Egyptian Archaeology I: The great kingdoms

• Egyptian Archaeology I is a compulsory module aiming to provide students with an overview of significant aspects of social history and archaeology of Egypt from the pre-dynastic period to the end of the New Kingdom Period (circa 1075 B.C.). A special emphasis will be given to mortuary and temple architecture while exceptional analysis on specific aspectsof Ancient Egyptian culture such as ritual and religious traditions and practices will be made in parallel. • The module will also provide the students with an understanding towards the nature of Egypt’s contacts with its nearest neighbors. There will be a particular emphasis on the role of Egypt in the Southeastern Mediterranean basin. Furthermore, an analysis of the manifold multicultural, trade, economic and diplomatic contacts of Egypt with its neighbors during the Second Millennium B.C. will be attempted. • In Egyptian Archaeology I also an attempt towards the interpretation of the archaeological evidence in detailwill be made while, in the same time, critical reading in all type of sources (texts, iconography) which are relative with several aspects of the ancient Egyptian society will be provided in parallel.

Objectives

• Knowledge of the basic cultural phases which developed in Upper and Lower Egypt during the pre-dynastic period. • Familiarity with the unifying mechanisms which developed in Egypt and transformed it in one single state with strong Kingship. • Familiarity with the several different methodological approaches towards history and archaeology of Pharaonic Egypt.

Prerequisites

None

Syllabus

Archaeology of pre-dynastic Egypt and the shaping of the first hegemonies. Hieroglyphs and the unification of Egypt. Archaeology of the ancient Egyptian worldview (Weltanschauung):religion, cosmogony and magic (maAtvsisft). Archaeology of death: Mortuary architecture and ideology. Egypt and the foreigners. Monumental architecture and political ideology: Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.