Post for December 12

For your blog post this week I want to keep it simple as you SHOULD all be preparing for your exams in anticipation of the questions. For your post think back through the semester and pick out a piece of evidence, fact, particular topic, etc. that either confirmed or changed our expectations about ancient Egypt. Alternatively you could compare something learned this semester with similar phenomena in a different culture (including your own) or another historical period. Keep it to one paragraph and don't worry about referencing. I want to see what resonated with you all throughout the semester.

Post for SUNDAY 12/4

Due at SUNDAY 9 PM

For Sunday we would like you to come up with a question for the final exam. It should focus on material covered since the midterm but of course can require an answer that demonstrates cumulative knowledge from throughout the semester.

Think about questions that will enable you to pull from lecture, section, and the readings (primary and secondary) in order to show both the breadth of your knowledge and the depth of your thought on particular subjects.

All questions should lend themselves to answers that entail building a case around EVIDENCE learned in class or the readings.

Have a great weekend!

Post for November 21

This week you will be reading from "Daily Life in Ancient Egypt" by Kasia Szpakowska, "The Blinding of Truth by Falsehood", a story about Isis healing Horus (PDF) and some texts from Lahun/Kahun (PDF).

I want you to think about how Egyptologists combine multiple lines of evidence to come to particular conclusions about the Egyptian world view and practice. Please provide an example of how Szpakowska analyzes archaeological and textual material together to reach conclusions or comment on how the primary sources you read for this week could be viewed in light of historical/archaeological/art historical information provided either in lecture or in your secondary readings. Do you see common themes or motifs in different categories of evidence that reinforce each other? Contradict each other?

Post for November 14

This week you will be reading a variety of texts dealing with religious practice and celebration as well as beliefs and rituals concerning the afterlife. Both are really meaty topics and there are so many interesting points to draw from these texts.

For this week I want you to think about either 1) different identities and their connection to religious experience or 2) state vs. personal religion (more to do with class than individual profession)


One goal of this course is to demonstrate how ancient Egypt (or any society)was comprised of different groups of people who experienced the world differently despite belonging to the same social fabric. Use one or more of the texts do demonstrate how a social identity or belonging to a specific class engendered multiple religious experiences. You can also think about shifts in practice over time. For example, Pyramid Texts date to the Old Kingdom and were meant for the king only while Coffin Texts, available to private individuals, were part of a larger shift to a more equal playing field during and after the First Intermediate Period.

Post for November 7

In section we will go over the readings from "Upheaval and Rebellion" and "Law and Ethics".

For your post pick ONE line from one of the primary source readings (all are in Simpson apart from the Nauri decree which is on Blackboard)and use that line as a foundation for your analysis of a larger topic.

One of the skills I hope you all develop in this course is close line reading: that is, pinpointing specific literary evidence for understanding the greater worldview or beliefs of the society that produced that literature.

Quote the line and the text it's from and then use the information provided in that line to address any topic you wish. You can focus on the two topics from this week or write about anything else we've touched upon in lecture and section.

No repeats please unless you have something completely different to say from your colleagues!!

Post for November 1

On Monday you will be learning about foreigners in Ancient Egypt. Professor Morris will talk about the representation of foreigners (in art and literature), the Egyptian perception of foreigners (both positive and negative), the kinds of Egyptian interactions with foreigners (we already touched upon this a bit with the rise of foreign slaves during Egyptian expansion), and the professions/roles foreigners performed in Egyptian society.

For Tuesday you will read two primary texts: The Story of Sinhue set in the Middle Kingdom and the Report of Wenamon from the Late Period. Read these two texts very carefully making note of how the Egyptian protagonist perceives the foreigners and their lands and conversely, how the foreigners treat the Egyptian.

In your post I would like you to pick out ONE aspect of these stories and either compare or contrast it. Be as specific as possible with your evidence. Please make sure to read the introductions to both texts--it will help you better understand how these texts reflect the socio-political landscape of their time (you do not need to talk about this in your post).

Post for October 17

In section this week we will be discussing the roles of the government officials, namely the vizier and other high officials like those whose autobiographies you will read in Simpson If we have time I hope we can get to the king as well!

We have a lot of ground to cover so please read the primary sources carefully. They are the autobiographies of Weni, Harkhuf and Qar, the instructions for Rekhmire the Vizier, Cycle of Songs in Honor of Senwosret III, and the Loyalist Instruction from the Sehetepibre Stela.

We will be going over as much of this material as we can on Tuesday so make notes and bring any questions from the readings or lecture to section.

For this week feel free to write write about what whatever sparked your interest from the PRIMARY sources only. Here are some ideas to get your brains going!

