Syllabus

ARCH 0150: Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology and Art

MWF 2:00-2:50pm

Classroom: Wilson 302

Professor: Laurel Bestock, [email protected], 863-6291

Office hours: Wednesday 10am-noon, Tuesday 1pm-3pm, and by appointment, Rhode Island Hall Room 209

Teaching Assistants: Tom Leppard, [email protected], Brad Sekedat, [email protected]

Office Hours: Tom: Friday 10am-noon, Rhode Island Hall 201

Brad: Monday 10am-noon, Rhode Island Hall 016

[link]

Course description:

This course is an introductory survey of the archaeology, art and architecture of ancient Egypt, ranging in time from the prehistoric cultures of the Nile Valley through the period of Roman control. While the course will examine famous features and characters of ancient Egypt (pyramids, mummies, King Tut!), it will also provide a wide-ranging review of the material culture of this remarkable land.

Objectives:

The goals of this course are two-fold. First, it is intended to provide students with a general understanding of the development of Egyptian material culture over more than three millennia. It is expected that students will demonstrate a basic grasp of the types of objects and buildings made and used by the ancient Egyptians, and how they aid our understanding of social, political, religious and economic structures. Second, the course is intended to provide students with a set of critical thinking skills that are applicable to the study of the ancient world in general. We will continually examine what kinds of evidence are available and what kinds of questions can, and cannot, be answered on the basis of that evidence.

Texts (available at the Brown Bookstore)

Required:

An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Kathryn A. Bard (Bard, hereafter)

The Art of Ancient Egypt, Gay Robins (Robins)

Suggested:

Atlas of Ancient Egypt, John Baines and Jaromir Malek (Atlas)

Additional articles and excerpts will be posted to the wiki when assigned.

Reading on this syllabus is assigned by week. It is expected that you will do the reading over the course of the week so as to keep pace with developments in class, with the week’s reading to have been completed by class time on Fridays.

Assessment:

50% Writing assignments (2 x 25%) – see below

45% Exams (3 x 15%) – see below

5% Course participation

Writing Assignments:

First Assignment:

Write a 800-1000 word paper based on an ancient Egyptian object in a museum that you have visited for the purpose of working on this paper. There is a fairly good selection at the RISD museum, and an excellent selection at the Boston MFA or in New York at the Met or the Brooklyn Museum. In your paper you should identify your object by its museum number and general type, describe it in detail, discuss its medium/media and technique of manufacture, discuss its date or probable date, and discuss how objects of this type were used in ancient Egypt and what contexts they are known from. You should refer to at least two books other than your required texts (websites are not acceptable sources), and you should include citations in one of the styles described in the Chicago Manual of Style (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html). If you have any questions about the propriety of a source (there are some pretty horrible books and articles out there about Egypt), please don’t hesitate to ask. Improper citation style will result in a full grade deduction.

Second Assignment:

This assignment has been updated and has it's own wiki page. Please refer ONLY to the instructions on that page and NOT to the original description of the assignment as listed in the syllabus.

Exams:

All three exams will be of the same format, all will last 50 minutes and be administered during class time. They will consist of three parts: slide identifications/descriptions, short ID answers, and essay questions. The slides and IDs will not be cumulative, i.e. they will refer only to the material covered since the last exam. The essay questions cover broader topics and in your answers you will be expected to demonstrate knowledge from all time periods covered to that point.

A note on course policy:

Make-up exams and paper extensions will not be granted without a valid medical excuse signed by a doctor. Papers submitted electronically must be in by midnight of the due date. Papers submitted in hard copy must be handed in during class on the due date. I prefer to receive electronic copies. The University has strict policies on plagiarism and cheating, with which you are expected to be familiar and to comply.

Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction

Reading:

Atlas, pp. 10-29; Bard, Chapters 1 and 2; Robins, Chapter 1

Sept. 9: Introduction, syllabus

Sept. 11: History of Egyptology

Week 2: Backgrounds and beginnings

Reading:

Bard, Chapters 3-5

Robins, Chapter 2

Atlas, pp. 30-35; sites: Nagada and Tukh; el-Kab; Kom el-Ahmar/Hierakonpolis; Abydos; Tell el-Fara’in/Buto

Sept. 14: Geography, geology, climate and resources

Sept. 16: The archaeology of prehistoric and Predynastic Egypt

Sept. 18: Transition and unification: becoming “Egypt”

Week 3: Early Dynastic and Early Old Kingdom

Reading:

Bard, pp. 121-137

Robins, Chapter 3

Atlas, pp. 56-64; sites: Saqqara, Meidum, Zawyet el-‘Aryan, Dahshur, Giza, Abu Rawash

