When the Romans took over Egypt and made it a province of their empire, they refrained from imposing their culture on the country. On the contrary, as the Ptolemaeans, they had themselves represented as pharaohs and continued to commission temples in traditional style. But irreversible change had already begun: Since Alexander the Great Egypt had made its acquaintance with Hellenistic culture, Greek language and philosophy. With the advent of Christianity, Hellenistic culture became the breeding ground for this new religion in Alexandria, the international cultural and commercial metropolis. In Upper-Egypt peasants were converted to a more provincial kind of Christianity. This mix of late pharaonic language and Greek philosophy were the ingredients for Coptic culture with its own style of architecture, painting and textile. This seminar aims at giving a cross-section of Egyptian society From the Roman period until the Arab conquest.
Admission requirements
BA degree (or equivalent) in Archaeology or a relevant discipline.
SAP and exchange students: admission after approval by the Graduate School of Archaeology.
Learning objectives
*Knowledge of Roman and Early Christian Egypt, with a focus on a independent chosen subject; *To be able to critically assess current research and literature on Roman and Early Christian Egypt and voice one’s well-argumented opinion; *To be able to choose a research topic, find relevant literature and present this via a powerpoint presentation and is able to handle a stimulating discussion afterwards; *To be able to write a paper on his/her research topic, with expression of a critically assessment of the literature and one’s own well-argumented opinion, making use of the feedback received with the presentation.
Method of instruction
Lectures.
Examination
Oral presentation and written essay.
Required reading
A.K. Bowman,_ Egypt after the Pharaohs_, London 1986