TY - BOOK ID - 3532493 TI - "Because I am Greek" : polyonymy as an expression of ethnicity in Ptolemaic Egypt AU - Coussement, Sandra AU - Peeters PY - 2016 VL - 55 SN - 9789042932722 9042932724 PB - Leuven : Peeters, DB - UniCat KW - Names, Greek KW - Names, Egyptian KW - Names, Personal KW - Ethnicity KW - Greeks KW - Noms grecs KW - Noms égyptiens KW - Noms de personnes KW - Ethnicité KW - Grecs KW - History KW - Histoire KW - Egypt KW - Egypte KW - Civilization KW - Greek influences KW - Civilisation KW - Influence grecque KW - Civilization. KW - Ethnicity. KW - Greeks. KW - Names, Greek. KW - Names, Personal. KW - Greek influences. KW - 332 B.C.-640 A.D. KW - Egypt. KW - Academic collection KW - Noms égyptiens KW - Ethnicité KW - Names [Greek ] KW - Names [Personal ] KW - 332 B.C.-638 A.D. KW - Greco-Roman period, 332 BC-638 AD UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:3532493 AB - Double names have a long history in Egypt. They are already attested on Old Kingdom funerary monuments, where concern about eternal life required a correct identification of the deceased. When Greek and Egyptian cultures came into contact under the Ptolemies, bilingual polyonymy (i.e. the combination of an Egyptian and a Greek name) became more popular. During this period, Greek ethnicity was valued as a symbol of power and social status, and was used to create borders between the rulers and the ruled. At the same time, however, it was a flexible concept and this made it a useful tool for crossing the very same boundaries it constructed. As ethnicity became a crucial aspect of one's identity, it is not surprising that bilingual polyonymy was well attested among those that formed a bridge between the ruling class and the Egyptian population : particularly military, administrative and priestly officials. Since they moved between largely separated ethnic contexts, combining names of different linguistic origins was a way to negotiate their ethnic identities. Rather than serving as a reliable source for ethnic origin, names can therefore be interpreted as an expression of the ethnic identity of an individual in a certain space or context. ER -