Brian Muhs

Brian Muhs is an Associate Professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago, affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. His research focuses on ancient Egyptian social, economic, and legal institutions during the transition from Pharaonic to Ptolemaic and Roman rule, as well as language contact between Demotic and Greek. He holds a B.A. in Egyptian Archaeology from the University of California, Berkeley (1985) and a Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Pennsylvania (1996).

His work employs New Institutional Economics models to analyze the role of written documentation in ancient economic systems. Current research explores interactions between Egyptian and Greek banking traditions in the Ptolemaic Period. Notable publications include The Ancient Egyptian Economy (2016), Receipts, Scribes and Collectors in Early Ptolemaic Thebes (2011), and Tax Receipts, Taxpayers, and Taxes (2005).

He teaches courses such as NEHC 20006/30006 on Ancient Near Eastern Thought and Literature, focusing on Egypt. His students are investigating topics like the Pyramid Texts and Sacerdotal Decrees.