Meet in R.S. Small Library, Room 311
| ANET | Pritchard, James. B., editor. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. with Supplement. Princeton. Princeton University Press, 1969. |
| AEL | Lichtheim, Miriam. Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings. Vol. 1, The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Vol. 2, The New Kingdom. Vol. 3, The Late Period. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1975, 1976, 1980. |
| CANE | Sasson, Jack M., editor-in-chief. Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Four volumes. New York: Scribner, 1995 onward. |
Note: The course readings listed below consist of Grimal's History and Lichtheim's 3-volume anthology (AEL), as well as assorted readings and texts located in the College Library Reference Room (marked Rf) or on Two-hour Reserve (marked Rs). Other readings are freely available below for downloading from this Web page (marked W). The full bibliographical citations of all the readings in the listing are found in the course Bibliography located on these Web pages (click to open).
Many of the Web-based readings are in HTML-format. Others are in PDF-format. To download and open the PDF-files, students need the program Adobat Acrobat Reader® resident on their computers and installed as a plug-in to their Web browser. This program is freely available for downloading and installing from the College of Charleston's Web page, "Software Depot" (click to open).
This class will adhere to the course schedule below. Even if we do not complete a particular unit in class on the date specified, we will move on to the next unit, and students will be responsible for the full material through the readings. However, the instructor still reserves the right to alter the schedule of lectures, discussions, and reading assignments at any time during the course.
| Week 1 | ||
| August 24: | Course Description; The Material Remains of Egyptian Civilization | |
| August 26: | The Land, Environment and the Agricultural Cycle | |
| Rs/W | Butzer, K. "Long-Term Nile Flood Variation and Political Discontinuities in Pharaonic Egypt," in From Hunters to Farmers, 102-112 (click to open) | |
| "Hymn to Hapy," (AEL 1, 204-09) | ||
| W | Piccione, P. "Basin Irrigation in Ancient Egypt" (click to open) | |
| W | Hoffman, M. "The Two Lands: An Ecological Perspective," 23-32 (click to open) | |
| Week 2 | August 31: | The Land, Environment and the Agricultural Cycle (cont'd.) |
| September 2: | Prehistoric Period and Evolution of the Nile River | |
| Grimal, History, 17-22 | ||
| Week 3 | ||
| September 7: | Ethnicities and Ethnologies of the Egyptians and Nubians | |
| Rs | Brace, C. L. et al. "Clines and Clusters Versus 'Race': A Test in Ancient Egypt and the Case of a Death on the Nile," 1-31 | |
| Rs | Trigger, B. "Nubian, Negro, Black, Nilotic?" 26-35 | Rs/Rf | Yurco, F. "Were the Ancient Egyptians Black or White?" Biblical Archaeology Review (Sept/Oct., 1989): 24-29, 58 |
| Rs | Optional: Bard, K. "Ancient Egyptians and the Issue of Race,"103-11 | |
| September 9: | Historiography and Library Resources for Egyptology Meet in R.S. Small Library, Room 311 | |
| Week 4 | CLASSES CANCELLED | |
| September 14 | ||
| September 16 | ||
| Week 5 | ||
| September 21: | MAP QUIZ: EGYPT | |
| Neolithic Era and Predynastic Period | ||
| Grimal, History, 22-34 | ||
| September 23 | Précis of Egyptian History | |
| Week 6 | ||
| September 28: | Unification and the Archaic Period | |
| Grimal, History, 34-59 | ||
| September 30: | Early Old Kingdom: Dynasties 3 - 5 | |
| Grimal, History, 63-78; 107-15 | ||
| "Three Tales of Wonder," (AEL 1, 215-22) | ||
