last update: 1/12/17
Class readings are located either among the course textbooks, or they are available for downloading and reading by linking to them from this "Reading Assignments"-web page. Over the course of the semester, the instructor might make others available through the Addlestone Library (reference, reserve, or periodicals sections). Those citations in the reading list below not found in the course textbooks are marked with the locator code: ELJ = Addlestone Library Electronic Journal or RS = Addlestone Library Reserve or Ref = Addlestone Library Reference Room or Per = Library Periodicals Room or W = this Web Page.
Week 1: January 12 (1/12) Introduction: Course Description and Objectives _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 2: January 17 and 19 (1/17) Introduction to Egyptology and Egyptological Methods !! NO CLASS MEETING TODAY !! Brewer-Teeter, "An Egyptian Revival," 1-15; W K. Butzer, Early Hydraulic Civilization, "Preface," xiii-xv; "Introduction," 1-3 (click to open); W K. R. Weeks, "Archaeology and Egyptology," in Egyptology Today, 7-22 (click to open); W Sources and Approaches to the Study of Egyptian Culture (handout) (click to open). (1/19) Ancient Egypt: Historical Overview I Brewer-Teeter, "A Chronology and History of Egypt," 30-46; W/Ref W. Murnane, "The History of Ancient Egypt: An Overview," in CANE 2/5, 691-701 (click to open); W/ELJ K. Kitchen, "The Chronology of Ancient Egypt," World Archaeology 23/2 (October 1991): 201-208 (click to open). _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 3: January 24 and 26 (1/24) Ancient Egypt: Historical Overview II Brewer-Teeter, "A Chronology and History of Egypt," 46-59; W/Ref W. Murnane, "The History of Ancient Egypt: An Overview," in CANE 2/5, 701-717 (click to open). (1/26) The Geography of Ancient Egypt Brewer-Teeter, "The River, Valley and Desert," 17-29; RS/W Butzer, K. "Delta " (in English), in Lexikon der Ägyptologie 1, 1043-1052 (click to open); RS/W Butzer, K. "Geographie [Geography]" (in English), in Lexikon der Ägyptologie 2, 525-530 (click to open); RS/W Butzer, K. "Klima [Climate]" (in English), in Lexikon der Ägyptologie 3, 455-457 (click to open); W M. Hoffman, "The Two Lands: An Ecological Perspective," 23-32 (click to open); W Diodorus Book I.30-31 (excerpt on Egypt) (click to open) W Diodorus Book I.31, 6-9 (excerpt on Egypt) (click to open) _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 4: January 31 and February 2 (1/31-2/2) Calendars, Time and the Agricultural Cycle RS/W Parker, R. "The Calendars and Chronology," in The Legacy of Egypt, 13-26 (click to open); RS A. J. Spalinger, "Calendars," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 1, 224-227; W L. Depuydt, "How Many Calendars Were There in Ancient Egypt?" 9-20, 27 (click to open); McDowell, Village Life in Ancient Egypt, 113-114 [82], "Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Days"; W "The Heliacal Rising of Sothis" (letter) (click to open); W Malville, J. M. et al., "Astronomy of Nabta Playa," African Cultural Astronomy (2008): 131-144 (click to open); W Brophy, T. and P. A. Rosen, "Satellite Imagery Measures of the Astronomically Aligned Megaliths at Nabta Playa," Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 5/1 (2005): 15-24 (click to open). (2/2) Palaeoastronomy Assignment. Due: February 9: (print out forms, complete, and submit) Exercise in Egyptian Astronomy & Chronology (click to open & download) Instructions for Exercise in Egyptian Astronomy & Chronology (click to open & download) _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 5: February 7 and 9 (2/7) The Nile Valley: Origins and Rythms RS/W Butzer, K. "Nil [Nile]" (in English), in Lexikon der Ägyptologie 4, 480-483 (click to open); RS/W B. Sampsell, "Evolution of the Egyptian Landscape," 25-33 (click to open); W "The