Feste und Gesellschaft im ptolemäischen und römischen Ägypten

Elise Richter FWF-Projekt RIC 7796923
Laufzeit: 2024-2028

Projektleitung: Elena CHEPEL

Kooperationspartner: Bernhard PALME (Wien), Peter JÁNOSI (Wien), Hana NAVRATILOVA (Oxford), Ian RUTHERFORD (Reading), Nikolaos GONIS (London), Brigitte LE GUEN (Paris), Csaba LÁDA (Wien/Kent), Kaja HARTER-UIBOPUU (Hamburg)

English Title: Festivals and society in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt

The project focuses on festivals in Graeco-Roman Egypt and their implications for the political and socio-cultural fabric of the region from 3rd BCE to 4th CE.  

In Ptolemaic Egypt, the social and cultural change was particularly drastic as two very different cultures met and blended: the ancient Egyptian culture of the local population and the Hellenic culture of Macedonian and Greek settlers and the new elite from the army of Alexander the Great. As a result, new social institutions and practices emerged, mainly coming from above as conscious policies of the new Ptolemaic rulers. Later during the Roman period, Egypt underwent a further series of changes, adjusting to the new status of a province of the Empire. Although the old Egyptian cultural and religious traditions remained strong for a long time and co-existed with the new ones, in a new social and political context they inevitably acquired new meanings, adapting and evolving accordingly. In this historical perspective, festivals, if approached not only as religious but also as multidimensional social institutions, will yield important information on how social activities reflect historical change and, on the other hand, how society is built through public events. To explore the importance of festivals and their impact on society in Egypt, this project will look at their various aspects reflected in documentary and literary sources: religious and political significance, spectacles and performance, sociology and economy, organisation and administration, materiality and spatiality, calendar, and change of the festival culture over time.

The main research questions of the project include: how did the ‘Ptolemaic festival culture’ take shape in Hellenistic Egypt and what elements contributed to its unique character? What roles did festivals assume in the shaping of cultural, religious, and social identities within the changing society? In particular, how did festivals mirror the multicultural mosaic of Egypt and contribute to the interplay and fusion of diverse cultural and social practices? To what extent did festivals function as powerful tools for political propaganda, legitimation, diplomatic outreach, and the establishment of international networks on behalf of Egypt’s rulers? How did festivals evolve over the centuries and what continuities and transformations can be discerned within this temporal span?