Greco-Roman Associations : Texts, Translations, and Commentary. Volume III, Ptolemaic and Early Roman Egypt

Private associations organized around a common cult, occupation, ethnic identity, neighborhood or family were among the principal means of organizing social and economic life in the ancient Mediterranean. They offered opportunities for sociability, cultic activities, mutual support and contexts in which to display and recognize virtuous achievement. This volume collects 140 inscriptions and papyri from Ptolemaic and early Roman Egypt, along with translations, notes, commentary, and analytic indices. The dossier of association-related documents substantially enhances our knowledge of the extent, activities, and importance of private associations in the ancient Mediterranean, since papyri, unavailable from most other locations in the Mediterranean, preserve a much wider range of data than epigraphical monuments. The dossier from Egypt includes not only honorific decrees, membership lists, bylaws, dedications, and funerary monuments, but monthly accounts of expenditures and income, correspondence between guild secretaries and local officials, price and tax declarations, records of legal actions concerning associations, loan documents, petitions to local authorities about associations, letters of resignation, and many other papyrological genres. These documents provide a highly variegated picture of the governance structures and practices of associations, membership sizes and profiles, and forms of interaction with the State. The Series Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Für Die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (bznw) Is One Of The Oldest And Most Highly Regarded International Scholarly Book Series In The Field Of New Testament Studies. Since 1923 It Has Been A Forum For Seminal Works Focusing On Early Christianity And Related Fields. The Series Is Grounded In A Historical-critical Approach And Also Explores New Methodological Approaches That Advance Our Understanding Of The New Testament And Its World. The third in a series of volumes presenting a representative selection of Greek and Latin texts bearing on ancient associations. Each text is furnished with an English translation, epigraphical or papryological notes, commentary, a short bibliography, and extensive analytic indices Preface 5 Contents 9 Bibliographical Note 17 Sigla 17 Abbreviations 19 Calendars 31 Introduction 33 DELTA 53 MIDDLE EGYPT (Memphis and the Fayûm) 144 UPPER EGYPT 393 UNKNOWN LOCATION 560 Indexes 593