Hymn to Hapy (Nile Inundation)" (click to open). (2/9) Egypt: The Nile Valley and History W Kees, H., "The Nile and Egyptian Civilization," in Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Topography, 96-115 (click to open); RS/W Butzer, K. "The Nile," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, 543-551 (click to open). (2/9) Palaeoastronomy Assignment Due _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 6: February 14 and 16 (2/14-16) The Nile and the Countryside W Kees, H., "The Countryside," in Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Topography, 47-61 (click to open); ELJ Bunbury, J.M. et al., "Stratigraphic Landscape Analysis: Charting the Holocene Movements of the Nile at Karnak through Ancient Egyptian Time," Geoarchaeology 23/3 (2008): 351-373 (download from JStor). _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 7: February 21 and 23 (2/21-23) Irrigation and Social and Political Development W Baer, K., "Land and Water in Ancient Egypt", paper read at 28th Int. Congr. of Orientalists, Canberra, 1971 (click to open); RS/W Butzer, K., "Irrigation," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, 183-188 (click to open); W Herodotus, Histories, Book II.4, Book II.99 (excerpts on King Menes) (click to open). W Butzer, Early Hydraulic Civilization, "Geomorphology and Hydrology of the Nile Floodplain," 15-21; "The Nature of Irrigation Agriculture," 41-51 (click to open). 1ST INTERIM ASSIGNMENT distributed by e-mail (takehome; due 3/2) _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 8: February 28 and March 2 (2/28-3/2) Voyages to Punt on the Red Sea W "Annals of King Amenemhat II" (Piccione) (click to open); W E. Marcus, "Amenemhet II and the Sea: Maritime Aspects of the Mit Rahina (Memphis) Inscription," 137-176; (click to open); W "Hammamat Inscription of Henu," Breasted, ARE 1, §§ 428-433, pp. 208-210 (click to open); RS K. Kitchen, "Punt," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 3, 85-86; W "The Punt Reliefs of Hatshepsut," Breasted, ARE 2, §§ 246-295, pp. 131-151 (click to open). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (3/2) 1ST INTERIM ASSIGNMENT due in class _______________________________________________________________________________ + + + SPRING BREAK: March 5 through 11 + + + _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 9: March 14 and 16 (10/15) Break: NO CLASS (3/14) Egyptian Cities and Districts I RS Kees, H., Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Topography, 147-182, 231-251; W/Ref Hallo, W., "Praise of Per-Ramessu Papyrus Anastasi III (3.3)," in Context of Scripture, vol. 3, 15 (click to open). (3/16) Egyptian Cities and Districts II RS Kees, H., Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Topography, 252-287 (3 copies on reserve); W McDowell, Village Life in Ancient Egypt, 157-158 [111-112], "Praise of Cities" (click to open); RS/W Lichtheim, M., "Boundary Stela of Sesostris III," in Ancient Egyptian Literature 1, 118-120 (click to open); W Piccione, P., "Semna Boundary Stela of Year 8 of Sesostris III" (click to open). _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 10: March 21 and 23 (3/21) Egyptian Dams and Dam-building W Garbrecht, G., "Sadd el-Kafara: The World's Oldest Large Dam," Water Power and Dam Construction (July 1985): 71-76 (click to open); W Schnitter, "Ancient Civilizations: The Nile Valley," in Dams: The Useful Pyramids, 1-7 (click to open). (3/23) Natural Disasters I: Santorini/Thera Eruption W/Per Stanley, D. J. and H. Sheng, "Volcanic Shards from Santorini (Upper Minoan Ash) in the Nile Delta, Egypt," Nature 320, no. 6064 (24-30 April 1986): 733-735 (click to open). (3/23) Last day to withdraw with grade of "W" (3/23) -- ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 11: March 28 and 30 (3/28) Natural Disasters II: Thera Eruption