Dynastic Egypt: holy and secular spaces

Pre-requisites: Good command of the English language.

Course objectives: To achieve an in-depth understanding of how Ancient Egyptian and our perceptions of the holy and secular permeate each other; to develop an independent point of view regarding different aspects of social relations and conduct in Dynastic Egypt.

Course description: The introductory part of the course reviews key questions regarding social organization (including the family level), view of the world, understanding the concept of appropriate behavior, and economy. The course focuses on how much were religion and holy places integrated in every-day life. Using specific examples of settlements, necropoli and temples, students will study how these spaces developed, how they were used, what is their relation to one another and the surrounding environment, with a special overview of changes in appreciation and use of these spaces. The way in which the picture of social and economic practice is reconstructed will be continuously analyzed through the study of a variety of primary sources and some of their published interpretation.

Learning Outcomes: Midterm examination and oral examination.

Literature/Reading:

• AUFRÈRE, S.H. 2001. The Egyptian temple, substitute for the mineral universe. In Colour and Painting in Ancient Egypt, ed. by W.V. Davies, 158-163. London: British Museum.
• BAINES, J. 1990. Restricted Knowledge, Hierarchy, and Decorum: Modern Perceptions and Ancient Institutions. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 28: 1-23.
• BAINES, J. 1997. Temples as symbols, guarantors, and participants in Egyptian civilization. In The Temple in Ancient Egypt, ed. by S. Quirke, 216-241. London: British Museum.
• BLOXAM, E. and T. HELDAL. 2007. The Industrial Landscape of the Northern Faiyum Desert as a World Heritage Site. World Archaeology 39(3): 305-323.
• DORMAN, P.F. and B.M. BRYAN (eds.). 2007. Sacred Space and Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, SAOC 61. Chicago: The Oriental Institute.
• JEFFREYS, D., and A. TAVARES. 1994. The Historic Landscape of Early Dynastic Memphis, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairo 50: 143-173.
• JEEFREYS, D. 2010. Regionality, Cultural and Cultic Landscapes. In Egyptian Archaeology, ed. by W. Wendrich, 102-118. Oxford: Willey-Blackwell.
• LAZARIDIS, N. 2008. Ethics. in: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, ed. by E. Frood and W. Wendrich. Los Angeles. http://repositories.cdlib.org/nelc/uee/1021
• LOVE, S. 2006. Stones, ancestors, and pyramids: investigating the pre-pyramid landscape of Memphis. In The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Proceedings of the Conference, ed. by M. Barta, pp. 209-218. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology.
• MAGLI, G. 2011. From Abydos to the Valley of the Kings and Amarna: the conception of royal funerary landscapes in the New Kingdom. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 11(2): 23-36. (2011). http://www.maajournal.com/
• MESKELL, L. 1998. An Archaeology of Social Relations in an Egyptian Village. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 5(3): 209-243.
• MCDOWELL, A. G. 2001. Village Life in Ancient Egypt. Laundry Lists and Love Songs, Oxford: OUP.
• LESKO, L.H. (Ed.).1994. Pharaoh’s Workers. The Villagers of Deir el Medina. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• TRIGGER, B.G. 1993. Early Civilizations. Ancient Egypt in Context. Cairo: AUC Press.
• O’CONNOR, D. 2009. Abydos. Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris. London: Thames & Hudson.
• BIERBRIER, M. 1989. The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs. Cairo: AUC Press.
• GILLAM, R. 2005. Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt. London: Duckworth.
• RICHARDS, J., Society and Death in Ancient Egypt. Mortuary Landscapes of the Middle Kingdom, Cambridge 2005.
• BAINES, J. and P. LACOVARA. 2002. Burial and the dead in ancient Egyptian society. Respect, formalism, neglect. Journal of Social Archaeology 2(1): 5-36.