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Jewish sources dating from the late-fourth to third centuries BCE relating to life and events in the Land of Israel, then under the authority of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic dynasty, are scant. The Zeno papyri, which date to the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (282–246 BCE), cast some light on the economic and social conditions there (Tcherikover and Fuks 1957–64: 115–130; Tcherikover 1959: 60). Not least do they attest to the excellent relationship which seems to have existed between Ptolemy and the powerful Jewish magnate Tobias, who resided at Birta in Ammanitis. Tobias was a descendant of the same family as a man also named Tobias recorded in the Hebrew Bible (Neh. 3:35; 4:1); and a representative of this same family was later to be implicated in events which would lead to violent confrontation between Jews and their Greek-speaking overlords (2 Macc. 3:10–11). This family, usually referred to as the Tobiads, seems to have exercised considerable influence in its heyday. Traditions about it reported by Josephus (particularly AJ 12.154–236), while historically problematic in many respects, may cast light on the situation in the Transjordan during the third century BCE (Goldstein 1975; Fuks 2001; but see also D.R. Schwartz 1998 and 2002); and archaeological excavations of the Tobiad palace at ‘Araq el-Emir have served to confirm reports of the power and extensive influence of this family (Rosenberg 2006).