Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
and the scribe’s liberty of choice will also be taken into account. The usage of
classifiers in the Ancient Egyptian writing system is thus both: fixed and flexible.
References:
GOLDWASSER, O. (1995) From Icon to Metaphor. Studies in the Semiotics of the
Hieroglyphs, Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 142, Fribourg/Göttingen.
GOLDWASSER, O. (2002) Prophets, Lovers and Giraffes. Wor(l)d Classification in
Ancient Egypt, Göttinger Orientforschungen IV. Reihe: Ägypten 38,3 = Classification
and categorization in Ancient Egypt 3, Wiesbaden.
KAMMERZELL, F. (2004) Abschlußbericht zum deutsch-israelischen
Kooperationsprojekt „Typologie und Gebrauch der ägyptischen Hieroglyphenschrift“
(unpublished).
LOPRIENO, A. (2003) ‘Is the Egyptian hieroglyphic determinative chosen or
prescibed?’, in: L. MORRA (ed.), Philosophers and Hieroglyphs, Turin, 237-50.
Agriculture in in Graeco-Roman Egypt - a research database
Sandra Lippert
A research project involving Egyptology, Greek Papyrology and Arabic Studies
intended to start in autumn 2008 at the University of Tuebingen as part of a larger
research program on natural resources and strategies of distribution will investigate
the development of the Fayum as Egypt’s most productive agricultural region
throughout the Graeco-Roman and medieval periods. During the early Ptolemaic
period, the size of the arable land in the Fayum was increased by draining lake Moeris
(modern Birket Qarun) to a lower level. The obtained area was then settled with
colonists from other parts of Egypt and especially Greek soldiers who received land
lots (klêroi) for their service. The suitability of the land not only for grain production
but also for olive groves, orchards, palm groves and vegetable plantations turned the
Fayum into the „garden of Egypt“, a title it can rightfully claim to this day.
The interdisciplinary research project will focus on the crucial stages of:
� the colonisation of the newly emerged land through settlements, the extension of
irrigation and draining systems, and the allotment of land parcels at the beginning
of the 3rd century BC;
� the period of comparative decline during the 2nd century AD when larger areas
fell barren through reasons which are not yet clear (but will hopefully become so
during our research);
� the middle of the 13th century AD during which an-Nâbulûsi wrote his extensive
survey of the agricultural resources of the Fayum Ta’rîkh al-Fayyûm (1244/45
BC), a tract that enables us to monitor changes and continuities in the
productivity and utilisation of the area a millennium later.
As a preparation for this project, the database AGRE – Agriculture in Graeco-
Roman Egypt was initiated with the aim of collecting and sorting source material that
contains relevant information. Starting from October 2006, the database was set up
and data input was started with demotic texts, mainly legal documents on land lease
and sale, but also receipts etc. Greek sources are to follow next, and an extension to
Coptic and even Arabic material is not excluded by the database layout either. The
database is accessible online and will enable researchers to access the metadata, the
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