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!!