Sept. 21: Structure of society: Kings, nobles, human sacrifice

Sept. 23: Pyramid! The complex of Djoser at Saqqara and private tombs of the 3rd Dynasty

Sept. 25: Meidum, Dahshur, Giza and Abu Rawash: royal and private art and architecture of the 4th Dynasty

Week 4: Old Kingdom

Reading:

Bard, pp. 137-162

Robins, Chapter 4

Atlas, pp. 209-221; sites: Abusir, Saqqara, Abu Ghurab

Sept. 28: Abu Sir, Saqqara

Sept. 30: Abu Ghurab and the rise of the cult of the sun

Oct. 2: Evolving ideas of the afterlife: 6th Dynasty pyramids and Pyramid Texts

Week 5: Late Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period

Reading:

Bard, pp. 162-166

Robins, Chapter 5

Lichtheim: assorted Pyramid Texts; autobiographies of Weni and Harkhuf from Ancient Egyptian Literature

Arnold: “Royal Cult Complexes of the Old and Middle Kingdoms”

Atlas, pp. 35-40; sites: Saqqara, Aswan, Denderah, el-Mo’alla, Gebelein

Oct. 5: Life and rebirth: private tombs of the late Old Kingdom

Oct. 7: Feast and Famine: political decentralization and regional ascent

Oct. 9: FIRST EXAM

Week 6: Middle Kingdom I

Reading:

Atlas, pp. 40-42, sites: Beni Hassan, el-Lahun, The Faiyum, Deir el-Bersha, Thebes

Bard, pp. 168-194

Robins, pp. 90-109

Oct. 12: No Class

Oct. 14: Middle Kingdom royal art

Oct. 16: Egyptians abroad: the fortresses of Nubia

Week 7: Middle Kingdom II

Reading:

Robins, Chapter 7

Kemp, “Model Communities”, from Ancient Egypt, Anatomy of a Civilization

Oct. 19: Lahun: a model community of the Middle Kingdom

Oct. 21: Nomarchs and “Democratization”: private tombs and a changing society

Oct. 23: The peculiar 13th Dynasty and Foreigners in Egypt

Week 8: Second Intermediate Period – Early New Kingdom

Reading:

Bard, pp. 195-206

Atlas, p. 4; sites: Tell el-Yahudiya, el-Khata’na, Tell el-Dab’a and Qantir

Oct. 26: The 17th Dynasty: reconquest and redefinition FIRST PAPER DUE

Oct. 28: Overview of New Kingdom chronology; Early 18th Dynasty architecture and art

Oct. 30: Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III

Week 9: New Kingdom I

Reading:

Bard, read all of Chapter 8 but class this week will focus on royal material before the move to Amarna, namely 8.2, 8.3, 8.7, and 8.9

Robins, Chapter 8

Atlas, pp. 42-47

Nov. 2: Early to mid-18th Dynasty private life; hand out 2nd writing assigment

Nov. 4: Ideology and archaeology: Amenhotep III to Akhenaten

Nov. 6: SECOND EXAM

Week 10: New Kingdom II: Amarna to Ramesside Kings

Reading:

Bard, reread Chapter 8, especially 8.4-8.5

Robins, Chapter 9

Kemp, “The city of el-Amarna as a source for the study of urban society in ancient Egypt”, World Archaeology Vol. 9, No. 2 (1977), available on JSTOR

Haeny, “New Kingdom ‘Mortuary Temples’ and ‘Mansions of Millions of Years’”

Atlas, el-‘Amarna

Nov. 9: A new city at Amarna

Nov. 11: After Amarna: proscription, restoration, Tutankhamun

Nov. 13: Post-Amarna and Ramesside royal burials and mortuary temples

Week 11: New Kingdom III: Life, Death and Religion

Reading:

Bard, pp. 235-262

Robins, pp. 166-193

Bell, “The New Kingdom ‘Divine’ Temple: The Example of Luxor”

Atlas, pp. 84-105

Nov. 16: Deir el-Medina

Nov. 18: Private tombs from Thebes and Saqqara

Nov. 20: The Gods’ temples of Thebes

Week 12: Third Intermediate Period

Reading:

Bard, Chapter 9

Robins, Chapter 11

Kemp Anatomy of a Civilization, excerpt, pp. 345-366

Atlas, pp. 47-52; sites: San el-Hagar/Tunis

Nov. 23: Inherited and new landscapes: Thebes and Tanis SECOND WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE

Nov. 25: No Class

Nov. 27: No Class

Week 13: Late Period and Greco-Roman Egypt

Reading:

Robins, Chapters 12-13

Bard, Chapter 10

Nov. 30: temples and animal cults

Dec. 2: Margins: the Faiyum and the Oases

Dec. 4: THIRD EXAM