Selling Private Real Estate in a New Monarchical Setting. Sale and Community in Hellenistic Egypt

Abstract

The paper discusses the role of the Ptolemaic state in the selling of immovables in private possession and focuses on the transaction costs, the legal protection of the contract and of the parties involved. The paper illustrates the bureaucratization process or the growing governmental involvement, resulting in a diminishing role of the temples and the clergy. At the same time, the Ptolemies respected ancient Egyptian traditions of private landownership, taxation and contract habits.