How do the texts reflect the political situation at the time (if at all?)
What is the proper decorum (moral behavior) for these particular roles?
How do officials represent themselves and why (self presentation and purpose of the texts)?
What kind of language/imagery is used to illustrate the divine aspects of the king?
In what ways do officials and the king interact and support each other?
What did Professor Morris mean when she said the king could be "so powerful he was powerless" and do you see that in any of the texts assigned for this week?

I will bring in some slides and provide a little historical background for the Old Kingdom autobiographies and texts relating to Senwosret III as well.

Have a great weekend!

Post for October 10

Because we don't have section on Tuesday the 11th and your MIDTERM is coming up in a couple of weeks (eek!) Professor Morris has suggested that your post for this week should be the type of essay question you would write for an exam.

Coming up with questions is a really great way to make sure you understand the material and can form links between different strains of evidence.

When formulating your question think of the themes that have come up several times in the lectures and reading. Think of a question that could be answered with different types of evidence (visual, historical, literary). One should be able to answer it in a 2-3 written pages so no "yes or no" questions please!

Posts that will receive full points are those that demonstrate critical thought and originality. No repeats please (though of course your hypothetical answers will overlap at times).

And remember you don't need to answer the question in your post.

Have a lovely long weekend and Happy Reading. When we have section again there will be a lot of material to cover so PLEASE get your primary source reading done.

Post for October 3

This past week we focused on two groups that had access to various types of information: scribes and priests. These professional identities overlap in many ways as they required specialized knowledge bound up in literacy and in some cases, communication through supernatural channels.

For this week I want you to try focusing on one or two lines from one of the primary sources and using your chosen evidence as a platform for discussing a larger theme talked about in class thus far. This will be good practice for your final papers in which you will tackle broad subjects like ethics or religion and have to support your arguments with details from several types of texts. You can also uses primary texts quoted in the Donadoni volume and Pinch PDF as well.

Feel free to tackle whichever topics spark your interest but here are some suggestions if you are feeling stuck:

access to wisdom/knowledge
overlap between scribes and priests (ie lector priests)
relationship between these professions and the king
social hierarchy as evidenced by these professions
importance of the written word and names
relationships between religion and politics

and many, many more....

Post for September 26

This week you learned about artists, laborers, craftsmen, and soldiers. The primary source material includes the Satire of the Trades, the PDFs of McDowell, the Kamose Texts, Capture of Joppa, Victory Stela of Piye, and PDFs of the solider autobiographies.

Since there is so much material to cover for Tuesday I want to make sure you all have at least one text you know very, very well. This also means that we can hear many voices in class on Tuesday as at least a few of you will be experts on one of the texts.

With this in mind...please pick one of these texts (for McDowell you can look at several of the shorter texts if you wish) and provide some commentary on what you think are the main aspects of the Egyptian cultural identity embedded in them.

This will involve a close reading of the text and some critical thought to how these texts fit with information you have gathered so far in other readings and the lectures.

Post for September 19

This week's reading concerns the social category that composed the majority of ancient Egypt's population: the peasant farmers!

Please read the assigned chapter by Caminos in the Donadoni volume as well as Ray's chapter and the Heqanahkte letters on Blackboard.

This week I am happy for you to post any thoughts or questions about this reading but here are some ideas to get you started.

How does the content of the Heqanakhte letters reflect society at the end of the First Intermediate Period/beg of Middle Kingdom?

What can you glean about family life and structure in ancient Egypt from the Heqanakhte letters?

How do Heqanakhte and his family reflect (or not reflect) the portrait Caminos paints of the peasant's life?

What are your reactions to the Caminos and/or Ray chapters? Part of your training as college students is to learn to evaluate the scholarship of others. In this vein, I always encourage you to express your thoughts on the secondary reading. I will share my opinions on Tuesday but I want to hear yours first!

The Caminos chapter includes other primary sources so please comment on those if you wish and/or connect them to the main primary material for this week, the Heqanakhte letters.

Happy Reading!

September 12

This week you were provided with an introduction to Egyptian mythology through the Quirke reading (PDF under course documents on Blackboard)and Prof. Morris's lecture. As most of you are newcomers to the study of Ancient Egypt and haven't dealt extensively with their religious beliefs I would like to hear your thoughts about the Egyptian religious worldview.

Based on your reading of Quirke (which presumes prior knowledge and does jump around a lot I know), what do you think are the major themes of Egyptian religious belief? What patterns and overarching motifs can you tease out from the information provided? One way to approach this question may be to think about the geography of Egypt and how its character is manifested in the Egyptian view of the universe.

Specific examples from the lecture and reading are welcomed. 1-2 paragraphs in the comment section.