Course Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction and Geography of Egypt

 

March 27: Introduction to the Course

Lecture Slides

Required Readings: None

 

March 29: Mapping and Understanding the Land of the Nile

Lecture Slides

Map Quiz Terms

Required Readings:

• Bard (2015), An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 3 “The Environmental Background to Pharaonic Civilization: Geography, Environment, Agriculture and Natural Resources,” pages 47-68

 

Recommended Readings:

• Ikram, S. (2010) Ancient Egypt. Chapter 1, “The Black and the Red: Geography and Environment”, pages 1-22, Chapter 4, “Shadows in the Sand: Egypt’s Past” pages 69-114

 

March 31 Section

On Zoom this week only. All remaining sections will be live and in person. See the course Canvas site for your Zoom link.

Discussion on the major myths and misconceptions about ancient Egypt in the modern day.

 

 

Week 2: Background and History of Egyptology

 

April 3: History of Egyptology

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Bard (2015), An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 1 “Egyptian Archaeology: Definitions and History” pages 1-24

 

Recommended Readings:

• David, R. (2008) The Experience of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 6, “Classical and Medieval Interest in Egypt” pages 51-61
• Ikram, S. (2010) Ancient Egypt: Chapter 2, “Travelers, Thieves and Scholars: the history of Egyptology and Egyptomania” pages 23-52
• Jones, M. (2008) “Monuments and Site Conservation” Egyptology Today,H. Wilkinson, ed., pages 98-120
• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology, Chapter 1, “Egyptian Archaeology: From Text to Context” pages 1-14

 

April 5: Write Like an Egyptian: Hieroglyphics and Beyond

Guest Speaker: Forrest Martin

Lecture Slides: Martin

Lecture Slides: Selover

Required Readings:

• Bard (2015), An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 2, “Hieroglyphs, Languages and Pharaonic Chronology” pages 25-46

 

Recommended Readings:

• David, R. (2008) The Experience of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 8, “The Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs”, pages 71-88
• Szpakowska, K. (2008). Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Chapter 6, “Learning, Earning and Leisure” pages 102-121

 

April 7 Section

Map Quiz at the start of section; Writing hieroglyphics workshop

 

 

Week 3: Sources of Egyptology

 

April 10: What’s in a Dynasty? Chronology of Ancient Egypt

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Ward, W.A. (1992) “The Present Status of Egyptian Chronology” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 288, pages 53-66

 

Recommended Readings:

• Hornung, E., Krauss, R., Warnurton, D.A. (2006) Ancient Egyptian Chronology, “Methods of Dating and the Egyptian Calendar” pages 45-51

 

April 12: Egyptian Literature and Mythology

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Ikram, S (2010) Ancient Egypt: An Introduction, Chapter 5 “Maintaining Egypt: Religion” pages 115-164

 

Recommended Readings:

• Kemp, B. (1995) “How Religious were the Ancient Egyptians?” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 5:1, pages 25-54.
• Snape, S. (2011) “Osiris, Lord of Abydos” Ancient Egyptian Tombs: The Culture of Life and Death, pages 117-135
• Szpakowska, K. (2008). Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Chapter 7 “Religion” pages 122-149
• Teeter, E. (2011) Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt “Chapter 6: In the Presence of the Gods: How the Gods Communicated with Men” pages 104-118
• Wallis Budge E.A., Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts” Entire book is up on Canvas

 

April 14 Section

Discussion of the story “The Tale of Sinuhe”

• Read “The Tale of Sinuhe” in The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, B. Parkinson, translator, before coming to section

 

 

Week 4: Changing Temple and Tomb Architecture

 

April 17: Egyptian Mortuary Architecture in the Old Kingdom: The Pyramids!

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Bard (2015), An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 6 “The Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period,” pages 133-165 only

 

Recommended Readings:

• Lehner, M. (1983) “Some Observations on the Layout of the Khufu and Khafre Pyramids” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology
• Lehner, M. (1985) “The Development of the Giza Necropolis: The Khufu Project” MDAIK 41, pages 109-143
• Lehner, M. (1992) “Reconstructing the Sphinx.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2(1), pages 3-26
• O’Conner, D. (1998) “Interpretation of the Old Kingdom Pyramid Complex,” in Stationen: Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte Agyptens, H. Guksch and D. Polz. Mainz: Verlag, pages 135-144
• Reader, C. (2001) “A Geomorphological Study of the Giza Necropolis, with Implications for the Development of the Site.” Archaeometry 43(1): 149-165

 

April 19: New Kingdom Tombs

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Bard (2015), An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 8, “The New Kingdom”, pages 225-274 only

 

Recommended Readings:

• Kemp (2007) Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, Chapter 6 “New Kingdom Egypt: The Mature State” pages 247-301

 

April 21 Section

Quiz 1

 

Week 5: Death and Mummies

 

