Schedule

WEEK 1 (8/30)

  • Introduction to the class
  • Student responsibilities, assignments, grading, etc
  • Expectations
  • Schedule breakdown
  • Introduction to the Digital Atlas of Egyptian Archaeology class project

WEEK 2 (9/4 & 9/6)

I’m away in DC on 9/6,  so class is cancelled.  We’ll play catch up in Week 3 and cover anything we missed covering in Week 2

  • The Environment of the Nile Valley & Surrounding Area
  • Chronology of (and in) Ancient Egypt
  • Understanding the Language & Writing of the Ancient Egyptians

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 3 (The Environmental Background to Pharaonic Civilization: Geography, Environment, Agriculture, and Natural Resources)
  • Hassan, Fekri (1997). The Dynamics of a Riverine Civilization: A Geoarchaeological Perspective on the Nile Valley, Egypt. World Archaeology 29(1), pp. 51-74; Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/124996 (accessible though MSU libraries e-resources services)
  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 2 (Hieroglyphs, Language, and Pharaonic Chronology)
  • Ward, William (1992). The Present Status of Egyptian Chronology. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 288, pp. 53-66; Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1357231 (accessible though MSU libraries e-resources services)

WEEK 3 (9/11 & 9/13)

  • A Brief History of Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology
  • Archaeology vs. Egyptology
  • The role of collecting, collectors, and collections in the emergence of Egyptian Archaeology
  • Egyptomania and Egyptian Archaeology

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, pp 3-22
  • Hassan, Fekri (2010). Egypt in the Memory of the World. In Willeke Wendrich (Ed.), Egyptian Archaeology (pp. 259-273) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (read)

WEEK 4 (9/18 & 9/20)

  • Origins of Agricultural and the Neolithic in the Nile Valley
  • The Neolithic vs. The Predynastic
  • The Beginnings of the Predynastic

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 4 (Egyptian Prehistory: The Paleolithic and Neolithic)

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Blog #1 Due (post Due Thursday by 5pm, response due Sunday by 5pm)

WEEK 5 (9/25 & 9/27)

  • The emergence and fluorescence of the Predynastic in Lower Egypt
  • Case Study: Ma’adi & Buto
  • 9/27 – Today, the class will meet in the LEADR lab (Old Hort 112).  This will be the first of your digital skills workshops for the Digital Digital Atlas of Egyptian Archaeology class project. The skills covered in this workshop relate specifically to the first DAEA assignment (which is due at the end of Week 7)

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, pp 95-112

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Choose your site (for the Digital Atlas of Egyptian Archaeology project) by 9/28 (before 5pm) from the list on the Assignments page.  Email Ethan with your selection.  Those students who don’t make their choice by the due date will be randomly assigned a site from those remaining.
  • Create a GitHub account
  • Complete Intro to GitHub course
  • Download and install the GitHub desktop client on your computer

WEEK 6 (10/2 & 10/4)

  • 10/2 –  Today, the class will meet in the LEADR lab (Old Hort 112).  This will be the second of your digital skills workshops for the Digital Digital Atlas of Egyptian Archaeology class project. The skills covered in this workshop relate specifically to the first DAEA assignment (which is due at the end of Week 7)
  • The Foundations of the Predynastic in Upper Egypt: The Naqada Culture
  • The Upper Egyptian Predynastic Sequence
  • Upper Egyptian Predynastic Case Study: Hierakonpolis

ASSIGNMENTS

WEEK 7 (10/9 & 10/11)

  • 10/9 –  Today, the class will meet in the LEADR lab (Old Hort 112).  This will be an open lab period that you can use to work on your first DAEA assignment (which is due on Friday by 5pm).  This is also when/where you should get help on completing the first DAEA assignment.  This is not an optional class.  If you have completed and submitted the assignment, you can work on researching your site.
  • The Foundation of the Egyptian State
  • Textual Evidence for the Unification of Egypt
  • Archaeological Evidence for the Unification of Egypt

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, pp 117-131
  • Kohler, E. Christiana (2010). Theories of State Formation. In Willeke Wendrich (Ed.), Egyptian Archaeology (pp. 36-54) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (read)
  • Michael Allen Hoffman, Hany A Hamroush and Ralph O. Allen (1986). A Model of Urban Development for the Hierakonpolis Region from Predynastic through Old Kingdom Times. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt , Vol. 23, (1986), pp. 175-187; Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40001098 (accessible though MSU libraries e-resources services)

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Blog #2 Due (post Due Thursday by 5pm, response due Sunday by 5pm)
  • DAEA Assignment 1 Due (Friday by 5pm). Do a pull request to include your Assignment 1 work into the main DAEA repository.  The pull request is what you do to “hand in” the assignment.  When you are doing that pull request, include something like “submitting assignment 1 material” in the pull request message.

WEEK 8 (10/16 & 10/18)

  • 10/16 –Today, the class will meet in the LEADR lab (Old Hort 112).  This will be the third of your digital skills workshops for the Digital Digital Atlas of Egyptian Archaeology class project. The skills covered in this workshop relate specifically to the second DAEA assignment (which is due at the end of this week). As we discussed last week, you need to come to class with at least 2 site images that you are going to use in your final site report.
  • 10/18 – Today, the class will meet in the LEADR lab (Old Hort 112).  This will be an open lab period that you can use to work on your second DAEA assignment (which is due on Friday by 5pm).  This is also when/where you should get help on completing the second DAEA assignment.  This is not an optional class.  If you have completed and submitted the assignment, you can work on researching your site.

