SOVIET STUDIES IN PAPYROLOGY 197 prices of goods p r o d u c e d b y t h e m . Nevertheless, i n t h e papyrological sources p r e s e r v e d t o our t i m e s , i n d i s p u t a b l e evidence h a s n o t y e t b e e n f o u n d con-f i r m i n g t h e existence ocon-f t h e so-called " m o n o p o l i s t i c t e n d e n c i e s " .
1. F . F i k li m a η. Egipet na rubezhe dvukh cpokh. Remeslenniki i remeslennyi trud ν IV—seredine VII v. (Egypt on the Confines of Tivo Epochs. The Craftsmen and the Craftsmen's Work in the 4th to the Middle of the 7th cent.). Moscow, 1965, 308 p p .
This b o o k c o n t a i n s s o m e w h a t r e w r i t t e n a n d enlarged t e x t of t h e a u t h o r ' s d i s s e r t a t i o n e n t i t l e d The Problems of Handicraft in Byzantine Egypt, L e n i n g r a d , 1962. T h e b o o k consists of a f o r e w o r d b y t h e e d i t o r , t h e a c a d e m i c i a n V. Y. S t r u ν e, an i n t r o d u c t i o n , t h r e e c h a p t e r s (1. T h e h a n d i c r a f t a n d c r a f t s m e n , 2. T h e guilds, 3. T h e c r a f t s m e n ' s w o r k in t h e large estates), conclusions, t h e list of a b b r e v i a t i o n s , indexes a n d t h e a d d e n d a . T h e a u t h o r does n o t set himself t h e t a s k of s t u d y i n g all t h e a s p e c t s of h a n d i c r a f t including t h e t e c h n i q u e s a n d t e c h n o l o g y of p r o d u c t i o n , b u t limits himself t o t h e s t u d y of p r o d u c t i o n rela-t i o n s in h a n d i c r a f rela-t , n a m e l y : rela-t h e social s rela-t r u c rela-t u r e of rela-t h e c r a f rela-t s m e n , rela-t h e f o r m s of organization of h a n d i c r a f t , t h e f o r m s of h a n d i c r a f t association, t h e social a n d economic s i t u a t i o n of t h e c r a f t s m e n etc. T h e m a i n assertions of t h e w o r k a r e as follows. I n c o m p a r i s o n w i t h R o m a n E g y p t — a s h a r p lowering of t h e relative v a l u e of slave l a b o u r c o n n e c t e d w i t h a n increase of t h e impor-t a n c e of f r e e c r a f impor-t s m e n ' s ^ a b o u r , impor-t h e [small scale 'of p r o d u c impor-t i o n , impor-t h e g r e a impor-t d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e guilds, t h e i m p o r t a n t role of large e s t a t e s as p r o d u c e r s a n d c o n s u m e r s of h a n d i c r a f t p r o d u c t s t e s t i f y t h a t in E g y p t of t h e t i m e in question a deep d i s i n t e g r a t i o n of slave-ownership r e l a t i o n s was t a k i n g place as well as t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of f e u d a l relations, n o t a c c o m p a n i e d , however, as in t h e W e s t , b y a s t r o n g relapse i n t o a h o u s e - e c o n o m y . T h e b o o k is p r o v i d e d w i t h m a n y t a b l e s .
I . F . F i k h m a η. Κ voprosuo trekh fazakh v razvitii egipetskikh patrotsiniev. (A Contribution to the Problem of Three Phases in the Development of Egyptian Patrocinia). VDI, 1966, n o . 1, p p . 110—112.
A critical analysis of t h e papyrological evidence r e f e r r e d t o in an essay of G. D i o s d i e n t i t l e d Zur Frage der Entwicklung des Patriociniums im Ägypten, JJP X I V , 1962, p p . 57—72, for s u p p o r t of t h e thesis t h a t t h e c h a r a c t e r -istic f e a t u r e of t h e 6 t h c e n t u r y i.e. of t h e t h i r d p h a s e of t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of patrocinia, according t o t h e division applied b y G. D i o s d i, is t h e r e q u e s t of t h e persons u n d e r patrocinium t o t h e e m p e r o r or t h e o t h e r l a n d o w n e r s f o r h e l p against t h e i r own p a t r o n s . According t o t h e opinion of J . F . F i k h m a n t h i s thesis is n o t c o n f i r m e d b y t h e sources. I n s t a n c e s of r e q u e s t s t o o t h e r p e r s o n s a n d a m o n g t h e m t o t h e e m p e r o r p e r h a p s occurred, b u t t h e y are n o t
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so numerous that it would be possible to consider them a characteristic feature of the whole phase in the development of patrocinia. It is also doubtful if they were characteristic only for this last phase.
I. S. K a t s n e l s o n . Antichnyye pisateli o Nubii (Ancient Writers on Nubia). Palestinskii Sborník, 7 (70) 1962, pp. 15—34.
A detailed analysis of the ancient writers information on Nubia. Special attention is devoted to the information derived from the authors of the Hel-lenistic and Roman times. Although this information suffers from many de-ficiencies (fragmentariness, confusion of chronology, presence of entirely fabricated and fantastic reconstructions) it is an irreplaceable source for even partial reconstruction of the social and economic organization of the Nubian tribes.
Μ. Α. Κ o r o s t o v t s e v. Pistsy drevnego Egipta (The Scribes of Ancient Egypt). Moscow, 1962.
This book, devoted to the examination of how the individuality of the author of written monuments affected his work in the course of the history of Egyptian culture, consists of the main text as well as of an appendix (the transla-tion of 39 Egyptian and 2 Sumerian texts), a bibliography and a list of abbre-viations. The main text is divided into six chapters: 1. General information on the scribes of Egypt; 2. Education and the school; 3. The cultural activity and works of the scribes; 4. The problems of authorship in ancient Egypt; 5. Egyptian culture and the surrounding world; 6. Egypt and the Greeks. Papyrologist will be especially interested in chapter six (pp. 112—140) in which the author examines the extent of linguistic communication between Egyptians and Greeks taking into consideration the Greco-Roman period of the history of Egypt. In his researches into the domain of language, literature, religion, mathematics, medicine etc. the author makes extensive use of the papyrological sources, including the Greek sources. The main assertion of the author is that in the Greco-Egyptian cultural syncretism Egypt was mostly on the giving rather than the receiving end.
Μ. Α. Κ o r ο s t ο ν t s e v. Vvedeniye ν egipetskuyu filologiyu. (An Introduc-tion to Egyptian Philology). Moscow, 1963, 279 pp.
Special chapters are devoted to the development of the hieroglyphic system in Greco-Roman times (pp. 68—74, 211—215) and to the Coptic language (pp. 216-223), a detailed bibliography being added (pp. 237—275).
M. A. K o r o s t o v t s e v . Egipetskoye proiskhozhdeniye romana ob Ale-ksandrę. (The Egyptian Origin of the Romance on Alexander). The Short
