vii

Français
The Egyptian farmer did not own any of the land he farmed, it was all owned by Ptolemy. Egyptians actually owned nothing, except for the clergy. Even the clergy remained in the background as long as the king did not touch their own possessions, and took what the farmers produced with hard labor and gave some of it to the clergy either in the form of erecting temples or offering land for the gods in addition to what the clergy owned of vast lands which the Ptolemies have left for them free from taxes. Because of that, there was complete harmony between the Pharaoh and the clergy as long as he provided them with offerings and did not interfere with their possessions or their independence inside their temples. On their side, the clergy elevated his image in the eyes of the people by writing in this regard whenever need be. All this was on the expense of the poor farmer who spent his energy and life in farming. Despite that, this farmer barely earned his daily living expenses with with tough work due to numerous high taxes. As if that was not enough, this poor farmer had to do tough work for his master as well. We never read that any of those farmers or any of the Egyptians as a whole had reached a high ranking position in the state careers or even a middle position. All such state possessions were in the hands of foreigners from Greeks and Macedonians.