Dynastic Egypt: Continuity and Metamorphosis

Pre-requisites: Good command of the English language, as well as working knowledge of German or French

Course objectives: To support students in the research of social processes in a general sense based on the complex and varied data founded on a theoretical and methodological approach; Inter/multi-disciplinary approach to research is encouraged.

Course description: Easily noticed in style in visual art and the use of hieroglyphic writing, continuity can be studied in the religious, social and economic system of Dynastic Egypt. Ancient Egyptians themselves gave great importance to stability, immutability, and the passage of time they viewed as cyclical (daily cycle, yearly rhythm of nature, reign of a particular ruler) and at the same time as eternity, yet the concept of change was perceived as something negative. Contact with the rest of the world, economic crisis or growth, social mobility, relation between the capital and the provinces, changes in technology are some of the factors, which have interdependently brought on the changes. Viewed over a long time period some aspects of Egyptian culture have endured visible changes especially during the Greek and Roman rule when some of its manifestations have gone through a metamorphosis. The starting point of social change research will be the funerary monuments and written sources, besides archaeological material, other scientific sources will be used for its analysis.

Learning Outcomes: Class attendance, essay and written examination

Literature/Reading:

• BAINES, J., Literacy and Ancient Egyptian Society, Man: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society 18:3 (1983) 572-599. http://eprints.ouls.ox.ac.uk/archive/00001055/
• BAINES, J., Restricted Knowledge, Hierarchy, and Decorum: Modern Perceptions and Ancient Institutions, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 28 (1990) 1-23. http://eprints.ouls.ox.ac.uk/archive/00001056/
• BAINES, J., Temples as symbols, guarantors, and participants in Egyptian civilisation, in: S. Quirke (Ed.), The Temple in Ancient Egypt, London 1997, 216-241.
• BOURRIAU, J., Patterns of change in burial customs during the Middle Kingdom, in: S. Quirke (Ed.), Middle Kingdom Studies, New Malden 1991, 3-20.
• COONEY, K.M. The Functional Materialism of Death in Ancient Egypt. A Case Study of Funerary Materialism from the Ramesside Period, in: M. Fitzenreier (Ed.), Das Heilige und die Ware. Zum Spanungsfeld von Religion und Ökonomie, IBAES 7, London 2007, 273-299. http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/nilus/net-publications/ibaes7/index.html
• EYRE, C. and J. BAINES, Interactions between Orality and Literacy in Ancient Egypt, in: Literacy and Society, ed. by K. Schousboe and M.T. Larsen, Copenhagen 1989, 91-119.
• KADISH, G.E., Time, in: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 3, ed. by D. Redford, Oxford 2001, 405-409.
• Kanawati, N., The Egyptian Administration in the Old Kingdom. Evidence on its Economic Decline, Warminster 1977, 69-79.
• RIGGS, C., The Beautiful Burial in Roman Egypt. Art, Identity, and Funerary Religion, Oxford 2005.
• VASILJEVIĆ, V., Von der Kontinuität des Themas von Bettenritual in Privatgräbern des Mittleren Reiches, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 29 (2001) 349-356.
• BINGEN, J., Hellenistic Egypt: monarchy, society, economy, culture, Hellenistic culture and society 49, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007.
• BROCKMEIER, J., Rememebering and Forgeting: Narrative as Cultural Memory, Culture and Psychology 8:1 (2002) 15-43.
• BUTZER, K. W., Early Hydraulic Civilization in Egypt. A Study in Cultural Ecology, Chicago, University Press, 1976.
• GRAJETZKI, W., Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt. Life and Death for Rich and Poor, London 2003.
• KEMP, B.J. Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Cvilization, London and New York 1991 (2nd revised edition 2006).
• LICHTHEIM, M., Ancient Egyptian Literature, 3 volumes, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 1975-1980.
• PARKINSON, R.B., Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt. A Dark Side of Perfection, London and New York 2002.
• VASILJEVIĆ, V., Über das Verhältnis von Opferliste zu den Darstellungen der Opferträger, Zbornik filozofskog fakulteta XIX, serija A (1997) 79-90.
• WENKE, R.J., Anthropology, Egyptology, and the Concept of Cultural Change, in: J. Lustig (Ed.), Anthropology and Egyptology. A Developing Dialogue, Sheffield 1997, 117-136.