christian influences both made their mark on the urban environment. This book examines the impact of these new cultures at every level of Egyptian society.

The Egyptian Collection at Norwich Castle Museum represents the first full publication of this important collection which contains several outstanding objects. Part 1 begins with an outline of the acquisition history of the Egyptian collection and its display within Norwich Castle in 1894, when it was converted from a prison to a museum. The collection was largely acquired between the nineteenth and first part of the twentieth centuries. Its most prominent donor was Flaxman Spurrell, whose varied collection of flints, faience beads and necklaces as well as Late Antique cloths was obtained from Sir Flinders Petrie. Also prominent was the Norwich-based Colman family, most notable for its manufacture of mustard, whose collection was purchased in Egypt during the late-C19. Also included in this part are essays on several of the museum’s outstanding items – Ipu’s shroud, a rare early 18th Dynasty example with fragments also held in Cairo; the 22nd Dynasty finely decorated and well-preserved cartonnage and wooden lid of the priest, Ankh-hor; and the exceptional model granary of Nile clay painted with lively scenes, one showing the owner, Intef, playing senet. Part 2 is a detailed catalogue of the complete collection. It is organised into sections with objects grouped together mainly according to type – stelae, shabtis, scarabs, jewellery, amulets, vessels, flints, lamps, inscribed Book of the Dead fragments, metal figurines, and Late Antique cloths; and also according to function – such as cosmetics& grooming, and architectural & furniture elements. The inscribed materials have all been translated and individual entries give examples or parallels. Seventy colour plates illustrate each object.

Follow the way social attitudes and historical events—among them, slavery and materialism, wars and plagues—influenced how glassworking developed in the Roman world from the mid-first century B.C. to the late sixth century A.D. Woven into this story is the place of glassware in Roman everyday life, from the lady-of-the-house's cosmetic preparations each morning to the setting of table for the evening meal. Included are two special appendices: one considers the technology of ancient glassmaking, the other summarizes ancient opinions on the properties and merits of glass.

Materia Magica approaches magic as a material endeavor, in which spoken spells, ritual actions, and physical objects all played vital roles in the performance of a rite. Through case studies drawing on objects excavated or discovered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century at three Mediterranean sites, Andrew T. Wilburn identifies previously unknown forms of magic. He discovers evidence of the practice of magic in objects of ancient daily life, suggesting that individuals frequently turned to magic, particularly in times of crises. Studying the remains of spells enacted by practitioners, Wilburn examines the material remains of magical practice by identifying and placing them within their archaeological contexts. His method of connecting an analysis of the texts and inscriptions found on artifacts of magic with a close consideration of the physical form of these objects illuminates an exciting path toward new discoveries in the field.

Egypt After the Pharoahs treats the period which witnessed the arrival of the Greeks and Hellenistic culture in Egypt, the reign of the Ptolemies from Ptolemy I to Cleopatra, the conquest by Rome, the scientific and cultural achievements of Alexandria, and the rise of Christianity. The rich social, cultural, and intellectual ferment of this period comes alive in Alan Bowman's narrative. Egypt After the Pharoahs treats the period which witnessed the arrival of the Greeks and Hellenistic culture in Egypt, the reign of the Ptolemies from Ptolemy I to Cleopatra, the conquest by Rome, the scientific and cultural achievements of Alexandria, and the rise of Christianity. The rich social, cultural, and intellectual ferment of this period comes alive in Alan Bowman's narrative.

A fascinating shift toward more nuanced interpretations of Roman art that look at different kinds of social knowledge and local contexts