Daily Life in Ancient Egypt - bmc.ARCH.B210.001.SP25

In this course, students will learn about the daily lives of ancient Egyptians – from birth through death. Utilizing archaeological remains and artifacts, textual sources (in translation), and imagery we will examine multiple aspects of Egyptian society, from the lowly peasant to the king to the “foreigner” living in Egypt and the Egyptian living abroad, and assess the different ways in which their lives were both experienced and portrayed. We will discuss topics such as the ancient Egyptian conception of family life and kinship, domestic and urban architecture, household religion, illnesses and medical treatments, the roles(s) of women, the presence of foreigners, types of jobs and the concept of “state” labor, food and drink, clothing, leisure activities, and the legal system. There is a wealth of archaeological material that students will become familiar with through sites such as the Old Kingdom workmen’s village at Giza, the Middle Kingdom towns of Lahun and Elephantine, the “foreign” city of Avaris, the New Kingdom artisan town of Deir el-Medina and capital at Amarna, and sites outside Egypt proper, such as Buhen in Nubia, Deir el-Balah in Palestine, or Beit She’an in Israel. Documents such as the Hekanakhte Papers, ostraca from the workmen and artisan villages, work rosters and complaints, legal documents, literary works, and funerary texts, as well as tomb inscriptions and imagery help to round out the picture of the lives of ancient Egyptians.