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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2022

By
Jelle Bruning ,
Janneke H. M. de Jong  and
Petra M. Sijpesteijn
Edited by
Jelle Bruning ,
Janneke H. M. de Jong  and
Petra M. Sijpesteijn
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Summary

Herodotus’ (fifth century BCE) famous assertion that Egyptians are the “opposite to other men in almost all matters” (2.83) has set the tone for analyses of Egypt ever since. On the one hand, Egypt’s incomparably rich documentary record, preserved in the papyri and other material remains, has attracted extraordinary scholarly attention. On the other hand, Egypt’s unusual geography and the specialized kinds of agricultural and social organization has given rise to it being seen as non-representative. Moreover, a scholarly view that tends to look from the imperial center outward sees Egypt on the margins, leading to a characterization of its historical developments – not always explicitly acknowledged – as at once exceptional and peripheral.

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Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean World
From Constantinople to Baghdad, 500-1000 CE
 , pp. 1 - 16
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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