For the research paper I would like to explore the media in Egypt. I think that with media technology now days it is so important to explore the way things used to be. The way that ancient Egypt communicated and passed down information from one person to the next. Egypt is the most progressive country in the Middle East when it comes to the field of media. Media is very important in Egyptian culture. Whether it is journalism, music, the arts, etc. The biggest newspaper is called “Al Ahram,” along with other newspapers. Their radio broadcasting system transmits programs throughout the Arab world in Arabic, English, French and other languages as well. They have five national television channels and is the only Arab country that has been in the movie industries since the 1930’s. Egypt has many entertainment venues, including Cairo Opera House, National Puppet Theater, and others as well as many museums. I think that there is a lot to work with. I wanted to talk about the evolution of the media, such as writing, and the impact that it has had on Egyptian culture. One thing that I came across was that University of Michigan (sorry guys) has the largest collection of ancient papyri in North America. With just writing and letters you can get a lot of information on what life was like back then. The documents in the Papyrology Collection, which span roughly 2,000 years, contain not only important religious texts, also personal letters, school primers, sales contracts and other records that paint a portrait of everyday life. I want my main focus to be on writing and how it I want to write about media because of how it even shapes todays society. The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate information about religion and government so because they thought it was so important to record these things that I will focus on that. And because of that they invented written scripts that could be used to record this information. Some were made out of papyrus, clay, or from a paper like product called reed-fiber.
In visual and written culture in ancient Egypt By John Baines he talks about how language and writing are intertwined stating, “The execution of writing is enveloped by language that is not identical with the words that are written but comments on the creation of written objects and their exploitation, through general setting, reading aloud, explication, and so forth.” I’d like to explore that as well so that its not just on the history of paper but analyze how it is intertwined with language and communication
https://www.lib.umich.edu/papyrology-collection
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/lib/michstate-ebooks/reader.action?docID=416031&query=
First, I am guilty of this as well but it is refreshing to see a research proposal not related to mortuary practices or death in Egypt. Nonetheless, it seems as though you have a general idea on what you would like to research but your focuses vary. You state:
“I want my main focus to be on writing and how it I want to write about media because of how it even shapes todays society;” AND
“I wanted to talk about the evolution of the media, such as writing, and the impact that it has had on Egyptian culture;” AND
“The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate information about religion and government so because they thought it was so important to record these things that I will focus on that.”
Is your focus Egyptian writing and how it has shaped Egyptian culture while exploring its evolution-ancient Egyptian writing to modern writing? If so, yes there is ample literature on Egyptian writing, but that does not mean there are not avenue that have not been research yet. Ask yourself what isn’t known that you would like to know; what research has not been reevaluated in the last 50-70 years on Egyptian writing and how can that be compared/contrasted to what we know today about it; look into specific types of writing-hieroglyphs versus demotic versus hieratic-and question their relationship to each other. I am just trying to encourage a question that you do not know the answer to about Egyptian writing, or a question that has had that same answer for too long and ways you can contribute to a new answer about Egyptian writing. In so far that you are not summarizing Egyptian writing, but rather providing insight about it.