Egyptology BA (Hons)

Module details Compulsory modules

• Introduction To Ancient Egypt I (ALGY109) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 100:0 Aims

  ALGY 109 is a Level 1 module aiming to provide students with an overview of Ancient Egyptian culture from prehistory to c.1550 BC and the development of students'' understanding of the environment and geography of Ancient Egypt, the fundamentals of the chronology of Ancient Egypt (including the limitations of available evidence), and a good awareness of how major archaeological sites fit within this framework. The emphasis will be on the use of primary data (archaeological, visual and textual) to gain a better understanding of basic features of Egyptian culture.

  This module is designed to be the first of a suite, with the second semester ALGY 116 focussing on the same areas for a later phase of Egyptian history (1550 BC-395 AD). However, both modules are designed so that they may be taken independently of each other. Learning Outcomes

  Students will gain a broad understanding of Ancient Egyptian culture down to 1550 BC.​

  Students will develop their critical skills in working with primary and secondary sources (including standard textbooks) for the understanding of Ancient Egypt​

  Students will develop through study and their written work the critical techniques of evidence-based argument into creation of in creating synthetic contextualised discussions of Ancient Egypt that focus on communicating an independent understanding of the limits of our knowledge.​

• Introduction To Ancient Egypt Ii (ALGY116) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 70:30 Aims

  ALGY 116 is designed as a Level 1 module which aims to provide students with an overview of Ancient Egyptian culture. In particular it has as its core aim the development of students'' understanding of chronology of Ancient Egypt, with a good awareness of how major archaeological sites fit within this framework. Broader thematic aspects of Egyptian society, such as writing, religion, art and social structure, are also addressed. The emphasis will be on the use of primary data (archaeological, visual and textual) to gain a better understanding of basic features of Egyptian culture.

  This module, which is focussed on the period c. 1550 BC - 395 AD, is complementary to the content and themes of semester 1 ALGY 109, which covers the earlier phase of Egyptian culture (prehistory - c. 1550 BC). However, ALGY 116 is designed so that it can be taken as an independent self-standing module if students so wish.

  Learning Outcomes

  By the end of the module students will have improved their skills in critical reading and in the assessment/analysis of specific detail to be found in the primary sources for the understanding of Ancient Egypt.

  The module will advance information literacy in the use of the library, bibliographic sources, online bibliographies and other relevant internet resources. ​

  Students will be required to use standard textbooks to build up your own basic picture of Egyptian culture. They will then be expected to integrate their own notes made from reading with the specific topics examined in detail in lectures. Students will be expected in their writing to develop the critical techniques of evidence-based argument into creation of narrative description and contextual discussion, that focus on communicating an independent understanding of the limits of our knowledge.

  ​

• Introduction To Middle Egyptian Ii (ALGY123) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 50:50 Aims

  1.  Consolidation of formal linguistic understanding of Middle Egyptian.

  2. ​Extend vocabulary and complete range of verbal-tenses in reading.

  3. ​Gain initial familiarity with the form and content of Egyptian texts by reading in the original

  4. ​Increase self-confidence and analytical methodology through practice in translation and the explicit description of the hieroglyphic language in the original

  Learning Outcomes

  Students will have acquired a core vocabulary and knowledge of the full range of standard grammatical constructions for Middle Egyptian

   

  ​Students will be able to present accurate transliterations and translations of basic Middle Egyptian into English

  ​Students will have established a basic methodology for reading and commenting in Middle Egyptian texts in the original

  ​Students will have developed a core referencing skill in the use of standard dictionary, grammar and sign-list for use in reading original hieroglyphic texts

• Reading Egyptian Texts (ALGY125) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 100:0 Aims

  1. ​ To provide an introduction to the range of written sources surviving from Ancient Egypt (to be mainly studied in English translation) and their use as primary textual sources for the understanding of Ancient Egyptian culture and society.

  2. To cultivate a critical attitude to the problems of interpretation posed by studying the fragmentary textual remains of a dead society .

  Learning Outcomes

  ​ Students will be able to develop their understanding of the range of Egyptian written sources .

  S​ tudents will be able to begin to critique current Egyptological uses and interpretations of Egyptian uses of writing.

• Ancient Egyptian Material Culture (ALGY126) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 70:30 Aims

• This module aims to provide 1st year undergraduates with an understanding of the material culture of pharaonic Egypt. The emphasis will be on the use of primary data (archaeological, visual and textual). Each set of materials or artefacts will be introduced by a lecture, providing students with an evidence-based overview. 

