ARY2970

The archaeology and history of Ancient Egypt: 5000- 1650 BCE

C A Hope

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton

Objectives Students should have gained an awareness of the evolution and main features of Egyptian culture through a multi-disciplinary study from its conception to the end of the Middle Kingdom.

Synopsis This subject commences with a study of the Predynastic Period (5000- 3050 BCE) in Egypt during which agriculture and urban centres developed. The gradual development of the main features of later Egyptian culture and the emergence of the unified kingdom are examined. The ensuing Early Dynastic period, Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom are dealt with in a study which combines the use of literary material, the principal surviving monuments and objects of material culture. An historical outline of these periods will form the framework within which social, cultural and religious developments are all reviewed.

Assessment Tutorial presentation (1000 words): 20%
* Essay (2500 words): 30%
* Slide test (30 minutes): 10%
* Examination (2 hours): 40%

Prescribed texts

Hoffman L Egypt before the pharoahs rev. edn, Texas U P, 1991
Kemp B J Ancient Egypt: The anatomy of a civilisation Routledge, 1989
Smith W S The art and architecture of Ancient Egypt rev. edn, Penguin, 1981
Spencer A J Early Egypt British Museum Press, 1993
Trigger B G and others Ancient Egypt: A social history CUP, 1983