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Günther Hölbl
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A History of the Ptolemaic Empire 1st Edition

by Günther Hölbl (Author), Tina Saavedra (Translator)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
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This compelling narrative provides the only comprehensive guide in English to the rise and decline of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt over three centuries - from the death of Alexander in 323 BC to the tragic deaths of Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BC.
The skilful integration of material from a vast array of sources allows the reader to trace the political and religious development of one of the most powerful empires of the ancient eastern Mediterranean. It shows how the success of the Ptolemies was due in part to their adoption of many features of the Egyptian Pharaohs who preceded them - their deification and funding of cults and temples throughout Egypt.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0415234891
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0415234894
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publication date
    September 28, 2000
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.94 x 9.21 inches
  7. Print length
    416 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'Authoritative and meticulous historical account ... a fascinating introduction.' - Patricia Spencer, Egyptian Archaeology, 2001



'A fascinating introduction.' - Patricia Spencer, Egyptian Archaeology

About the Author

Günther Hölbl

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (September 28, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0415234891
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415234894
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.94 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

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Günther Hölbl

Günther Hölbl

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Richard Hulbert
5.0 out of 5 stars good
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2022
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Good
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SK
5.0 out of 5 stars Arrived early
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2021
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Beautiful book, lots of info!
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D. Rose
4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent, albeit dated study of Ptolemaic Egypt
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2013
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A text primarily for graduate students and scholars, although third and fourth year undergraduates with training in Classics / the ancient world will be able to understand this text

This 2001 book is a translation of the German original published in 1994. While there is a Bibliographical Supplement listing works published from 1990 to 1999, and the author claims to have revised the text, the study has not been fundamentally revised to incorporate scholarship after 1994.

This study has all of the precision and detail that is to be expected of German scholarship. The complexity of the period and the depth of Holbl's presentation make the text quite dense, requiring careful reading and rereading of sections. In addition, the citations in the chapters' end-notes provide excellent sources to follow up upon (although dated).

As he indicates in his foreword, Holbl seeks to set out a comprehensive history of the Ptolemaic empire that incorporates various types of evidence (texts, papyrus) and disciplines (Egyptology, Papyrology, Archaeology), and presents an overview of the entire period. As students well know, it is simply not possible to keep up with all of the specialized literature. Holbl has sampled various aspects of the specialized literature, and brings them together in a (primarily) historical study. After reading this text, a reader will have a sound understanding of the Ptolemaic empire, and many sources and directions to continue study. The other significant aspect of note is that while the book is organized chronologically, Holbl doesn't simply present a dry overview of historical events. He outlines the events and discusses their implications in a way that many historians neglect. In addition, a number of his chapters take on themes, such as "royal ideology and religious policy", rather than simple history.

Holbl's book is a great deal of work to read, but well worth the effort if one wishes to understand Ptolemaic Egypt thoroughly in preparation for continued study in the area. I picked up this book for pleasure reading, since I have a strong interest in Ptolemaic Egypt. However, it would be suitable, supplemented by more recent and specialized literature, for use in a postgraduate course on Ptolemaic Egypt.

For other authors to investigate, I recommend Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones and Andrew Erskine who both study the Hellenistic world. Lewellyn-Jones also has a particular interest in Ptolemaic Egypt, and teaches postgraduate courses in the area.
18 people found this helpful
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Grace
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2014
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Good for people who study Egyptology , but not so much for people who have no back ground knowledge.
2 people found this helpful
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Robert T. Guerrein
5.0 out of 5 stars Review
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016
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Excellent history of a little-studied but fascinating topic.
3 people found this helpful
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A. Blunk
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Summary
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2009
Provides a good overall review of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Covers all aspects of Greek influence on Egypt as well as a military and politcal narrative. Worth the money as it is the best source on the subject.
16 people found this helpful
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JPS
3.0 out of 5 stars Great scholarship, but somewhat incomplete
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2014
This is an interesting, and, at times, a rather fascinating book to read, although its title is a bit of a misnomer and a pretext.
This is because Gunther Hölbl, despite the title he has given to his book (“A history of the Ptolemaic Empire”), has in fact written something else than a history of this Empire. There is such a narrative at the beginning of each of the books sections, and these bits and pièces generally follow a chronological order. However, the narrative of events if essentially there to provide background and context, often in a condensed form. It is also, at times, a bit difficult to read.