• ​Practical museum classes will use objects in the Garstang Museum to allow students to identify specific materials, craft techniques and artefact types.

Learning Outcomes

The module is designed to provide experience of a wide range of Egyptian materials and technology, using data from archaeological science, ethnoarchaeology, textual sources and visual images.

The module will improve students'' knowledge of the essential materials and practical activities that form the basis of Egyptian material culture​

The module will advance information literacy in the use of the library, bibliographic sources, online bibliographies and other relevant internet resources ​

• Introduction To Middle Egyptian I (ALGY128) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 0:100 Aims

  1. To facilitate the progressive acquisition of key skills and knowledge for the understanding of the hieroglyphic script and the core elements of the Ancient Egyptian language (in its classic phase, Middle Egyptian).

  2. To enable students to study selected original inscriptions and text-passages within the module used throughout the module as teaching examples, in formative and summative assessment, and in tutorial work.

  Learning Outcomes

  By the end of the module, students will have come to understand the principles of reading Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in original Ancient Egyptian inscriptions and texts.

  ​ By the end of the module, students will have d eveloped, applied and demonstrated the keys kills and acquired knowledge of the core elements of the Ancient Egyptian language (the core grammar of Middle Egyptian), focusing particularly on the tense and mood system and on clause combination in connected text.

Programme Year One

Single Honours (100%) students will be introduced to the language (writing, grammar and texts) and to the the archaeology, history and culture of Ancient Egypt.

Six core Egyptology modules

Up to two optional modules outside of Egyptology

Programme Year Two

You progress to study the language and texts of all periods (including Coptic), as well as Egyptian art, religion, history, and society.

Students take eight core modules.

Compulsory modules

• Sacred Landscape In Ancient Egypt (ALGY244) Level 2 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 65:35 Aims

  1. ALGY 244 is designed to explore themes of how the ancient Egyptians viewed the world around them.

  2. ​To look at the ways in which the Egyptians saw the presence and operation of the divine within the natural environment, and how they built structures (especially temples and tombs) which allowed contact between the living and other spiritual entities (the gods, the dead).

  3. To emphasise especially the ways in which the Egyptians intergrated notions of ''sacred landscape'' into their everyday lives.

   

  Learning Outcomes

  Students will gain a deep understanding of the complexities of sacred landscapes in ancient Egypt through a comprehensive approach to the material as presented by the Module Tutor and through their directed reading.

  ​By examining significant case studies of individual sacred landscapes students will derive a broader understanding of the issues involved than by concentrating on broader bodies of data alone.

  ​Students will develop an understanding of the interelationships between the natural environment, royal monuments, private monuments and, most importantly, the way the natural and built environment actually used, and the way that use changed, over a significant period of time.

• Writing Ancient Egyptian History (ALGY247) Level 2 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 0:100 Aims

• To encourage collation and analysis of primary data (textual and archaeological) in order to build an evidence based picture of a particular historical issue.

• ​To consolidate knowledge of, and deepen understanding of, key Ancient Egyptian historical episodes.

• ​To increase self-confidence and analytical methodology through group activity and discussion during seminars.

Learning Outcomes

Students will understand how to collect key data for reconstruction of historical episodes

Students will be able to use appropriate methodologies to combine and analyse different types of data, and acknowledge the limitations of that data. Through this, students will sharpen interpretative skills 

​Students will have developed their ability to read critically (particularly in reading modern histories of Ancient Egypt) and to treat the available evidence sensibly

The module also advances information literacy through use of library facilities, bibliographic sources, online bibliographies and other relevant internet resources

• Middle Egyptian Texts I (ALGY251) Level 2 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 50:50 Aims
  1. ALGY 251 is designed to promote the acquisition of key skills for the understanding of the Ancient Egyptian language at intermediate level and also key skills for interpreting and understanding Ancient Egyptian texts.
  2. To emphasise the use of original Ancient Egyptian writings as sources for the study of Ancient Egypt, and on developing an appreciation of these texts in their social, historical and cultural context.
  3. To help students to prepare and present a hieroglyphic text in standard transliteration and translation, and to identify appropriate forms of commentary (literary and linguistic) on such a text. Students will also develop independent use of standard reference works. ​
  Learning Outcomes Students will be able to read Ancient Egyptian texts at intermediate level through a programme of text-reading (primary sources) in class, particularly in terms of reading hieroglyphic signs and assessing and understanding the grammar of Ancient Egyptian texts to see how they are composed and how the intended meaning is conveyed.

  ​ Students will be able to assess Ancient Egyptian texts critically in their...