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ZAKHORIUM
PTEN

Date

259BCE

259–258 BCE

The archive of a Ptolemaic official shows a Palestine monitored and exploited down to the level of its villages.

Political historySocial and economic history32.9213°N 35.0798°E
300 BCE
250 BCE
200 BCE
150 BCE
100 BCE
Jews and Greeks: each bar is an event of the period; this one is in coral.

Sourced narrative

Each block is a verifiable statement. The number opens the cited page; amber or coral blocks flag tradition or contested interpretation.

3 statements

Statements for this event

The papyri of Zenon, who toured Palestine in 259 and 258 BCE as an agent of a finance minister of Ptolemy II, were discovered in Egypt in 1915. They reveal a Palestine monitored, controlled and economically exploited by the Ptolemaic king, with an administration based in Ptolemais (modern Akko) and reaching down to the village level. The Ptolemies relied on local aristocrats such as one Tobias, whose family later became notorious for its role in tax collection. The papyri also suggest growing urbanization and perhaps the learning of Greek by some inhabitants.

Context

Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, secured Egypt and founded a dynasty that continued until Rome's conquest in 30 BCE. Judea remained under Ptolemaic rule until 200 BCE. The book's timeline records that, upon Alexander's death, Ptolemaic control extended over Egypt and Judea.

§ 01Geography

Where it happened

Gazetteer coordinates (Pleiades for ancient places; Natural Earth and Wikidata for modern ones) over modern physical geography (Natural Earth). Coastlines and the Dead Sea have changed since antiquity.
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§ 04Network

Connections

§ 05Bibliography

Further reading

No specific reading recorded for this event.

§ 06Apparatus

Sources on this page

  1. 01Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 65; Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 66inspect
  2. 02Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 66inspect
  3. 03Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 65; Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 519inspect
  • Documented evidenceAttested by contemporary evidence: texts, inscriptions, coins, papyri or archaeology.
  • Scholarly reconstructionHistorians' inference from indirect evidence.
  • Tradition or narrativeA literary, traditional or religious account; significant in itself, but not independently verified.
  • Contested interpretationScholars explicitly disagree; see the positions in the debate.
  • Illustrative reconstructionA hypothesis or visual scheme to guide reading; not a historical claim.