Ancient Egypt Letters 143

This article is from Ancient Egypt issue 143

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Dear Editor, 

Could someone explain to me how the ancient Egyptian economy worked, please? I understand the barter system was common, which is all very well to exchange, say, food for clothes, but that is not always easy or possible, e.g. paying for funerals or housing, assuming the average Egyptian did not have gold or other precious materials to ‘save’  for future requirements.

Colin Johnson, Wolverhampton, UK

Dear Colin,

This is a subject that has long fascinated me. It is very hard to imagine a society without currency… there are so many practical implications. As you say, for everyday items, like food and clothing, the barter system worked, but I think it is important to realise that the provision of elaborate funerals and housing (apart from simple mud-brick huts that could be constructed by anyone, perhaps also in exchange for bartered items) were not in the control of ordinary people, but were for the elite only. Any major construction would need the approval of the pharaoh, who had the resources of the state under his direct control, via a very efficient and ubiquitous ‘civil service’. Powerful members of the elite would have large numbers of staff also, but could lose everything if they upset the pharaoh.   

Peter Phillips

Dear Editor,

I enjoyed reading the series on the Cleopatras: they certainly appear to have been formidable women. Cleopatra VII is considered the last of the dynasty, and yet I think three of her children (with Mark Antony) survived? One was a daughter – another Cleopatra. Did she show any of the forceful personality of her forebears?

Anita Elser, Brisbane, Australia

Dear Anita

I’m happy to know you enjoyed reading about the Cleopatras. The daughter of Cleopatra VII, Cleopatra Selene, went on to be quite a forceful personality in her own right and became queen of Numidia, Mauretania, and Cyrenaica through her marriage to king Juba II. Cleopatra Selene exercised great influence on the policies that Juba promoted, and was herself a patron of the arts and sciences – so she seems to have inherited that strain from her ancestresses. 

For further information about her, let me recommend that you read Jane Draycott’s excellent 2022 study Cleopatra’s Daughter: Egyptian Princess, Roman Prisoner, African Queen. 

Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Email the Editor: peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com with your comments.