01 / belief
There was the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, which I think is maybe still there.
“There was the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, which I think is maybe still there.”
- Speaker
- Tyler Cowen
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler / episode intelligence
Toby Wilkinson on Ptolemaic Egypt and the First Great Commercial Civilization
Speakers in the public record
Claim mix
belief 7evaluation 7disagreement 1preference 1prediction 1
Evidence policy
Every row below preserves an exact excerpt. Identified speakers are linked; unresolved voices are labeled and excluded from people counts.
Claim ledger
The useful parts, with receipts.
17 published records
02 / belief
Like any great city, I find it has a vitality to it, which is quite energizing. It’s not a place that you go in search of the ancient past, I think.
“Like any great city, I find it has a vitality to it, which is quite energizing. It’s not a place that you go in search of the ancient past, I think.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
03 / belief
Depended on where you lived, I think. If you were an urban dweller of Alexandria, you were living significantly above subsistence levels.
“Depended on where you lived, I think. If you were an urban dweller of Alexandria, you were living significantly above subsistence levels.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
04 / belief
I think the understanding is there, but it’s shared amongst a fairly small group of experts.
“I think the understanding is there, but it’s shared amongst a fairly small group of experts.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
05 / belief
I think when we look at the origins of these great civilizations, all within a few centuries of each other, there’s a combination of factors that each one individually perhaps wouldn’t have tipped the balance, but taken together they made a difference.
“I think when we look at the origins of these great civilizations, all within a few centuries of each other, there’s a combination of factors that each one individually perhaps wouldn’t have tipped the balance, but taken together they made a difference.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
06 / belief
I think there are a lot more scholarly works, both surviving and lost, that were composed in ancient Alexandria that would be more surprising and more revelatory than those that you’ve just mentioned.
“I think there are a lot more scholarly works, both surviving and lost, that were composed in ancient Alexandria that would be more surprising and more revelatory than those that you’ve just mentioned.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
07 / belief
I think all of these ingredients just combined to make it the gift that kept on giving as far as the media were concerned.
“I think all of these ingredients just combined to make it the gift that kept on giving as far as the media were concerned.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
08 / evaluation
When Alexander the Great, who himself was trying to overthrow Persia, arrived at the gates of Egypt, he was welcomed as a hero because he had thrown off the hated Persians.
“When Alexander the Great, who himself was trying to overthrow Persia, arrived at the gates of Egypt, he was welcomed as a hero because he had thrown off the hated Persians.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
09 / disagreement
I think that would be a misrepresentation. Alexandria under the Ptolemies didn’t produce a Socrates or a Plato.
“I think that would be a misrepresentation. Alexandria under the Ptolemies didn’t produce a Socrates or a Plato.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
10 / evaluation
If you look at, for example, some of the Psalms, you’ll find not just echoes, but entire chunks of ancient Egyptian literature that have been, as we would say today, cut and pasted from one to the other.
“If you look at, for example, some of the Psalms, you’ll find not just echoes, but entire chunks of ancient Egyptian literature that have been, as we would say today, cut and pasted from one to the other.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
11 / evaluation
I think I would say that research in the humanities can be quite a solitary occupation, unlike in the sciences where scientists are working in labs and teams.
“I think I would say that research in the humanities can be quite a solitary occupation, unlike in the sciences where scientists are working in labs and teams.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
12 / evaluation
If I look back at some of the first things that I wrote as an academic, they were pretty esoteric, pretty dry and dusty, as a lot of academic journal articles tend to be.
“If I look back at some of the first things that I wrote as an academic, they were pretty esoteric, pretty dry and dusty, as a lot of academic journal articles tend to be.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
13 / preference
For me, as an Egyptologist, I love getting into the rural parts of Egypt because there one can almost feel the past as still very much present.
“For me, as an Egyptologist, I love getting into the rural parts of Egypt because there one can almost feel the past as still very much present.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
14 / evaluation
Now, we think of a migraine as a relatively Western, modern phenomenon, a medical condition, but actually, the ancient Egyptians recognized it, described it.
“Now, we think of a migraine as a relatively Western, modern phenomenon, a medical condition, but actually, the ancient Egyptians recognized it, described it.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
15 / evaluation
This is interesting because the Ptolemaic kings not only wanted to be wealthy economically, but they wanted to be renowned throughout the ancient world as great scholar leaders.
“This is interesting because the Ptolemaic kings not only wanted to be wealthy economically, but they wanted to be renowned throughout the ancient world as great scholar leaders.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
16 / evaluation
I think because you had a strong and stable regime that was able to be a great patron of the arts.
“I think because you had a strong and stable regime that was able to be a great patron of the arts.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler
17 / prediction
The fact that we can now read rolls of papyrus without unrolling them through X-rays and AI, we are poised really at the beginning of a revolution in the study of ancient texts because many of these papyrus rolls are too friable, too fragile to unroll.
“The fact that we can now read rolls of papyrus without unrolling them through X-rays and AI, we are poised really at the beginning of a revolution in the study of ancient texts because many of these papyrus rolls are too friable, too fragile to unroll.”
- Speaker
- Toby Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Conversations with Tyler