Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions from Egypt

The Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions project began in October 2013, with the aim of creating a Corpus of up-to-date editions of the Greek, bilingual and trilingual inscriptions on stone from Ptolemaic Egypt (323-30 BCE), numbering around 405 items, based on material collected and annotated by the late Peter Fraser FBA (1918-2007), who was the leading authority of the 20th century on the history and epigraphy of Ptolemaic Egypt. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The project is making available a full corpus of 614 scholarly editions, replacing older publications and other partial collections organised by specific region or theme, and will offer for the first time a full picture of the Greek epigraphy of the Ptolemaic period. The new corpus gives proper weight to the importance of public and private documentation on stone, which, for Egypt, has tended to be overshadowed by the volume of papyrus documents. The corpus illustrates the ways in which epigraphical modes of public pronouncement and display became important in what was originally a language culture alien to the Greeks, not merely in Greek cities such as Alexandria, Ptolemais and Naukratis, but also in indigenous Egyptian towns. All three volumes are available online here.

In taking its inspiration from the work of Peter Fraser, who recognised the importance of this material and provided the basis for understanding and exploiting it, the CPI project aims not only to bring to completion the work of a great scholar but also to offer a deeper understanding of the history, culture and society of Ptolemaic Egypt.

 

Please find online resources here.