Like all Oxford Handbooks this is a collection of thematic essays with an introduction by the editor, in this case Christina Riggs, so you aren't going to sit down and read the story of Roman Egypt. None of the scholars responsible for the 45 essays is a household name or probably known to the wider public at all in any capacity, but this if course is no reflection on their competence or lack of. The essays include topics like 'Papyri in the Archaeological Record' and 'Age and Health'. They vary in length but 15-20 pages is about the general maximum with some rather shorter. Nonetheless each of these includes an intimidating bibliography of as many as 3-4 pages, included I suspect largely as a means of showcasing each author's learned credentials. The essays are therefore unavoidably superficial in their coverage so it's fairly obvious than anyone wanting to follow a topic up will be confronted by having to track down the highly specialised sources in each bibliography which, without access to a dedicated library, will be virtually impossible.
Conversely, if you are embarking on a serious study of the period the book is clearly a very important starting point and I found some of the essays interesting and informative, such as the one on Egyptian Temples.
Nonetheless, while I am not an expert in this subject I was very alarmed that the very first passage I read had three mistakes. The essay concerned is 'Archaeology in the Delta' and the passage on p. 140. It refers to '20,000 billion [sic] Alexandrian coins were found in seven jars somewhere in the Delta', a typo for billon (base silver). That was just careless proof-reading and editorial work, or was it? That sentence has also jumbled up two entirely separate finds of coins - a group of several hoards found in the Delta and another of 20,000 billon coins in seven jars from an unknown site. Later in the paragraph the evidence cited is all referenced to pp. 36-85 of the source cited (Christiansen 2004). Actually the section of Christiansen concerned is pp. 36-58. These are all fairly trivial but to find three errors so quickly does make one wonder about the competence of some of the scholars responsible for the individual essays.
I might add that this is one of very few passages in 761 pages to touch on Roman coinage in Egypt which is in fact a very major source for the period and place because of the way Roman Egypt inherited the Ptolemaic coinage system based on the billon tetradrachm denomination. Amazingly, the only specific reference to the tetradrachm coinage and the closed currency system (unique in the Roman Empire) operated in Egypt is in a chapter on Identity (p. 261), where it is passed over in a single short paragraph and not explained. Since this closed currency system, which meant that only Roman Egyptian coinage could be used in the province, was one of the most distinctive features of Roman Egypt it is remarkable an essay was not devoted to it.
So it's clear you cannot conclude the contents of the book to be 100% reliable and it would also be a mistake to assume that being an Oxford Handbook it is in any way comprehensive. Use with interest but caution.
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Top reviews from other countries
The 4th Duke of Chandos
Interesting and useful but take care
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2020