April 24: Afterlife and Ritual

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Baines, J. and P. Lacovara (2002). “Burial and the Dead in Ancient Egyptian Society: Respect, Formalism, Neglect” Journal of Social Archaeology 2(1) pages 5-36

 

Recommended Readings:

• Anderson, W. (1992) “Badarian Burials: Evidence of Social Inequality in Middle Egypt During the Early Predynastic Era” American Research Center in Egypt 29, pages 51-66
• Teeter, E. (2011). Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt, Chapter 7, “Death and Funerals Rites” pages 119-147, Chapter 8, “Communicating with the Dead”
• Szpakowska, K. (2008). Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Chapter 9 “Death” pages 179-207
• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology, Chapter 12 “Changes in the Afterlife” pages 220-240

 

April 26: Mummification, Mummy Cults and Animal Mummies

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Ikram, S (2010) Ancient Egypt: An Introduction, Chapter 9: “The Living and the Dead: Mummies, Tombs and Mortuary Cults” pages 275-300

 

Recommended Readings:

• Buckley, S. and Evershed, R. (2001). “Organic Chemistry of Embalming Agents in Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman Mummies” Nature 413, pages 837-841
• David, R. (2000). “Mummification.” Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, Ed. P. Nicholson and I. Shaw, pages 372-385
• Ikram, S. and Dodson, A. (1998). The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity. Chapter 3, “Mummies and the Art of Mummification”, pp. 103-136

 

Optional:  Documentary Mummifying Allen

Part I

Part II

Part III 

 

April 28 Section

A Scavenger Hunt in the Tomb of Nefertari

 

Week 6: Warfare and Foreigners

 

May 1: Foreigners in the Land of the Nile

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Schneider, T. (2003) “Foreign Egypt: Egyptology and the Concept of Cultural Appropriation” Egypt and the Levant 13, pages 155-161
• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology, Chapter 8, “Foreigners in Egypt: Archaeological Evidence and Cultural Context,” pages 143-163

 

Recommended Readings:

• Friedman, R. (2001) “Nubians at Hierakonpolis: Excavations in the Nubian Cemeteries” Sudan and Nubia 5, pages 29-38
• Panagiotopoulus, D. (2006) “Foreigners in Egypt in the Time of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III” in Thutmose III: A New Biography,H. Cline, ed., pages 370-412
• Smith, S.T. (2003) Wretched Kush: Ethnic Identities and Boundaries in Egypt’s Nubian Empire

 

May 3: Egyptian Warfare

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Spalinger, A.J. (2011) “Military Institutions and Warfare: Pharaonic” in A Companion to Ancient Egypt: Volume 1,B. Lloyd, ed., pages 425-445

 

Recommended Reading:

• Partridge, R.B., 2003 Fighting Pharaohs: Weapons and Warfare in Ancient Egypt, Peartree Publishing
• Spalinger, A.J. (2005) War in Ancient Egypt: The New Kingdom

 

 

May 5 Section

Debating the Battle of Kadesh

 

 

Week 7: The Domestic and the State

 

May 8: Egyptian Cities and Domestic Architecture

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Ikram, S. (2010). Ancient Egypt. Chapter 7, “Town Life and Country Life” pages 189-218

 

Recommended Readings:

• Mumford, G.D. (2011) “Settlements: Distribution, Structure, Architecture: Pharaonic”, in A Companion to Ancient Egypt: Volume 1,B. Lloyd, ed., Wiley-Blackwell, pages 326-349
• Strauhal, E. (1996), Life of the Ancient Egyptians, Chapter 6, “Homes and Communities,” pages 63-76
• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology, Chapter 5, “Villages and the Old Kingdom” pages 85-101, Chapter 7 “Tradition and Innovation: the Middle Kingdom,” pages 119-142

 

May 10: Egyptian Concepts of Kingship

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Brier, B., and Hobbs, H. (2008), Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians, Chapter 3: “Government and Society,” pages 65-82

 

Recommended Readings:

• Bard, K. (2001) “The Emergence of the Egyptian State c. 3200 BC” in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Ed. I. Shaw, pp. 61-88
• Graves-Brown, C (2010). Dancing for Hathor: Women in Ancient Egypt. London: Continuum International Publishing. Chapter 7, “Queens and Harems” pages 129-160
• Ikram, S. (2010). Ancient Egypt. Chapter 6, “Kings and Commoners: Egyptian Society and Government” pages 165-188
• O’Conner, D. and D. Silverman. eds. (1995). Ancient Egyptian Kingship. Leiden: Brill. Chapter 1, “Kingship, Definition of Culture, and Legitimation”, pages 3-47
• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology Chapter 3, “Theories on State Formation” pages 36-54

 

May 12 Section

Quiz 2

 

 

Week 8: Egyptian Medicine, Science and Art

 

