Dynastic Egypt: Continuity and Metamorphosis

Pre-requisites: Good command of the English language, as well as working knowledge of German or French

Course objectives: To support students in the research of social processes in a general sense based on the complex and varied data founded on a theoretical and methodological approach; Inter/multi-disciplinary approach to research is encouraged.

Course description: Easily noticed in style in visual art and the use of hieroglyphic writing, continuity can be studied in the religious, social and economic system of Dynastic Egypt. Ancient Egyptians themselves gave great importance to stability, immutability, and the passage of time they viewed as cyclical (daily cycle, yearly rhythm of nature, reign of a particular ruler) and at the same time as eternity, yet the concept of change was perceived as something negative. Contact with the rest of the world, economic crisis or growth, social mobility, relation between the capital and the provinces, changes in technology are some of the factors, which have interdependently brought on the changes. Viewed over a long time period some aspects of Egyptian culture have endured visible changes especially during the Greek and Roman rule when some of its manifestations have gone through a metamorphosis. The starting point of social change research will be the funerary monuments and written sources, besides archaeological material, other scientific sources will be used for its analysis.

Learning Outcomes: Class attendance, essay and written examination

Literature/Reading:

• BAINES, J. 1983. Literacy and Ancient Egyptian Society. Man: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society 18(3): 572-599.
• BAINES, J. 1996. Contextualizing Egyptian representations of society and ethnicity. In The Study of the Ancient Near East in the 21st Century, ed. by J. S. Cooper and G. Schwartz, 339–84. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
• BOCHI, P. A. 1994. Images of Time in Ancient Egyptian Art. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 31: 55-62.
• GOZZOLI, R. 2009.History and Stories in Ancient Egypt. Theoretical Issues and the Myth of the Eternal Return.In Das Ereignis Geschichtsschreibung zwischen Vorfall und Befund,ed. M.Fitzenreiter,103-115
• QUIRKE, S. 2009-2010. Provincializing elites: defining regions as social relations. In Elites et pouvoir en Egypte ancienne, ed. by J. C. Moreno García= CRIPEL 28: 51-66.
• RIGGS, C. 2005. The Beautiful Burial in Roman Egypt. Art, Identity, and Funerary Religion, Oxford: OUP.
• SHORTLAND, A.J. (ed.). 2001. The Social Context of Technological Change. Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East 1650-1150 BC. Oxford: Oxbow.
• WENKE, R.J. 1997. Anthropology, Egyptology, and the Concept of Cultural Change. In Anthropology and Egyptology. A Developing Dialogue, ed. by J. Lustig, 117-136. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
• WILLEMS, H. (ed.). 2001. Social Aspects of Funerary Culture in the Egyptian Old and Middle Kingdoms. OLA 103. Leuven: Peeters.
• ASMAN, J. 2011. Kultura pamćenja. Beograd: Prosveta.
• BOURIAU, J., and J. PHILLIPS (eds.). 2004. Invention and Innovation: The Social. Context of. Technological. Change. 2. Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East 1650-1150 BC. Oxford: Oxbow.
• BOURRIAU, J. 1991. Patterns of change in burial customs during the Middle Kingdom. In Middle Kingdom Studies, ed. by S. Quirke, 3-20. New Malden: SIA Publishing.
• PARKINSON, R.B. 2002. Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt. A Dark Side of Perfection. London: Continuum Press.
• VASILJEVIĆ, V. 2001. Von der Kontinuität des Themas von Bettenritual in Privatgräbern des Mittleren Reiches. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 29: 349-356.
• WENDRICH, W. 2010, Epilogue: Eternal Egypt Deconstructed. In Egyptian Archaeology, W. Wendrich (ed.), 274-278. Oxford: Willey-Blackwell.