Ancient Egypt at Howard University
Egyptian Archaeology
Ann Macy Roth
Department of Classics

The course in Egyptian Archaeology is offered in the "Writing Across the Curriculum" program, and fulfills the third writing requirement.  It introduces the architecture and artifacts used in reconstructing the history of ancient Egypt, and the techniques used in their archaeological interpretation.  The class sessions are largely lectures illustrated with slides, but they also include discussion of the questions raised by the material.   The course is offered in alternate years.

Syllabus (Spring 1999)

E G Y P T I A N    A R C H A E O L O G Y
Writing-Intensive Course 005-719-01

Tuesdays & Thursdays 2:10-3:30; Locke 257
Spring Semester 1999

Administrative Information

Instructor: Dr. Ann Macy Roth
Office: Locke Hall 266; 806-5861; e-mail: amroth@ix.netcom.com
Office Hours: T-Th: 11-12:30; by appointment T 3:30-5 and Wednesday

Who can take this course: Students with a C or better in English 003 or 004 (or a passing grade for students outside the College of Arts and Sciences), who have not previously taken Egyptian Archaeology

Credits: Egyptian Archaeology-WRTG gives the student three credits and also fulfills the third writing requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences. The course is required for students pursuing the Egyptology concentration within the Classical Civilization major in the Classics Department.

Required Books:

W. Stevenson Smith, The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt
Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization
Vivian Davies & Renée Friedman, Egypt Uncovered

All three books should be available at the bookstore. Handouts will be provided for other readings. Some journal assignments will be taken from internet sites. Be sure also to explore the sites listed on the Egyptology links page of the Department of Classics Web site: http://www.founders.howard.edu/classics/classics/egyptolo.htm

Recommended Books:

Students are required to have a standard grammar, such as that used in English 003 and 004. I have also ordered (for those students who feel their grammar could use additional help), a very accessible, cheap, and readable guide to improving grammar:

Patricia O'Conner, Woe is I

Introduction

To most people, the archaeology of Egypt is an intriguing topic, inspiring visions of pyramids, sphinxes, temples, palaces, and other ancient mysteries, brought to light by intrepid scholars in pith helmets. But unlike Indiana Jones, modern archaeologists are not looking for buried treasure, but for clues to ancient behavior. What did the ancient Egyptians do at our site and what did they think they were doing? How did they live? What did they believe about life? These questions can only be answered by painstaking analysis of each layer of buried information that the Egyptians left for us.

Because excavating a site entails destroying it, it is absolutely essential that accurate records be kept of what is uncovered--the relationship of artifacts to each other and to the architecture in which they might be found, as well as to the levels above and below them. This information is recorded in field notes, as well as drawings and photographs. These notes record the excavator's impressions and observations of the soil being removed, the objects found and their relationships, as well as some preliminary conclusions about what it all means. The archaeologist directing the work then must distill the notes of all the excavators into a published field report, with more extensive interpretations, often based on comparison with other sites and even other cultures.

In this class, students will learn about the various types of objects that have been found in Egypt from different sites and different periods, and also about the ways archaeologists have gone about making sense of them. The lectures will survey Egyptian archaeology in chronological order, focussing on the excavation of the sites that have elucidated each period. While the quizzes and final exam will test the student's objective knowledge of this material, the writing assignments are designed to give students a taste of the description and analysis that archaeologists must do.

Objectives and Requirements

Course Objectives:

- To improve student's skills in constructing and writing descriptions, arguments, and other standard types of writing

- To familiarize students with the special types of writing used in archaeological reporting and analysis

- To familiarize students with the art, architecture, artifacts and other archaeological traces of the ancient Egyptian civilization, as well as the ways they are interpreted and understood by Egyptologists

- To give students a better understanding of archaeological reasoning through opportunities to exercise such reasoning themselves through written assignments.

Course Requirements:

Course Journal: 30% of grade
On-going Stratigraphy Assignment: 30% of grade
Exams: Two quizzes (10% of grade each); final exam (20% of grade)

Note: Attendance will not be taken; but it will be impossible to pass the course without attending class regularly, as well as keeping up with the assigned readings.

 

Details:

Journal: Students will keep journals describing what they have learned and thought about as a result of the class. About one class session in three will have an assigned topic, but other entries will be on topics of the student's choice from the lectures or readings. On some occasions time will be allowed for in-class journal writing, but most entries (one entry of two or three handwritten pages per class session, handwritten double-spaced and clearly on narrow-lined paper) will be written as homework. (The journals will be written in formal standard English.) The entire journal will be collected at the first class session weeks 4, 7, 10, 13, and 15. They will be evaluated based on length, content, and writing style (including coherence with which the student's views are argued).

Stratigraphy Assignment: Over the course of the semester, each student will create an imaginary Egyptian site, with field notes describing the finds at each level and the interpretation of the level. Sites must, of course, be constructed from the bottom up, one level for every three weeks; each level created and described will deal with one of the periods covered during those two weeks' lectures and readings. Sketch plans will be made of each level of the site, on which a certain activity or sequence of activities will be supposed to have happened; the finds and their relationships should offer clues to what that activity was. For every level, the student will offer a field-note-like description of the finds, and (on a separate sheet) an interpretation based on the evidence. These will be collected in the first class of weeks 5, 8, 11, and 14. At the end of the semester, students will present one level of their sites (without interpretation) and the class will attempt to analyze the data.

