Lost in Egypt's honeycombed hills, distanced by its western desert, or rendered inaccessible by subsequent urban occupation, the monumental decorated tombs of the Graeco-Roman period have received little scholarly attention. This volume serves to redress this deficiency. It explores the narrative pictorial programs of a group of decorated tombs from Ptolemaic and Roman-period Egypt (c.300 BCE-250 CE). Its aim is to recognize the tombs' commonalities and differences across ethnic divides and to determine the rationale that lies behind these connections and dissonances. This book sets the tomb programs within their social, political, and religious context and analyzes the manner in which the multicultural population of Graeco-Roman Egypt chose to negotiate death and the afterlife.

This book explores the visual narratives of a group of decorated tombs from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (c.300 BCE-250 CE).

About the Author
Marjorie Susan Venit is Professor Emerita of Ancient Mediterranean Art and Archaeology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the author of Monumental Tombs of Ancient Alexandria: The Theater of the Dead and Greek Painted Pottery from Naukratis in Egyptian Museums. Her previous book projects have been supported by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Kress Foundation, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. Among her other national awards are a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and fellowships from the American Research Center in Egypt, the American Association of University Women, and the American Philosophical Society.


Book Information
ISBN 9781107048089
Author Marjorie Susan Venit
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 1190g
Dimensions(mm) 287mm * 224mm * 20mm