In this Chapter I will be concerned with the “reach of the state,” and its ability to control land tenure and the surplus agricultural production. The traditional power of the ruler in Egypt with respect to these issues was asserted in assigning rights to land and in taxing production (and on some land collecting rent). The Ptolemies retained these traditional powers over the land. I begin with a discussion of the structure of the state itself, and the organization of social power within the state. From there, I move on to discuss more specifically one aspect of social power, economic power, and the relationship between state economic power and land tenure.