A study of a small agricultural village in the Fayum as a social and economic unit towards the end of the second century BC, which was a period of civil unrest and economic disruption in Egypt. The book is based on papyrus documents from the archive of the village scribe. The archive illustrates many aspects of the village life: types of landholding and methods of cultivation, religious cults, and the names and racial distribution of the people. Where possible, Dr Crawford relates the material to the broader context of the Ptolemaic state. A special feature is the analysis of much more material into tabular form for easy reference.
