Emakumeak eta nekazaritza-lana Egipto erromatarrean: ebidentziak eta isiluneak

Goizane Urrutia Gutiérrez

doi:10.26876/uztaro5545

Authors

Goizane Urrutia Gutiérrez Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26876/uztaro5545

Keywords:

Roman Egypt, Papyrology, Women, Agriculture

Abstract

The figure of the female farmer in Antiquity has long been overlooked in historical research, in part due to the scarcity of direct testimonies. In this regard, Roman Egypt between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE offers an exceptional case study, owing to the remarkable abundance of preserved papyri. Yet, a close reading of these documents exposes a striking paradox: although numerous women appear as landowners or lessors, there is little to no explicit evidence of their direct engagement in agricultural labour. Addressing this silence requires a critical research methodology that combines controlled inference with evidence drawn from iconographic and literary sources. Rather than providing conclusive answers, this article aims to reconsider the interpretative limits of the available sources and invites to challenge prevailing narratives regarding women’s work in Antiquity.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allam, S. (1990). Women as holders of rights in Ancient Egypt. JESHO, 33, 1-34. https://doi.org/10.2307/3632040

Bagnall, R.S. (2011). The Finds of Papyri: The Archaeology of Papyrology. In R.S. Bagnall (Argtz.), The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology (14-169. or.). Oxford University Press.

Bagnall, R.S. & Cribiore, R. (2006). Women’s Letters from Ancient Egypt, 300 BC-AD 80. The University of Michigan Press.

Boak, A.E.R. (Argtz.) (1933). Papyri from Tebtunis, Part I (Nos. 121-128). The University of Michigan Press.

Bowman, A.K. (2013). Agricultural Production in Egypt. In A. Bowman & A. Wilson (Argtz.), The Roman Agricultural Economy: Organisation, Investment, and Production (219-253. or.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199665723.003.0007

Bowman, A.K. & Rathbone, D. (1992). Cities and Administration in Roman Egypt. JRS, 82, 107-127.

Bresciani, E. (1983). Registrazione catastale e ideologia politica nell’Egitto tolemaico. A completamento di «La spedizione di Tolomeo II in Siria in un ostrakon demotico inedito in Karnak». EVO, 6, 15-31. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24232651

Bruyerè, B. (1959). La tombe no. I de Sennedjem à Deir el Médineh.Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 88. Institut français d’archéologie orientale.

Cid López, R.M. (2015). El género y los estudios históricos sobre las mujeres de la Antigüedad. Reflexiones sobre los usos y evolución de un concepto. Revista de Historiografía, 22, 25-49. https://e-revistas.uc3m.es/index.php/REVHISTO/article/view/2645

Clarysse, W. (1979). Egyptian estate-holders in the Ptolemaic Period. In E. Lipiński (Argtz.), State and temple economy in the ancient Near East: Proceedings of the International Conference organized by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven from the 10 th to the 14th of April 1978, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 6, ed. (731-743. or.). Departement Oriëntalistiek.

Coles, R.A. (2007). Oxyrhynchus: A City and Its Texts. In A.K. Bowman, R.A. Coles, N. Gonis, D. Obbink eta P.J. Parsons (Argtz.), Oxyrhynchus: A city and its texts (3-17. or.). Egypt Exploration Society.

Dickey, E. (2011). The Greek and Latin Languages in the Papyri. In R.S. Bagnall (Argtz.), The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology (149-169. or.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199843695.013.0006

Davies, N.G. (1917). The Tomb of Nakht at Thebes. Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Egyptian Expedition. Robb de Peyster Tytus Memorial Series 1. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dixon, S. (2001). Reading Roman Women: Sources, Genres, and Real Life. Duckworth.

Dueñas Herrero, L.J., & Serrano Argüello, N. (2008). Informe: El trabajo de la mujer en el mundo agrario. Ayer y hoy de las leyes sociales. In Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación del Gobierno de España (Argtz.), Estudios Jurídicos de Derecho Agrario (507-557. or.). Servicio de Publicaciones del Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación del Gobierno de España.

Finley, M.I. (1965). The Silent Women of Rome. Horizon, 7, 124-136.

