Tradition and Transformation-Egypt under Roman Rule. Proceedings of the International Conference, Hildesheim, Roemer- and Pelizaeus-Museum, 3–6 July 2008

In 30 BCE, Egypt became a province of the Roman empire. Like the Ptolemies, the Roman emperors were foreign rulers. The era that began for the land by the Nile was only partly new. Alongside unbroken traditions – especially of the indigneous Egyptian population, but also among the Greek elite – major changes can be observed as well as slow processes of transformation. The multi-ethnical population was situated between new patterns of rule and traditional lifeways. This tension between change and permanence was analysed and illuminated during the conference. In the last decade, the disciplines of Egyptology, Ancient History, Classical Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Papyrology have produced significant new insights that was discussed in an interdisciplinary exchange. Beside the written sources we focused on field and settlement archaeology, which is the only this discipline that can expand our knowledge of daily life and religion outside the metropoleis in fundamental ways. Numerous well-known scholars, who are specialists in their respective disciplines, analysed the indigenous Egyptian temples, the structure and development of the administration, and conditions in Alexandria and the villages. Art-historical and funerary questions were also be examined