Aims of the course
- To consider five aspects of ancient Egypt society from the starting point of five different locations
- To enhance participants' visits to Egypt - whether real or virtual - by presenting some of the less-well known locations and monuments in their context
- To show participants how they can use ancient sites and monuments to think more widely about how that society worked
Target audience
Anyone interested in archaeology, ancient history or travel. Those studying archaeology and wanting to expand their geographic and/or temporal range.
Course content overview
It is easy to see the impressive sites and monuments of ancient Egypt, whether in person, through books or virtually. We tend to see temples, tombs, pyramids and glorious artworks — the material traces of the state and the wealthy. These places prompt questions, however, about what they actually meant and how they functioned in a living society, especially in relation to the ordinary person:
- are there sites where we can see the beginning of the ancient Egyptian state?
- what can pyramids tell us about society at the time they were built?
- what did a city look like and how did it function?
- how did people make a living — who worked for whom and how did the wheels of the economy turn?
- was there scope for women to achieve autonomy?
- what were the relationships with other countries and other peoples?
Questions such as these will be discussed, with the tutor and peer-to-peer, by using one site or monument each week as a starting point. The course will also introduce comparable material to extend participants’ knowledge of the place or time period.
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)
Orientation Week: 19-25 February 2024
Teaching Weeks: 26 February-31 March 2024
Feedback Week: 1-7 April 2024
Teaching Week 1 - Abydos
This week will look at the many temples and cemeteries at Abydos and think about its importance from early Egyptian history to the latest periods — why was this place, never a capital city, so significant?
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- an understanding of the way in which dynastic Egypt was formed and the use of locational symbolism to affirm the unified nature of the country
- ideas about the different trajectories that this fledgling society might have taken
Teaching Week 2 - The pyramids of Seneferu
This week will present the history of pyramid building by focusing on those of Seneferu, the father of Khufu (who built the Great Pyramid) — how and why did this kind of huge monument develop and how was it funded and managed?
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- an idea of the relationship that an ordinary person would have with a state project and its construction and functioning, and hence with the state itself
- an insight into the Old Kingdom, the first florescence of ancient Egypt
Teaching Week 3 - Lahun
This week will use this pyramid, cemetery and town site in the Faiyum to demonstrate change in state priorities in the Middle Kingdom — why is the pyramid of a powerful and wealthy pharaoh a crumbled mound of brick?
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- an understanding of where Pharaoh was putting resources as ancient Egypt looked outside its borders
- a sense of the material culture of an ordinary ancient Egyptian person
Teaching Week 4 - Tell el-Amarna/Akhetaten
This week will show what a capital city of ancient Egypt looked like and ‘meet’ the inhabitants — can Akhetaten teach us about the other capitals, or it is too unusual?
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- acquired some knowledge of this brief and exceptional period of history and its extraordinarily well-preserved central site
- gained from biological anthropology a feeling of what life was like for the citizens of Akhetaten
Teaching Week 5 - The mortuary chapel of Amenirdis I, Medinet Habu
This week will offer a view of ancient Egypt that foregrounds women in power, by considering the God’s Wives of Amun, for a time the effective rulers of southern Egypt — and who were the Nubian pharaohs who used this ancient religious title to support their own rule and management of the country?
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- learned about a unique role for royal women that balanced that of the powerful factions competing for the throne
- considered the Nubian pharaohs and their manipulation of Egyptian institutions to reinforce their rule
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Virtual Learning Environment
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards etc).
Certificate of participation
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
What our students say:
"Dr. Corinne Duhig is a fabulous tutor. I am always impressed with the lesson plans of my last four years of enrollment in ICE/VLE. I will say to teach in Cambridge one must be in the top one percent of the top one percent and Dr. Duhig is defineitely in that category!!!!"
"This course was impressive in that it presented certain aspects of ancient Egypt in perspectives other than the conventional pharaohs, mummification, pyramids, etc. It was certainly an eye-opener to me and more than met my expectations."
"Corinne’s passion for the subject runs deep and this makes for a far more exciting course. I appreciated how she responded to any questions and to the online discussion activities."
"I think excellent materials and extensive reading lists make this an outstanding course already."
