J. G. Manning is professor of classics and history at Yale University, and a senior research scholar at Yale Law School. He is the author of Land and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt and the coeditor of The Ancient Economy: Evidence and Models.

• List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Abbreviations xv INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: Egypt in the First Millennium BC 19 CHAPTER 2: The Historical Understanding of the Ptolemaic State 29 CHAPTER 3: Moving beyond Despotism, Economic Planning, and State Banditry 55 Ptolemaic Egypt as a Premodern State CHAPTER 4: Shaping a New State 73 The Political Economy of the Ptolemies CHAPTER 5: Creating a New Economic Order 117 Economic Life and Economic Policy under the Ptolemies CHAPTER 6: Order and Law 165 Shaping the Law in a New State CHAPTER 7: Conclusions 202 APPENDIX 207 The Trial Record of the Property Dispute Held at the Temple of Wepwawet in Asyut, Upper Egypt, 170 BC before the Local Laokritai-judges Bibliography 217 Index 259 Index of Sources 263

"Manning's book is one of the most thought-provoking studies on the Hellenistic world to have appeared for quite some time, and it will be essential reading for anyone concerned with this remarkable period."--John Ray, Times Literary Supplement "Manning has produced a deep and meaningful study of the social and political relationships inherent in the Ptolemaic economy."--Timothy Howe, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Following his study of land tenure and use in Hellenistic Egypt, Manning presents a well-supported analysis of the formation of the Ptolemaic state in the fourth and third centuries BCE."--Choice "Integrating the latest research on archaeology, papyrology, theories of the state, and legal history, as well as Hellenistic and Egyptian history, The Last Pharaohs draws a dramatic picture of Egypt's last ancient state."--Heritage Key "This book, using latest archaeological technique combined with analysis of Ptolemaic documents, sets into a clear yet far ranging perspective the reality of Egypt in a 300 year span from the ancient to the Roman world."--Stephen Cox Trust "The Last Pharaohs has a place alongside [the works of] Gunther Holbl and Werner Huss."--Paul McKechnie, Ancient West and East