PhD student position in Ancient History / Documentary Papyrology (4 years)

Your position

The PhD student will be fully funded for a period of four years, be registered as a PhD student at the University of Basel, and work in the Department of Ancient Civilizations. The PhD dissertation project will be devoted to trace the influence of changing environmental conditions on the agrarian economy during the Roman period of Egypt (with a focus on the third century CE) by using papyrological and literary evidence. Mainly tied to wheat production, the agricultural economy of Roman Egypt has been of rising interest in scholarship in recent years. Next to northern Africa and Sicily, Egypt was the principal source of grain for the population of Rome and the Roman military, but thanks to its rich papyrological evidence Egypt yields considerably more detailed sources than its two sister regions. By using this depth of information not available for other regions of the ancient Mediterranean, this PhD project will be an example of incorporating climate history into the study of the ancient agrarian economy, and also establish a model how ancient economies generally responded to environmental shocks.

• Duration: 4 years
• Salary: approx. 50'000 Swiss francs (€ 47'500 or $ 54,500) / year.
• Working language: English 

The PhD candidate will expand and refine a database to assemble empirical data for prices, wages, rents, and taxes for third-century Roman Egypt, and – in cooperation with other subprojects – analyze the data in order to evaluate the impact of environmental changes. This analysis will lead to a PhD dissertation on the agrarian economy during the Roman period of Egypt. The PhD candidate will help to organize – jointly with the team – a number of workshops and conferences and a public exhibition, participate in outreach activities, and present his/her research at scientific meetings.

Your profile

Applicants should hold a very good Master's degree in Ancient History or related fields (Master's thesis is expected to be completed by the start of the position), demonstrate some experience with Greek papyri, be highly motivated to conduct innovative transdisciplinary research at the intersections of ancient history, papyrology, digital humanities, and paleoclimatology, have an excellent command of English and good knowledge of other research languages, and be able to work autonomously within an internationally and institutionally diverse environment.