| CODE | NES2025 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Ancient Egypt | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit offers an overview of ancient Egypt as one of the earliest civilizations, which arose alongside the great river of the Nile. The major cultural feats of the ancient Egyptians will be discussed with the examples of the rich material and archaeological remains in question, stemming from the excavated layers dating from Pre-Dynastic Egypt down to the Coptic period. The origins of writing in Egypt will also be tackled, offering basic notions on the writing systems employed in ancient Egypt. A number of variegated cultural topics will be presented, such as, architecture, legal matters, business transactions, writing, literature, and trade. Study-unit Aims: - To present the major cultural feats of ancient Egypt from the Pre-Dynastic period up to the Coptic period; - To help students appreciate the major inventions and developments in various areas, including those of writing, art, and architecture; - To show how human civilization is intrinsically linked to the geographical environment. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Compare and contrast a variegated set of cultural sets (ranging from writing and art to architecture and trade) which prevailed in ancient Egypt; - Recall the major contributions made to humanity in general by the people of ancient Egypt; - Recognize and explain the intrinsic link between art and writing in ancient Egypt. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe the key stages that led to the invention of writing in ancient Egypt; - Identify and analyse the main sources of archaeological and written evidence that helps us explain ancient Egyptian societies; - Recall and explain the key social, cultural and economic links between Egyptian and Levantine societies. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main: - Brewer, Douglas J. (2012) The Archaeology of Ancient Egypt: Beyond Pharaohs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - Ikram, Salima (2009) Ancient Egypt: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - Riggs, Christina (2014) Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Shaw, Ian (2021) Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Supplementary: - Kemp, Barry (2005) Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization. 2nd edn. London: Routledge. - Wilson, Penelope (2003) Hieroglyphs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press. The above is a sample list of bibliographic items. The lecturer will provide a more detailed bibliography in class and on VLE. |
||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Abigail Zammit |
||||||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||||||||