Study Guide: Fantasies about Egypt and Egyptology

Important names, terms, and concepts

Egyptology

gender and race

colonialism

Discussion Questions

Elizabeth Peters is a real Egyptologist in Britain, and her Amelia Peabody mystery series is a best-seller.  Crocodile on the Sandbank is the first novel in the series.  If you're interested, you can check out "Amelia's" website: http://www.ameliapeabody.com/

Pick something about ancient Egypt and Egyptology in the book that you want to discuss in class. Be prepared to talk about the issue of Egypt and Egyptology in popular culture.

How is the field of Egyptology represented? How do the movies we've seen, the Peters book, or other popular TV shows, films, etc., you might have seen compare to what real Egyptologists have to do and study, from what you have seen on the Egyptology websites?

What do you think about the depiction of race in the book?  Is it similar to what we saw in The Mummy or anything else we've seen this semester? 

Do you think this is supposed to be a serious (or semi-serious) mystery novel or a satire of genre films and novels, like The Mummy?  If the latter, what does it satirize?