| "Instruction of Ptahhotep," (AEL 1, 61-80) | ||
| Optional: "The Famine Stela," (AEL 3, 94-100) | Optional: "Instructions to Kagemni," (AEL 1, 59-61) | |
| Week 7 | ||
| October 5: | Midterm Examination (60 mins.) | |
| October 7: | Later Old Kingdom: Dynasties 6 - 8 | Video Presentation: "Who Built the Pyramids?" (16 mins.), OMT #2803 |
| Grimal, History, 78-93; 115-28 | ||
| "Inscription of Nefer-seshem-re, Called Sheshi," (AEL 1, 17) | ||
| "Charter of King Pepi I," (AEL 1, 28 ) | ||
| "Autobiography of Weni," (AEL 1, 18-23) | ||
| October 8: Last day to withdraw with grade of "W" | ||
| Week 8 | ||
| October 12: | First Intermediate Period: Dynasties 9 - 11 | |
| Grimal, History, 137-58 | ||
| "Autobiography of Ankhtifi," (AEL 1, 85-86) | ||
| "Instruction to Merikare," (AEL 1, 97-107) | ||
| "Inscription of Merer," (AEL 1, 87) | ||
| "Admonitions of Ipuwer," (AEL 1, 149-61) | ||
| Optional: "Inscription of Seneni," (AEL 1, 89-90) | ||
| Optional: "Inscription of Iti," (AEL 1, 88-89) | ||
| Optional: "Complaints of Khakheperre-sonb," (AEL 1, 145-48) | ||
| October 14: | Middle Kingdom: Dynasties 12 - 13 | |
| Grimal, History, 158-81 | ||
| "Prophecies of Neferti," (AEL 1, 139-44) | ||
| "Instruction of King Amenemhat," (AEL 1, 135-38 ) | ||
| "Stela of Sehetep-ib-re (excerpt)," (AEL 1, 128) | ||
| Optional: "Tale of Sinuhe," (AEL 1, 222-33) | ||
| Week 9 | ||
| October 19: | Religion, Cosmology, and Funerary Beliefs | |
| W | Excerpts from Egyptian Creation Myths (PFD-format; click to open) | |
| "Memphite Theology," (AEL 1, 51-56) | ||
| "Pyramid Texts: Utterances 273-274; 304," (AEL 1, 36-39) | ||
| "(Harper's) Song from the Tomb of King Intef;" (AEL 1, 194-97) | ||
| "Harper's Song from the Tomb of Neferhotep," (AEL 2, 115-16) | ||
| "Book of the Dead (excerpts only)": Chapters 23, 30B, 125, (AEL 2, 120, 121, 124-26, 128-29) | ||
| W | Allen, J. P. "Funerary Texts and Their Meaning," 38-49 (click to open) | |
| W | Wente, E. F. "Funerary Beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians: An Interpretation of the Burials and the Texts," 17-26 | |
| October 21: | Second Intermediate Period: Dynasties 14 - 17 | |
| Grimal, History, 182-92 | ||
| "Autobiography of Ahmose Son of Abana," (AEL 2, 12-15) | ||
| W | Smith, H. S. and Smith A. "The Kamose Stela," Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache 103 (1976): 59-62. (click to open) | |
| W | Wente, E. F. "The Quarrel of Apophis and Seknenre," 77-80 (click to open) | |
| Theme Paper Due (before 1:30 pm) | ||
| Week 10 | ||
| October 26: | Egypt: New Kingdom: Early Dynasty 18 | |
| Grimal, History, 192-225 | ||
| "Obelisk Inscription of Hatshepsut," (AEL 2, 25-29) | ||
| "Installation of the Vizier Rekhmire," (AEL 2, 21-24) | ||
| "Annals of Thutmose III," (AEL 2, 29-35) | ||
| "Sphinx Stela of Amenhotep II," (AEL 2, 39-42) | ||
| "Stela of Amenhotep III," (AEL 2, 43-48) | ||
| October 28: | Egypt: New Kingdom (Amarna Period) | |
| Grimal, History, 226-44 | ||
| W | Johnson, W. R. "The Revolutionary Role of the Sun in the Reliefs and Statuary of Amenhotep III," 2-4 | |
| "Boundary Stela of Akhenaten," (AEL 2, 48-51) | ||
| "Hymns to the Aten," (AEL 2, 89-100) | ||
| W/Rf | Wilson, "Akh-en-aton and Nefertiti," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 23 (1973): 235-241 (click to open); library copy located in Journals Reading Room, microfilm drawer #16. | |
| W/Rf | Goetze, A. "Suppiluliumas and the Egyptian Queen," in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 319 (click to open) | |
| Rs | Optional: Moran, W. L. The Amarna Letters, 12-37, 41-42, 86-89 (= letter nos.: EA 7, EA 8, EA 10, EA 11, EA 14, EA 17, EA 26). | |