The real purpose of the author seems to have been to show how the Ptolemaic dynasty sought to pose itself as continuators and use and manipulate Egyptian religion to acquire legitimacy and appear as “the last of the Pharaohs” to their native Egyptian subjects and to quote the title of a more recent book on the Ptolemaic Kingdom. This is probably the most valuable part of the book, with the author showing that reign after reign, even as the Kingdom lost the external provinces that made it into a maritime Empire and came increasingly “under the shadow of Rome”, the sovereigns (and their ministers) struggled to behave according to (priestly) expectations.

One the manifestations of this were the vast religious building programs. Another was the establishment of cults for members of the royal family, with their own priests. A third was wealth distribution to the priestly casts with the aim being to behave, and be seen as behaving as traditional Pharaohs.

Another strongpoint of this book is to show how the royal and religious ideologies interplayed and evolved over time, together with the power plays between the Sovereign and his court, and the priests. The influence of the later grew as the Empire’s difficulties grew, as Egypt faced unrest and domestic resistance, and as the Kings themselves grew weaker. However, right up to the end, the various Royals sought to blend the Egyptian and Hellenistic religious cultures and use both to promote divine kingship and their right to rule.

One issue with this book is that, because of this fascinating yet narrow focus on the regime’s ideology, it is somewhat incomplete. The pieces on Ptolemaic foreign policy are very good, but there is very little on the administration of the economy and the royal finances and not much more on the army (or the navy), although these components were, of course, major elements of the Ptolemaic power.

Finally, there are also some bits and pieces that could have been worth further developments. One would have been a discussion and a clearer presentation of whether, and to what extent, this was really a policy of integration and about acquiring legitimacy from the native Egyptians or whether it was only about being accepted by the priestly elites and getting to accept the new regime because they had stakes in it, or any combination of the two. Another, related, issue, upon which the author touches at time but never discusses thoroughly because of the chronological presentation that he has adopted, is to assess whether these politico-religious strategies worked. To what extent did they deliver the benefits that the various sovereigns expected? What were these benefits and to what extent did they involve over time?

Three stars for a good but incomplete book.
11 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars DISGUSTING!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2014
OK, first of all, THERE WAS WRITING IN THE BOOK. WRITING!!! IN PEN!!!!! I think if I'm going to pay $40+ for a book, it better be good quality and not have some freaking student's name on it. You can tell this book has been used before, and the packaging when it arrived was wripped up. Haven't got to actually reading the book, but people who recommended it said it was awesome. Still probably my worst experience as an Amazon customer. I know it wasn't Amazon who sold it directly, but damn I want to beat the crap out of the guy who sold it. At least lower the price for a book where half the pages are just sources and has been used by others.
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Top reviews from other countries

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basil2812
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2021
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Book arrived in time
Perfect conditions
Highly recommended
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pierrot
4.0 out of 5 stars Une bonne synthese sur l'Egypte lagide.
Reviewed in France on August 18, 2018
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Bon livre traitant de l'Égypte hellénistique. L'accent est surtout mis sur les aspects religieux.
Utile. On aurait aimé plus de développements sur la politique étrangère mais ne boudons pas notre plaisir...
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𝜸𝜶𝜷
5.0 out of 5 stars Referenzwerk
Reviewed in Germany on September 10, 2017
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Sehr gutes Buch! Kann ich nur weiterempfehlen. Ist ein Referenz-Werk. Wird häufig zitiert. Lässt sich angenehm lesen und ist umfassend und detailliert.
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The 4th Duke of Chandos
3.0 out of 5 stars Essential but heavy going and with errors
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2023
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This book is very thorough and immensely detailed. It works through every aspect of Ptolemaic rule methodically itemizing and referencing every event. I've been using it to write my own book and in that sense it's absolutely essential. But it is phenomenally dense and requires assiduous attention. However, by far and away the worst aspect - apart from the wooden translated text - is that some of the references are simply WRONG. I know because I have looked virtually every one up. It's only a minority but a significant one. These mistakes are seemingly minor but they are extremely annoying. I've come across quite a few other instances and they waste a lot of time. Now, that's all very well but if those weren't checked by the author, then what else wasn't checked? Also, when you look the sources up it turns out he has missed out some quite important information on many occasions. And he shows little critical evaluation of his sources, ancient or modern. And finally, I'd add that he makes some very detailed comments sometimes that have no references, leaving the reader nonethewiser.

Since the book purports to be a thorough academic study it's manifestly not up to scratch. He also insists on using academic abbreviations for his sources but couldn't be bothered to provide a key. Not much of an issue, but some are so obscure it means hunting around to find out what he means. The other downer is that the book is over twenty years old and through no fault of its own is out of date. Studies of the Ptolemaic era have moved on apace since then.

The advice has to be: the book is indispensable, so use it, but with great care. You have been warned!!
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