Schedule of Assignments
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Page last updated 1/15/04


Students, please note:  Study guides, announcements, and other important documents are posted on the WebCT site for this course.  If you missed a day of class or lost a handout, please check the WebCT site!

CP1 = Coursepack #1
CP2 = Coursepack #2

I.  A Historical and Cultural Overview
Tuesday Jan 20:  Introduction to the Course

Thursday Jan 22:  Who Were the Ancient Egyptians?  Language, Chronology, and the Emergence of "Egypt"
Visit and thoroughly explore the British Museum's exhibit "Cracking Codes" about the Rosetta Stone
Shaw:  First check out the timeline beginning on p. 479, then read Chapter 1, skim Chapter 3, and read Chapter 4
Recommended:  Check out pre-dynastic art at the Metropolitan Museum's collection highlights #1, #2, #3

Tuesday Jan 27:  What Was Egyptian Society?  Social History, Social World, and the Emergence of "Egypt"
(CP1) "Ethnic Diversity"
Either "Social Institutions" (CP1) or "Private Life" (CP1) from Civilizations of the Ancient Near East
Recommended:  Explore The Art of Ancient Egypt: A Web Resource from the Met; in particular click on "Themes" and look at the section on "The People of Ancient Egypt"

Thursday Jan 29:  What Were Their Religious Beliefs?  Rituals, Myths, and Deities
(CP1) David Silverman, "Divinity and Deities in Ancient Egypt," in Byron E. Shafer, Religion in Ancient Egypt, 7-58
(CP1) "Myth and Mythmaking in Ancient Egypt" from Civilizations of the Ancient Near East
Lichtheim II, 197-200, 214-223
For help visualizing the major deities, see The Art of Ancient Egypt: A Web Resource from the Met; in particular click on "Themes" and look at the section on "Ancient Egyptian Beliefs"

II.  Old Kingdom Egypt
Tuesday Feb 3:  Government, Religion, Economics & Early OK History (Dynasties 3-5)
Shaw, 89-109
Lichtheim I, 18-28, 51-57
(CP1) Silverman, "Divinity and Deities," 58-73
Explore the Introduction and the sections on "Royalty,"  "Officials and their Families," "Artisans and Occupations," and "Objects from Daily Life" on the Metropolitan Museum's exhibit Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids

Thursday Feb 5:  Later OK History, Literature, & Religion (Dynasties 5-8)
Shaw, 109-117
Lichtheim I:  58-80, 215-222

Tuesday Feb 10:  Funerary Practices
(CP1) Grimal 102-106, 128-136
Lichtheim I, 15-27
Visit Old Kingdom tombs at

Thursday Feb 12:  The Pyramids and the Sphinx
(CP1) Grimal, 107-128
Lichtheim I, 29-50
Visit the Giza complex at The PBS Nova Site on Old Kingdom Egypt

III.  The Middle Kingdom
Tuesday Feb 17:  First Intermediate Period
Shaw, 119-147
Lichtheim I, 83-109

Thursday Feb 19:  Middle Kingdom History and Politics
Shaw, 148-176, 178-179
Lichtheim I, 113-120, 134-145, 222-235
Check out some Middle Kingdom art at the Met's collection highlights #7-#18

Friday Feb 20:  Paper #1 Due at 5 pm on the WebCT Site

Tuesday Feb 24:  Middle Kingdom Funerary Practices & Literature
Shaw, 176-178, 179-183
Lichtheim I, 120-133, 146-192, 193-197, 202-204, 211-215
Check out the pyramids and rock-cut tombs at the University College of London's Digital Egypt site on MK architecture .  Be sure you've gone to

Thursday Feb 26: MK Literature Continued & the Second Intermediate Period
Continue discussion of MK Lit in Lichtheim I
Shaw, 185-217

IV.  The New Kingdom
Tuesday Mar 2:  Exam #1 in Class

Thursday Mar 4:  The Tuthmosids
Shaw, 218-271
Lichtheim II, 29-48, 81-89
Recommended:  Check out some New Kingdom art at the Met's collection highlights #19-28

