Representing oneself for Eternity: the Expression of Ethnicity in Egyptian ‘Portraits of the Fayum’
Bussi, Silvia
Representing oneself for Eternity: the Expression of Ethnicity in Egyptian ‘Portraits of the Fayum’ - 2014.
50
Egypt has accommodated foreigners of diverse origins and status throughout the course of its long history. The Ptolemaic period witnessed the coexistence of Greeks – of varied origins – and Egyptians, leading to intermarriage between the two groups and a high degree of involvement of Egyptian elites, particularly the high clergy of Memphis, in the state administration. Under the Roman empire, however, a barrier seems to have emerged between ruling elite and the local population, including its elite, which appears to have weakened dramatically. Whilst to some degree estranged from Rome, native elites combined local funerary rites of mummification with distinctively Roman iconography in the celebrated “Fayum portraits”. The aim of this study is to understand the extent to which this behaviour might be interpreted as an attempt to actively ‘buy into’ Roman culture and whether we can legitimately talk of an Egyptian ethnic identity during the Greco-roman period.
Representing oneself for Eternity: the Expression of Ethnicity in Egyptian ‘Portraits of the Fayum’ - 2014.
50
Egypt has accommodated foreigners of diverse origins and status throughout the course of its long history. The Ptolemaic period witnessed the coexistence of Greeks – of varied origins – and Egyptians, leading to intermarriage between the two groups and a high degree of involvement of Egyptian elites, particularly the high clergy of Memphis, in the state administration. Under the Roman empire, however, a barrier seems to have emerged between ruling elite and the local population, including its elite, which appears to have weakened dramatically. Whilst to some degree estranged from Rome, native elites combined local funerary rites of mummification with distinctively Roman iconography in the celebrated “Fayum portraits”. The aim of this study is to understand the extent to which this behaviour might be interpreted as an attempt to actively ‘buy into’ Roman culture and whether we can legitimately talk of an Egyptian ethnic identity during the Greco-roman period.
Réseaux sociaux