Exams: There will be two short (45 minute) exams during the semester (including multiple choice questions, several identification questions and one short essay) to ensure that students are absorbing the material they will need for the final exam. The final exam will be cumulative, and will be in the same format as the earlier exams, but somewhat longer, and will include three essay questions.

Policies

Absences: There will be no attendance taken in class; however, students are responsible for the content of the lectures and discussions, and for journal entries covering them. (This means that they will have to get notes from other students. Remember that almost all course lectures will be illustrated by upon slides, and therefore notes of fellow students will usually not give you all the information you need.) Students should also be aware that in-class writing assignments cannot be made up, and their absence in journals will result in a deduction to the journal grade unless a convincing (i.e. documented) excuse is promptly produced. Exams can only be made up until they have been returned to students who took them on time, and will be marked down an automatic 10 points (of 100) unless a convincing (documented) excuse is produced.

Late Writing Assignments: Both journals and stratigraphy assignments are cumulative; 5 (of 100) points will be deducted for each occasion on which they are not handed in on time. Sections never completed will result in proportionate reductions in the final grade for that part of the class. No assignments or journals will be accepted after the final exam.

Plagiarism: Passages from books are usually not relevant to the writing assignments for this course in any case, but in case anyone submits such writing as his or her own, each copied sentence will result in a 5 point lowering of the final grade for that part of the class. (Changing a few words here and there does not make a sentence your own; write with all other books closed unless you need a specific quotation. Sources of quotations should be cited and marked clearly with quotation marks.)

Incompletes: Incompletes will only be given when a convincing (documented) reason for the incomplete work is provided, and most of the course work is completed (e.g., an incomplete might be given to someone hospitalized during the final if the rest of his or her work was complete). Making up the incomplete is entirely the student's responsibility.

Schedule of Readings and Lecture Topics

Note: Readings are to be read before the class session noted. (Numbers refer to page numbers, not chapters.) Not all readings correspond to lecture topics; students will be expected to be familiar with the content of both. Some readings will be from site publications, and will be handed out in class.

Week 2: 1/12 & 1/14
- Organizational Meeting
- Egyptian Chronology and Geography; Kemp 1-18, Davies & Friedman 11-18

Week 3: 1/19 & 1/21
- Archaeology in Egypt: history and logistics; Smith 9-23
- Archaeological science; Kemp 19-31, Davies & Friedman 192-219, Stratigraphy handout

Week 4: 1/26 & 1/28
- Delta Predynastic; Smith 25-37, Davies & Friedman 29-32
- Upper Egyptian Predynastic; Kemp 31-46, Davies & Friedman 18-28, Petrie handout

Week 5: 2/2 & 2/4
- First and Second Dynasties; Smith 38-51, Kemp 46-53, Davies & Friedman 32-44
- Djoser complex; Smith 53-69, Kemp 53-63, Davies & Friedman 44-46 and 53-70

Week 6: 2/9 & 2/11
- The Great Pyramids; Smith 71-118, Davies & Friedman 70-88
- Abu Sir and the Sun Temples; Smith 119-141, Kemp 64-83, Davies & Friedman 88-96

Week 7: 2/16 & 2/18
- Old Kingdom tombs; Smith 142-149, Kemp 83-107
- Provincial Egypt (Old Kingdom); Smith 151-57, Kemp 111-28, Davies & Friedman 46-51

Week 8: 2/23 & 2/25
- Quiz #1; Early Middle Kingdom at Thebes; Smith 158-67, Kemp 128-36, Winlock handout
- Middle Kingdom Royal Monuments; Smith 168-202, Kemp 137-149

Week 9: 3/2 & 3/4
- Provincial Egypt (Middle Kingdom); Smith 203-15, Kemp 149-66
- Nubia (Middle Kingdom): the Kerma Culture; Kemp 166-80, Davies & Friedman 122-9

Week 10: 3/9 & 3/11
- The Hyksos Invasion; Smith 216-23, Davies & Friedman 109-22, Holladay handout
- New Kingdom Temples; Smith 225-57, Kemp 183-97, Davies & Friedman 151-69

Week 11: 3/16 & 3/18
- New Kingdom private tombs; Smith 258-77, Davies & Friedman 138-147
- New Kingdom Houses and Palaces; Smith 278-95, Kemp 197-213

Week 12: 3/29 & 4/1
- Amarna; Smith 296-338, Kemp 213-231, Kemp handout
- Deir el-Medina; Smith 339-56, Kemp 232-248, Davies & Friedman 169-87, Cerny handout

Week 13: 4/6 & 4/8
- Valley of the Kings; Smith 357-85, Kemp 248-60, Davies & Friedman 147-51
- Quiz #2; Temples and tombs of Tanis; Smith 387-94

Week 14: 4/13 & 4/15
- Private Tombs of the Later Periods; Smith 395-427
- Animal Cemeteries and Late Period Religion; Kemp 261-287, Davies & Friedman 187-91

Week 15: 4/20 & 4/22
- Graeco-Roman Period Temples; Kemp 287-320; Discussion of Stratigraphies
- Synthesis and Review

Final Exam: Wednesday, May 5, 1999, 12 noon to 2 pm, in our regular classroom
(Senior exams will be given during 15th week; date and time to be announced)