Egyptology

Contents

Compulsory modules
* Ancient Egyptian Language -this module introduces you to Middle Egyptian, the 'classic' phase of the ancient Egyptian language, which flourished c. 2000 BC. The first part of the year is devoted to mastering the hieroglyphic script and to acquisition of a basic knowledge of the grammar and a working vocabulary. In the second half of the year, a variety of texts, taken from literary, administrative, legal, religious and 'historical' genres, is read. By the end of the course you will have the linguistic knowledge necessary to control ancient Egyptian texts for the purposes of historical research.
* Theory and Practice of Archaeology -Archaeological stratigraphy, relative and absolute chronology. Field survey and geophysical techniques. Archaeological recording on site and in the museum. Pottery typology, draughting, photography. Data presentation and publication techniques.

Optional modules
The choice available in any one year depends on demand and staff time. You will be advised on choice of topics appropriate to your level of knowledge and your research interests. At present the following are available:

* Egyptian History and Archaeology I -a) New Kingdom history, with particular reference to the chronological framework of the period, to its religious and social structure and to interrelations with the Mediterranean and the Near East. The emphasis throughout is on the primary sources and on the critical interpretation of textual, pictorial and archaeological evidence.

b) The material culture of Egypt from the predynastic period to c. 1500 BC, with particular reference to cemetery archaeology. This part of the course equips students with the skills to approach any aspect of Egyptian material culture, with special emphasis on visual appreciation.


* Eyptian and Archaeology II -a) The history of Egypt, c. 1070-332 BC. In analysing the political, ethnic, social and cultural developments which characterise the period, special attention is paid to the impact of Libyan settlement and rule, and to Mediterranean and Near Eastern contacts.

b) The material culture of Egypt from c. 1500-300 BC. The first semester concentrates on settlements, with particular reference to Malqata, Amarna and Deir el-Medina, and on temple architecture and decoration. In the second semester, the development of Egyptian sculpture, relief carving and painting in the New Kingdom, and the archaeology of the first millennium BC, are the focus of attention.


* Ancient Egyptian Religion -This module will cover diverse aspects of religion in ancient Egypt, including ideas about creation, the gods and the afterlife, religious practice in the community as well as in the temples, the interrelationship between religious and political authority, and funerary religion. Three different kinds of evidence, each with its own problems of interpretation, in combination provide as rounded a view of the subject as is possible:

1) texts, whether monumental or on papyrus

2) pictorial evidence from temples, tombs, stelae etc

3) other archaeological artefacts and contexts