Week One Courses

The SACE Summer School prides itself on excellent teaching. You will only be taught by real experts in their field:the University of Liverpool SACE staff.

The Transition from Egypt’s Old to Middle Kingdoms

These periods of history are known for producing some of ancient Egypt’s most iconic features. The great pyramids of the Old Kingdom and the fine literature of the Middle Kingdom are separated by a mysterious time known as the First Intermediate Period. The focus of this course is the on the cultural changes that took place in Egypt between the Old and Middle Kingdoms,and what motivated these changes. These periods of time and the relationships between them are particularly strong areas of research among the Egyptology Lecturers at the University of Liverpool.  Staff will make their current research accessible to you,giving participants a privileged view into current state of knowledge on the subject,and illustrating for you the transformations that took place in architecture,religion,social life,literature and more.

*Please note that the programme as posted below may be subject to change*

Click on the links in the table below to learn more about the lecturers,specific lecture content,and recommended reading.

Latin &Greek Language

The Latin and Greek language courses will be taught by  a range of University staff including Dr Amy Coker (University Teacher in Greek &Latin), Miss Bev Scott (Graduate Teaching Fellow and University Teacher in Latin for Continuing Education) and Dr Joe Skinner (University Teacher in Ancient History).

There will be 15 contact-hours of tuition during the week,plus sessions at Liverpool World Museum,the Garstang Museum and Sydney Jones Special Collections as part of the programme. Sessions for each language course will alternate between more formal grammar classes and more informal ones devoted to reading and trouble-shooting individual problems;a detailed schedule for each course will be available before the start of the Summer School. All language courses will follow the timetable below.

Latin (Beginner,Intermediate,Advanced)

Latin is best known as the language of ancient Rome and its empire,of Virgil,Ovid and Caesar,but it was used for many centuries after Rome’s decline and is still familiar today.

• The Beginner course introduces you to the basics of Latin grammar and vocabulary,and assumes no prior knowledge whatsoever of Latin or of grammar;by the end of the week,students will be able to read simple texts and have developed an working knowledge of how the language works which is invaluable for learning other languages.
• Intermediate builds upon a basic knowledge of Latin,introducing more complex grammar and syntax. It is suitable for those who wish to refresh their Latin after a break,or who don’t yet feel confident to read complete texts. (A knowledge roughly equivalent to GCSE will be assumed).
• Advanced is for those who have a good working command of Latin and want to practice this skill:those taking this course will read a portion of an unadapted Latin text and study it from a more literary perspective.

Classical Greek (Beginner,Intermediate)

Greek is the language of Homer,the tragic playwrights and the New Testament and has been spoken in Greece for at least the last 3,500 years.

• The Beginner course introduces you to the Greek alphabet and the basics of Classical Greek grammar and vocabulary,and assumes no prior knowledge whatsoever;by the end of the week,students will be able to read simple texts and have developed a working knowledge of how the language works which is invaluable for learning other languages.
• Intermediate builds upon a basic knowledge of the language,introducing more complex grammar and syntax. As with Latin,it is suitable for those who are after a refresher course,or who are approximately GCSE level.
• (Please note:on account of low enrollments,we will be unable to offer Advanced Greek this year –please contact Amy Coker a.coker@liv.ac.uk if you were planning on enrolling on this course).

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The Transition from Egypt’s Old to Middle Kingdom Lecture Details and Further Reading

Dr Glenn Godenho:A Brief History of Egypt’s Old to Middle Kingdom

This introductory lecture will outline the main historical developments from the late Old Kingdom through the so-called First Intermediate Period,to the Emergence of the Middle Kingdom. This will set the scene for the detailed research-informed lectures that staff will be presenting throughout the week.

Recommended Reading:

Shaw,I. (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press,Oxford. Chapters 5,6 and 7.

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Violaine Chauvet:If Not a Pyramid,Then What? Private Tombs in the Old Kingdom

This lecture will provide an introduction and overview of private tombs in the Old Kingdom. Far from being only a place of burial,tombs were designed as the house of the deceased,a place of ritual and a place of commemoration. Looking at the archaeological material found in the tombs,that architectural layout and the scenes decorating the walls,the students will gain familiarity with the key elements that constitute the  private funerary context of the Old Kingdom.

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Professor Chris Eyre:Sixth Dynasty Saqqara,and why Tombs do not Provide Narrative History

The paper starts from fieldwork recording the tomb of Kairer,at Saqqara,putting it into the context of the very large number of Sixth Dynasty tombs from that site. It then discusses attempts to use the decoration,style,and location of the tombs,the titularies of their owners,and the apparently common contemporary destruction of names inscribed in these tombs as evidence for writing the history,both political and socio-economic,for the period. It will look at the use of such evidence,the research agenda that are possible,and consider critically the borderline between evidence based history and imaginative reconstruction of the past.