May 15: Medicine and Science

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Brier, B., and Hobbs, H. (2008) Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians, Greenwood Press, Chapter 11, “Medicine and Mathematics”, pages 271-291

 

Recommended Readings:

• Brant-Rauf, P.W., and S.I. Brand-Rauf (1987) “History of Occupational Medicine: Relevance of Imhotep and the Edwin Smith Papyrus” British Journal of Industrial Medicine 44, pages 68-70
• Hebron, C. (2000) “Occupational Health in Ancient Egypt: The Evidence from Artistic Representation” Current Research in Egyptology, A. McDonald and C. Riggs, eds., BAR International Series 909, pages 45-49
• Imhausen, A. (2006) Mathematical Intelligencer 28:1, “Ancient Egyptian Mathematics: New Perspectives on Old Sources” pages 18-27
• Ritner, R. (2000) “Innovations and Adaptations in Ancient Egyptian Medicine” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 59(2), pages 107-117
• Rossia, C. (2001) “Science and Technology: Pharaonic” in A Companion to Ancient Egypt: Volume 1,B. Lloyd, ed., Wiley-Blackwell, pages 390-408
• Szpakowska, K. (2008). Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Chapter 8, “Sickness” pages 150-178

 

May 17: Not So Static: Ancient Egyptian Art

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Freed, R. (2010). “Art of Ancient Egypt”, in Egyptology Today, Ed. R. Wilkinson, pages 123-143

 

Recommended Readings:

• Bryan, B.M. (2011a) “New Kingdom Sculpture” in A Companion to Ancient Egypt: Volume I1,B. Lloyd, ed., Wiley-Blackwell, pages 913-943
• Bryan, B.M. (2011b) “Pharaonic Painting Through the New Kingdom” in A Companion to Ancient Egypt: Volume I1,B. Lloyd, ed., Wiley-Blackwell, pages 990-1007
• David R. (2000) Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• O’Neill, J.P. (2000) The Experience of Ancient Egypt
• Robins, G. (1985) “Mathematical Bases of Ancient Egyptian Architecture and Graphic Art” Historia Mathematica 12, pages 107-122
• Strouhal, E. (1996) Life of the Ancient Egyptians Chapter 12 “Immortality Through Art” pages 157-168

 

May 19 Section

Art Workshop: Learning Egyptian standards and proportions

 

 

Week 9: Everyday Life in Egypt

 

May 22: Daily Life in Egypt

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Ikram, S. (2010). Ancient Egypt Chapter 8, “From Sunrise to Sunset: Daily life of the ancient Egyptians” pages 219-274

 

Recommended Readings:

• Darby, W., P. Ghalioungui, L. Grivetti (1977). Food: The Gift of Osiris. Academic Press.
• Frood, E. (2011) “Social Structure and Daily Life: Pharaonic” in A Companion to Ancient Egypt: Volume I1,B. Lloyd, ed., pages 469-490
• Murray, M-A. (2000). “Fruit, Vegetables, Pulses and Condiments,” in Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, Ed. I. Shaw and P. Nicholson, pages 609-655
• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology, Chapter 10, “Class and Society: Position and Possessions”

 

May 24: Women and Children in Egypt

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology, Chapter 9, “Gender in ancient Egypt” pages 164-179

 

Recommended Readings:

• Szpakowska, K. (2008). Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Chapter 2, “Birth” pages 23-44
• Szpakowska, K. (2008). Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Chapter 10, “Love” pages 208-224
• Strouhal, E. (1996) Life of the Ancient Egyptians Chapter 5 “Marriage and the Standing of Women” pages 51-62

 

May 26 Section

Pop Culture Project due by the start of section

Reconstructing a day in the life of a commoner in Egypt

 

 

Week 10: Egypt and Egyptology in the 21^st Century

 

May 29: No Class – Memorial Day

 

May 31: Modern Egyptian Mania and The Politics of Museums

Lecture Slides

Required Readings:

• Lupton, C. (2009) “’Mummymania’ for the Masses: Is Egyptology Cursed by the Mummy’s Curse?” Consuming Ancient Egypt, McDonald and M. Rice, eds., Left Coast Press, pages 23-46

 

Recommended Readings:

• Colla, E. (2007) Conflicted Antiquities: Egyptology, Egyptomania, Egyptian Modernity, Duke University Press
• Reid, D. (2002). Whose Pharaohs? Archaeology, Museums and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I. University of California Press. Ch. 1, "Introduction", pp. 1-20
• Wendrich, W. ed. (2010). Egyptian Archaeology, Chapter 14, “Egypt in the Memory of the World” pages 259-273
• Wynn, L.L. (2008) “Shape Shifting Lizard People, Israelite Slaves, and Other Theories of Pyramid Building: Notes on Labor, Nationalism and Archaeology in Egypt” Journal of Social Archaeology 8:2, pages 272-295

 

June 2 Section

Quiz 3