Fuentes Santibáñez, P. (2012). Algunas consideraciones en torno a la condición de la mujer en la Grecia Antigua. Intus-Legere Historia, 6(1), 7-18. https://revistaschilenas.uchile.cl/handle/2250/10.15691/07198949.168

Garnsey, P., & Seller, R. (1991). El Imperio Romano: economía, sociedad y cultura. Crítica.

Goñi Zabalegui, A. (2019). Género y sociedad en el Egipto romano: Una mirada desde las cartas de mujeres: 10 (Deméter). Ediuno.

Haug, B. (2021). Agriculture in Roman Egypt. In D. Hollander & T. Howe (Argtz.), A Companion to Ancient Agriculture (517-538. or.). John Wiley & Sons.

Herklotz, F. (2012). Aegypto Capta: Augustus and the Annexation of Egypt. In C. Riggs (Argtz.), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Egypt (526-542. or.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199571451.013.0002

Herrmann, J. (1958). Studien zur Bodenpacht im Recht der graeco-ägyptischen Papyri. Beck.

Hobson, D.W. (1983). Women as property owners in Roman Egypt. TAPA, 113, 311-321. https://doi.org/10.2307/284018

Hobson, D.W. (1984). The role of women in the economic life of Roman Egypt: a case of study from the first century Tebtunis. EMC, 28(3), 373-390.

Husselman, E.M., Boak, A.E.R., & Edgerton, W. F. (Argtz.) (1944). Papyri from Tebtunis, Part II (Nos. 226-356). Legare Street Press.

Jones, A.H.M. (1974). The Roman Economy: Studies in Ancient Economic and Administrative History. Rowman and Littlefield.

Johnson, A.C. (1936). Roman Egypt to the Reign of Diocletian. The Johns Hopkins Press.

Kehoe, D.P. (1992). Management and investment on estates in Roman Egypt during the early empire (Pap.Texte Abh. 40). Dr. Rudolf Habelt GMBH.

Jördens, A. (2012). Government, Taxation, and Law. In C. Riggs (Argtz.), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Egypt (56-67. or.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199571451.001.0001

Langellotti, M. (2020). Village Life in Roman Egypt: Tebtunis in the First Century AD. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198835318.001.0001

Larsson Lovén, L. (2019). The Invisible Women of Roman Agrarian Work and Economy. In J. Rantala (Argtz.), Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World (89-104. or.). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048540099-007

Lefebvre, G. (1924). Le Tombeau de Petosiris, Imprimerie de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale.

Lewis, N. (1983). Life in Egypt under Roman Rule. Oxford University Press.

Lichtheim, M. (1980). Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings Vol. III: The Late Period. University of California Press.

Manning, G. (2009). Land and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Structure of Land Tenure. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511482847

Martin, C.J., Richter, T.S., Rowlandson, J., Takahashi, R., & Thompson, D. (2014). Leases. In J.G. Keenan, J.G. Manning, & U. Yiftach-Firanko (Argtz.), Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest (239-400. or.). Cambridge University Press.

Martínez López, C. (2002). Las relaciones de género en las unidades domésticas campesinas en la Roma antigua. In M.D. Molas i Font (Argtz.), Vivir en femenino: estudios de mujeres en la antigüedad (65-95. or.). Edicions Universitat de Barcelona.

Martínez López, C., & Mirón Pérez, MªD. (2000). Mujeres esclavas en la Antigüedad: Producción y reproducción en las unidades domésticas. Arenal, 7(1), 5-40. https://doi.org/10.30827/arenal.v7i1.16776

Medina Quintana, S. (2017). El trabajo de las mujeres en la Roma antigua. Reflexiones sobre género y economía. Dialogues d’histoire ancienne, 43(2), 153-176. https://doi.org/10.3917/dha.432.0153

Melaerts, H. (2002). Aspects du role économique des femmes à Tebtynis à l’époque romaine. In H. Melaerts & L. Mooren, Le rôle et le statut de la femme en Égypte hellénistique, romaine et byzantine: actes du Colloque International, Bruxelles - Leuven 27-29 novembre 1997 (209-264. or.). Peeters.

Montevecchi, O. (1988). La papirologia. Vita e Pensiero.

Montserrat D. (1996). Sex and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Kegan Paul International.

Pedregal Rodríguez, M.A. (2011). La Historia de las Mujeres & la Historia Antigua en España: Balance historiográfico (1980-2008). Dialogues d’histoire ancienne, 37(2), 119-160. https://doi.org/10.3917/dha.372.0119

Pestman, P.W. (1961). Marriage and Matrimonial Property in Ancient Egypt: A Contribution to Establishing the Legal Position of the Woman. Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava IX. Brill.

