Physical Descriptions, Biometrics, and Eikonographia in Graeco-Roman Papyri from Egypt - (Harvard Egyptological Studies) by Ella Karev (Hardcover)

About the Book

This study compiles and analyses nearly 4000 lexical descriptions of individuals found in legal and administrative texts of Graeco-Roman Egypt. The work brings to life ancient concepts of biometrics, perceptions of body and race, and documentary identity.

Book Synopsis

In modern life, an identity document bearing a photograph is an indispensable feature. Yet this connection between physical appearance and legal identity is not as modern as it may seem. In Graeco-Roman Egypt, Greek texts also bore "lexical photographs" standardised, detailed physical descriptions (eikones) of individuals including height, skin colour, hair texture, the shape of the nose and face, and other identifiers like body modifications and disabilities. For the first time, this book collects the nearly 4000 extant eikones and their role in society, bringing the images of real individuals to life within the everyday biometric system in which they acted, worked, and relied upon for identification.