Ancient Egypt: five places, five stories

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.

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.

Target audience

Anyone interested in archaeology, ancient history, Egyptology or travel. Those studying archaeology and wanting to expand their geographic and/or temporal range.

Welcome week (Week 0)

Purpose:

• personal introductions
• introducing the course
• useful reading
• personal objectives

Learning outcomes:

By studying this week, the students should have: 

• become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
• test your ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sort out any problems with the help of the Technology Enhanced Learning team
• learn how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
• contribute to a discussion forum to introduce yourself to other students and discuss why you are interested in the course and what you hope to get out of your studies 

Teaching Week 1: Abydos

Purpose:

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

Purpose:

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

Purpose:

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

Purpose:

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

Purpose:

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

Week 6: what next? 

• assessment of student learning
• assessment of student satisfaction
• encouragement of further study

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.  

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences. 

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language to get the maximum benefit from the course. 

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 of self-study time, for example, reading materials, 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). 

Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the 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 (using discussion boards etc).

Fees 

The course fee includes access to the course on our VLE, personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a certificate of participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes. 

Concessions 

For more information, please see our concessions information page. 

Alison Fordham Bursary

University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our VLE, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses. 

Application criteria:  

• applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study
• applicants who can demonstrate financial need 

For more information, please see our bursaries information page. 

A certificate of participation and a digital credential will be awarded to those who contribute constructively to weekly discussions, exercises and assignments for the duration of the course.