| Week 11 | ||
| November 2: | New Kingdom: Dynasties 19 - 20 | |
| Grimal, History, 245-77, 287-92 | ||
| "Battle of Kadesh," (AEL 2, 57-72) | ||
| W | Goetze, A. "Hattusilis on Muwatallis' War against Egypt," in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 319 (click to open) | |
| Rf | Wilson, J. A. "The Treaty Between the Hittites and Egypt," in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 199-201. | |
| "Poetical Stela of Merneptah (Israel Stela)," (AEL 2, 73-78) | ||
| November 4: | Late Bronze Age Migrations and the Invasion of the Sea People | |
| Dothan, T. "The 'Sea Peoples' and the Philistines of Ancient Palestine," in CANE 2, 1267-1281. | ||
| Rf | Wood, "The Philistines Enter Canaan," Biblical Archaeology Review 17/6 (Nov/Dec., 1991): 44-52; library copy located in Journals Reading Room | |
| Rf | "A Syrian Interregnum," in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 260). | |
| W/Rf | Wilson, J. A. "The War Against the Peoples of the Sea," in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 262-263 (click to open) | |
| W/Rf | Wilson, J. A. "Summary of the Northern Wars," in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 262). (click to open) | |
| W | Edgerton and Wilson, Historical Records of Ramesses III, 38-43. (click to open) | |
| Week 12 | ||
| November 9: | Language and Writing | |
| Rs | Gardiner, A. H. Egyptian Grammar, "Introduction," 5-24c | |
| W/Rs | Ray, J. D. "The Emergence of Writing in Egypt," 307-16 (click to open) | |
| Rs | Cernư, J. Legacy of Egypt, "Language and Writing," 197-219 | |
| November 11: | Literacy, Education, and Social Advancement | |
| "Satire of the Trades," (AEL 1, 184-91) | ||
| "Papyrus Lansing (sects. 1-8 only)," (AEL 2, 168-72) | ||
| "The Immortality of Writers," (AEL 2, 175-77) | ||
| W | Williams, R. J. "Scribal Training in Ancient Egypt," 214-21 (click to open) | |
| Week 13 | ||
| November 16: | Late Period: Dynasties 21 - 22 (Third Intermediate Period) | |
| Grimal, History, 311-33 | ||
| "Report of Wenamun," (AEL 2, 224-30) | ||
| November 18: | Late Period: Dynasties 25 - 26 (Kushite Era and Saite Period) | |
| Grimal, History, 334-66 | ||
| "Victory Stela of King Piye,"(AEL 3, 66-84) | ||
| "Victory Stela of King Psamtik II,"(AEL 3, 84-86) | ||
| Week 14 | ||
| November 23: | MAP QUIZ 2: NUBIA AND KUSH | |
| Economy and the State | ||
| Rf | Bleiberg, E. "The Economy of Ancient Egypt," CANE 3, 1373-85 | |
| Rs | Janssen, Jac. "The Role of the Temple in the Egyptian Economy during the New Kingdom," 505-15 | |
| November 25: | THANKSGIVING -- NO CLASS | |
| Week 15 | ||
| November 30: | Role and Position of Women in Egyptian Society | |
| Rs | "Stela of Qedes from Gebelein," (AEL 1, 90) | |
| "Stela of Taimhotep," (AEL 3, 59-64) | ||
| W | Ward, W. "The Egyptian Economy and Non-royal Women: Their Status in Public Life" (1996).(click to open) | |
| Rs | Lesko, B. "Women's Monumental Mark on Ancient Egypt," 4-15 | |
| W | Bryan, B. "The Evidence for Female Literacy from Theban Tombs of the New Kingdom," 17-32 | |
| Rs | Optional: Ward, W. "The Case of Mrs. Tchat and Her Sons at Beni Hasan," 51-59 | |
| Rs | Optional: Allam, S. "Women as Owners of Immovables in Pharaonic Egypt," 123-39 | |
| Term Paper Due 11/30/99 (by end of class) | ||
| December 2: | Late Period: Dynasties 27 - 31 (Persian Dominations I & II) | |
| Grimal, History, 367-88 | ||
| "Autobiography of Udjahorresne," (AEL 3, 36-41) | ||
| "Naukratis Stela of King Nectanebo I," (AEL 3, 86-89) | ||
| Week 16 | ||
| December 7: | Summation and Course Review | |