Tuesday Mar 9:  Spring Break

Thursday Mar 11:  Spring Break

Tuesday Mar 16:  Hatshepsut
(CP2) Tyldesley, Hatshepsut, 99-153
Lichtheim II, 25-29
View and compare these depictions of Hatshepsut with each other and with other statues of pharaohs and women you have already studied:
Visit Hatshepsut's temple:

Thursday Mar 18:  Akhenaten's & Nefertiti's "Revolution"
Shaw, 272-294
Lichtheim II, 48-51, 89-103
View and thoroughly explore the Pharaohs of the Sun Exhibit at the Boston MFA's website

Tuesday Mar 23:  The Ramessid Era
(CP2) Grimal, 245-261, 267-292
Lichtheim II, 52-78

Thursday Mar 25:  Monumental Temples and the Priesthood
(CP2) Grimal 261-267, 293-308
(CP2) Gerald Haeny, "New Kindom 'Mortuary Temples,'" 86-90, 107-126
Visit the temples of Luxor & Karnak in Luxor; Abu Simbel; Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum, and the Colossi of Memnon at:
Tuesday Mar 30:  New Kingdom Funerary Practices
Lichtheim II, 11-24, 119-132, 197-199
Visit and spend a LONG time at the best site for the Valley of the Kings at http://www.kv5.com/ Visit the most decorated tomb, Nefertari's tomb in the Valley of the Queens

Thursday Apr 1:  The Book of the Dead & Colonial Egypt in Popular Culture
(CP2) Said, Orientalism selections
View The Mummy (1932) at scheduled screening (TBA)

Tuesday Apr 6:  Popular Culture and Popular Religion
(CP2) Pinch, Magic in Ancient Egypt, 90-103, 120-32 ("Figurines & Statues" and "Fertility")
Lichtheim II, 104-116, 181-186
(CP2) Romer, Ancient Lives, "Oracle," 100-105
(CP2) Foster, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 90 (a love spell)

V.  The End of the Pharaohs
Thursday Apr 8:  The Later Periods
Shaw, 330-366, 369-394
Lichtheim II, 224-230
Lichtheim III, 13-18, 29-41, 66-84, 86-89

Friday Apr 9:  Paper # 2 Due at 5 pm on the WebCT Site

Tuesday Apr 13:  Egypt under Greek Rule
Shaw, 395- 421
(CP2) Selections from Herodotus
Visit the Ptolemaic Temple of Isis at Philae near Aswan
Explore an exhibit of Greco-Roman mummies at the Met
Learn about Cleopatra at the British Museum (click on the links with the blue dots in the lower right to follow the exhibit)

Thursday Apr 15:  Egypt under Roman Rule
Shaw, 421-445
(CP2) Selections from The Golden Ass
(CP2) Selections from Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris

Tuesday Apr 20:  Exam #2

V.  Egypt in Popular American Culture
Thursday Apr 22:  The Exodus Narrative in History & Culture
Exodus 1:1-6:13, 6:28-7:13, then skim the first 9 plagues, & 11:1-14:31
Reread Lichtheim II, 73-78
(CP2) Cone, The Spirituals and the Blues, selections
(CP2) Select slave spirituals
View Prince of Egypt at the scheduled screening (TBA)

Tuesday Apr 27:  Afrocentrism and Egypt in African American Culture
(CP2) Albert J. Raboteau, "Exodus, Ethiopia, and Racial Messianism:  Texts and Contexts of African American Chosenness" in Many are Chosen:  Divine Election and Western Nationalism
(CP2) Berlinerblau, Heresy in the University, selections
Get started on Crocodile in the Sandbank!

Thursday Apr 29:  Fantasies about Egyptology
Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank
View Stargate in scheduled screening TBA
Bibliographies for research projects due in class

Thursday May 6:  Exam Period, 1:30-4:00 pm
Small research projects due
Screening & discussion of al-Mummia