This volume is the first to survey village institutions in Egypt during the first eight centuries AD, from the beginning of Roman rule to the early Arab period. Villages in the ancient Mediterranean world, in contrast to cities, have been little studied and the communal life of the majority rural population is ill understood. The rich evidence of the documentary papyri from Egypt, half of which come from village sites, permits both study of topics in detail and comparisons across time. This volume covers rural institutions including associations, local officials, banks, record-offices, legal procedures, festivals and monasteries. It identifies and discusses recurrent issues and structural changes in the power relationships between the central and regional city-based authorities and the rural population and their representatives in Egypt, and aims to stimulate comparative study of villages in other areas of the ancient world.