Pierce, R.H. (1968). Grapheion, catalogue, and library in Roman Egypt. Symbolae Osloenses, 43, 65-79. https://doi.org/10.1080/00397676808590601

Pomeroy, S.B. (1984). Women in Hellenistic Egypt. Schocken Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/294724

Pomeroy, S.B. (1991). The study of women in antiquity: Past, present, and future. The American Journal of Philology, 112(2), 263-268.

Rathbone, D.W. (1990). Villages, Land and Population in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, 36, 103-142. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44696684

Rathbone, D.W. (2006). Poverty and population in Roman Egypt. In M. Atkins & R. Osborne (Argtz.), Poverty in the Roman World (100-114. or.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511482700.007

Rathbone, D.W. (2013). The Romanity of Roman Egypt: A faltering consensus? JJurP, 43, 73-91.

Robins, G. (1996). Las mujeres en el Aniguo Egipto (Traducción de M. V. García Quíntela). Akal Universitaria.

Rowlandson, J. (1995). Beyond the polis: women and economic opportunity in early Ptolemaic Egypt. In A. Powell (Argtz.), The Greek World (301-322. or.). Routledge.

Rowlandson, J. (1996). Landowners and Tenants in Roman Egypt: The Social Relations of Agriculture in the Oxyrhynchite Nome. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198147350.001.0001

Rowlandson, J. (1998). Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: a Sourcebook. Cambridge University Press.

Rowlandson, J. (1999). Agricultural Tenancy and Village Society in Roman Egypt. In A.K. Bowman & E. Rogan (Argtz.), Agriculture in Egypt, From Pharaonic to Modern Times (139-158. or.). British Academy - Oxford University Press.

Rowlandson, J. (2005). The organisation of public land in Roman Egypt. CRIPEL, 25, 173-196.

Roth, U. (2004). Inscribed meaning: the vilica and the villa economy, Papers of the British School at Rome, 72, 101-124. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068246200002683

Rubiera Cancelas, C. (2010). Vilicus et vilica estereotipos masculinos y femeninos de la población esclava en la literatura de los agrónomos grecolatinos. Arenal, 17(2), 351-377. https://doi.org/10.30827/arenal.v17i2.1454

Sanjaume, M.S. (2006). La tomba de Sennedjem a Deir-el-Medina TT 1 [Doktore-tesia, Universitat de Barcelona]. TDX (Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa). https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/2595#page=1

Scheidel, W. (1995). The Most Silent Women of Greece and Rome: Rural Labour and Women’s Life in the Ancient World (I). Greece & Rome, 42(2), 202-217. https://www.jstor.org/stable/643231

Scheidel, W. (1996). The Most Silent Women of Greece and Rome: Rural Labour and Women’s Life in the Ancient World (II). Greece & Rome, 43(1), 1-10. https://www.jstor.org/stable/643080

Skinner, M. (Argtz.) (1987). Rescuing Crewilckusa: New Methodological Approaches to Women in Antiquity = Helios, 13. Texas Tech University Press.

Turner, E.G. (1952). Roman Oxyrhynchus. JEA, 38, 78-93.

Turner, E.G. (2007). Roman Oxyrhynchus. In A.K. Bowman, R.A. Coles, N. Gonis, D. Obbink & P. J. Parsons (Argtz.), Oxyrhynchus: A city and its texts (141-154. or.). Egypt Exploration Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/030751335203800110

Urrutia, G. (2024). La capacidad económica de las mujeres en el nomo oxirrinquita. Un estudio desde las fuentes papirológicas (siglos I a. C. III d. C.) [Argitaratu gabeko doktorego-tesia, EHU].

Van Minnen, P. (2011). The Future of Papyrology. In R.S. Bagnall (Argtz.), The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology (644-660. or.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199843695.013.0027

Yiftach-Firanko, U. (2003). Marriage and marital arrangements: a history of the Greek marriage document in Egypt, 4th century BCE-4th century CE. Münchener Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte, Heft 93. Verlag C.H. Beck.

Yiftach-Firanko, U. (2020). Law in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. In E.M. Harris & M. Canevaro, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Law (version online). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199599257.013.11