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Letter from Tobias, 257 BCE

Letter from Tobias.jpg

Letter from Tobias to Apollonius, an Egyptian finance minister. It concerns a shipment of animals sent from Transjordan to the King in Egypt.

In the Ptolemaic period, many of the Greek immigrants revisited and retained connections with their places of origin. In addition, the possession of an overseas empire will have given Greek administrative officers and their staffs the opportunity, not available to native Egyptians, for regular tours of duty in these places. More extravagant expeditions were the preserve of the powerful. Apollonius the finance minister of Ptolemy II Philadelphus made an official journey to the border of Syria to accompany the princess Berenike to her marriage with Antiochus II and his estate manager Zenon visited Palestine in 259 BCE.

Bowman, Alan K, Egypt after the Pharaohs. London- British Museum Press, 1986.

Posted in: Hellenistic Period

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