and Tempest Stela ELJ/Per Foster, K. P. et al., "Texts, Storms, and the Thera Eruption," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 55/1 (Jan., 1996): 1-14 (download from JStor); ELJ/Per Wiener, M. H. and J. P. Allen, "The Ahmose Tempest Stela and the Theran Eruption," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 57/1 (Jan., 1998): 1-28 (download from JStor); W Yurco, F. J., "The End of the Late Bronze Age and Other Crisis Periods: A Volcanic Cause?" in Gold of Praise: Studies Wente, 455-463 (click to open). (3/30) Natural Disasters III: Earthquakes, Collapses and Endtimes W Meltzer, E. S., "Earthquakes in Ancient Egypt with Emphasis on Upper Egypt", 251-273 (click to open); ELJ Edwards, I. E. S., "The Collapse of the Medum Pyramid," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 60 (1974): 251-252 (download from JStor); ELJ Davey, C. J., "The Structural Failure of the Meidum Pyramid," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 62 (1976): 178-179 (download from JStor); W Pyramid Text Spell Utt. 254, §§ 277-282, "End of the World," in R. O. Faulkner, Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, 63 (click to open); W Pyramid Text Spell Utts. 509, 511, §§ 1120-1127, 1149-1161, "The King Ascends in an Earthquake," in R. O. Faulkner, Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, 184-185, 187-188 (click to open); _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 12: April 4 and 6 (4/4-6) Nile Fluctuations: Archaic Period and Old Kingdom W Butzer, K. W., "Long-Term Nile Flood Variation and Political Discontinuities in Pharaonic Egypt," in From Hunters to Farmers, 102-108 (only) (click to open); ELJ Stanley, D. J. et al. "Short Contribution: Nile Flow Failure at the End of the Old Kingdom, Egypt: Strontium Isotopic and Petrologic Evidence," Geoarchaeology 18/3 (2003): 395-402 (download from JStor); W Hassan, F. A. "A River Runs Through Egypt: Nile Floods and Civilization," GeoTimes (April 2005) (click to open) _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 13: April 11 and 13 (4/11-13) Nile Fluctuations: First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom W Butzer, K. W., "Long-Term Nile Flood Variation and Political Discontinuities in Pharaonic Egypt," in From Hunters to Farmers, 108-112 (only) (click to open); W "White Chapel of King Sesostris I (Dyn. 12)" (trans. P. Piccione) (click to open); RS/W Three autobiographies of the First Intermediate Period (Dyn 10), Lichtheim, M., Ancient Egyptian Literature 1, 85-89: "Autobiography of Ankhtifi" (85-86) (click to open); "Stela of the Butler Merer" (87-88) (click to open); "Stela of the Treasurer Iti" (88-89) (click to open); RS "The Admonitions of Ipuwer (Dyn. 12)," in Lichtheim, M., Ancient Egyptian Literature 1, 149-157 (extract only). (4/13) -- RESEARCH PAPER DUE -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 14: April 18 and 20 (4/18) Agriculture and Land Tenure System W Eyre, C. J., "Village Economy in Pharaonic Egypt," 33-55 (click to open); W Katary, S. D., "Land Tenure in the New Kingdom: The Role of Women Smallholders and the Military," 61-80 (click to open). (4/20) The Economy of Agriculture and the River: Sources ELJ Baer, K., "The Low Price of Land in Ancient Egypt," Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 1 (1962): 25-25 (download from JStor); RS/W "Hekanakht Letters no. 1-4 (Dyn. 11)," in Wente, E. F., Letters from Ancient Egypt, 58-63 (click to open); RS/W Agricultural and commercial letters (extracts), Wente, E. F., Letters from Ancient Egypt, 120-127, 130f., 180f. (click to open). _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 15: April 25 (4/25) Last Day of Class: Final Discussion (4/25) Interim Assignment #2 due in class _______________________________________________________________________________ FINAL EXAMINATIONS: !! NONE !!