ASSIGNMENTS

  • DAEA Assignment 2 Due (Friday by 5pm). Do a pull request to include your Assignment 2 work into the main DAEA repository.  The pull request is what you do to “hand in” the assignment.  When you are doing that pull request, include something like “submitting assignment 2 material” in the pull request message. As part of this assignment, students will also have to submit their site name, coordinates, site time period, and site description.  To submit, just use this form

WEEK 9 (10/23 & 10/25)

  • The Early Dynasties
  • Mortuary Practice in the Archaic: Abydos and the Early Dynastic Royal Tombs
  • Stability & State in the Old Kingdom
  • Age of the Pyramids

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, pp 133-165
  • Lehner, Mark (2002). The Pyramid Age Settlement of the Southern Mount at Giza. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 39, pp. 27-74; Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40001149 (accessible though MSU libraries e-resources services)

WEEK 10 (10/30 & 11/1)

  • Life During the Old Kingdom
  • Old Kingdom Case Study: Heit el-Ghurab (Lost City of the Pyramids)
  • Society, Economics, and Environment: The Collapse of the Old Kingdom
  • The First Intermediate Period
  • Recovery and Re-unification
  • The Middle Kingdom: Stability and Feudal Rivalries
  • Collapse of the Middle Kingdom

READINGS

  • Lehner, Mark (2010). Villages and the Old Kingdom. In Willeke Wendrich (Ed.), Egyptian Archaeology (pp. 85-101) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (read )
  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 6
  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 7

SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS

  • Wegner, Josef (2010). Tradition and Innovation: The Middle Kingdom. In Willeke Wendrich (Ed.), Egyptian Archaeology (pp. 119-142) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (read)

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Blog #3 Due (post Due Thursday by 5pm, response due Sunday by 5pm). For this one, you can “double dip” – posting your research paper proposal.  This means that you will receive feedback from your classmates (and offer feedback in return). The only difference is that you will need to comment on at least 2 posts (as opposed to just 1, like usual)

WEEK 11 (11/6 & 11/8)

  • The Second Intermediate Period
  • Immigration and Cosmopolitanism During the Second Intermediate Period
  • Foundation of the New Kingdom: The Egyptian Empire
  • The New Kingdom: The Military State
  • The “Heretic” Akhnaten?
  • Religious Politics and Power  in the New Kingdom
  • New Kingdom Case Study: Deir el-Medina
  • Loss & Collapse of Empire

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 8
  • Schneider, Thomas (2010). Foreigners in Egypt: Archaeological Evidence and Cultural Context. In Willeke Wendrich (Ed.), Egyptian Archaeology (pp. 143-163) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (read)

WEEK 12  (11/13 & 11/15)

  • 11/13 –Today, the class will meet in the LEADR lab (Old Hort 112).  This will be an open lab period that you can use to work on the final parts of your DAEA project (which is due on Friday by 5pm)   This is when/where you should get help on completing the project.  This is not an optional class.
  • 11/15 –Today, the class will meet in the LEADR lab (Old Hort 112).  This will be an open lab period that you can use to work on the final parts of your DAEA project (which is due on Friday by 5pm)   This is when/where you should get help on completing the project.  This is not an optional class.

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Final DAEA Project Due on Friday by 5pm. Do a pull request to include your work into the main DAEA repository.  The pull request is what you do to “hand in” the project.  When you are doing that pull request, include something like “handing in final project” in the pull request message.

WEEK 13 (11/20 & 11/22)

  • 11/20 class cancelled – Happy Thanksgiving.

WEEK 14 (11/27 & 11/29)

  • Third Intermediate Period
  • The waning political power and Social influence of Egypt in the Ancient Near East
  • Egypt and Assyria
  • The Late Period
  • Nubia, Kush, and Acculturation
  • Egyptian Hellenization
  • Late Period Mortuary Practices

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 9
  • Taylor, John (2010). Changes in the Afterlife. In Willeke Wendrich (Ed.), Egyptian Archaeology (pp. 220-240) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (read)

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Blog #4 Due (post Due Thursday by 5pm, response due Sunday by 5pm)

WEEK 15 (12/4 & 12/6)

  • Hellenistic Egypt
  • Agricultural & Economic Change
  • Roman Egypt
  • Core vs. Periphery: The Roman Province of Egypt
  • Roman Social Bureaucracy: Changes in Social Organization
  • Collapse of Roman Imperial Egypt and the Emergence of Christian Egypt

READINGS

  • An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Chapter 10
  • Wilson, Penelope (2010). Consolidation, Innovation, and Renaissance. In Willeke Wendrich (Ed.), Egyptian Archaeology (pp. 241-258) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (read)

FINALS WEEK

  • Final Research Paper Due 12/12 by 5pm
  • Bonus Blog Due 12/12 by 5pm (no response required)