Recommended Reading:

J.P. Lauer,Saqqara:the royal cemetery of Memphis:excavations and discoveries since 1850,Thames and Hudson,London,1976.

S.R. Snape,Ancient Egyptian Tombs:the culture of life and death,Wiley-Blackwell,Chichester,Oxford and Malden MA,2011,especially chapter 4.

N. Kanawati and A. Woods,Artists in the Old Kingdom:techniques and achievements,Supreme Council of Antiquities,Cairo,2009.

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Mr Martin Wolf:University Study and Information Resources

The University Library is open,for reference,to anyone who requires access to its information resources. As such,the University of Liverpool is YOUR library too,and in this session Faculty Librarian,Martin Wolf will show you what resources are available to you during the Summer School,and beyond.

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Dr Steven Snape:Tombs and the End of the Old Kingdom

In this session we shall look at a range of Late Old Kingdom tombs,royal and private,in the capital and in the provinces. We shall see what they have to tell us about the decline and eventual collapse of the Old Kingdom,and the rise of ‘regionalism’as an active force in the First Intermediate period.

Recommended Reading:

S.R. Snape,Ancient Egyptian Tombs:the culture of life and death,Wiley-Blackwell,Chichester,Oxford and Malden MA,2011,

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Dr Steven Snape:Tombs and the Rise of the Middle Kingdom

What effect did the re-establishment of royal authority at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom have on provincial dynasties of local rulers? More specifically,what do the tombs of these important Middle Kingdom provincials  tell us about the way in which society,religion and culture had changed since the Old Kingdom?

Recommended Reading:

S.R. Snape,Ancient Egyptian Tombs:the culture of life and death,Wiley-Blackwell,Chichester,Oxford and Malden MA,2011,

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Dr Joyce Tyldesley:Queens of the Old and Middle Kingdoms

These two lectures will consider the developing role of the queen of Egypt from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom,across the First Intermediate Period divide.

The Old Kingdom pharaoh was the son of Re;his queen,Re’s feminine counterpart,Hathor.  The cults of Maat and Neith,ancient goddesses strongly associated with queenship,were already linked to the cult of Hathor,in some cases sharing priestesses and sanctuaries. As the Old Kingdom progressed the cult of Hathor grew increasingly active,and increasingly popular with Egypt’s queens,until it became the dominant female-based cult.

The Middle Kingdom queens,denied any real political role,made little impact on state affairs and all but vanished from the royal monuments. This phenomenon was not restricted to the royal family. While women continued to work as temple musicians,relatively few elite women now bore priestly titles. It seems that,family crises excepted,the upper class women of the Middle Kingdom restricted themselves to family concerns.

Recommended Reading:

Manniche,L. (1987),Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt,London and New York.

Robins,G. (1993),Women in Ancient Egypt, London.

Troy,L. (1986),Patterns of Queenship in Ancient Egyptian Myth and History,Uppsala.

Tyldesley,J.A. (2006),Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt, London.

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Dr Glenn Godenho:Ankhtifi’s Egypt

A detailed look at Egypt’s so-called ‘First Intermediate Period’,and particularly at the events surrounding today’s case-study:Ankhtifi of Mo’alla.

Recommended Reading:

Shaw,I. (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press,Oxford. Chapter 6.

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Dr Ian Shaw:Ankhtifi at War

This lecture will discuss the evidence for warfare from the late Old Kingdom through to the Middle Kingdom,with particular emphasis on the time of Ankhtifi. We will look at relevant archaeological and textual material contemporary with Ankhtifi,as well as fresh data from Liverpool epigraphy and excavation at the site of Mo‘alla.

Recommended Reading:

Faulkner,R.O. (1953) ‘Egyptian Military Organization’,Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 39:36-9.

Fischer,H.G. (1961) ‘The Nubian Mercenaries of Gebelein’,Kush 9:44-80.

Schulman,A. (1982) ‘The Battle Scenes of the Middle Kingdom’,Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antqiuities 12:165-83.

Shaw,I. (1991) Egyptian Warfare and Weapons (Princes Risborough:Shire).

Winlock,H.E. (1945) The Slain Soldiers of Neb-Hepet-Re` Mentu-Hotpe (New York:MMA).

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Dr Mark Collier:‘Such am I,a Male without Equal’:Masculinity and Power;The Inscriptions of the Warlord Ankhtifi from Moalla

The warlord Ankhtifi extended his power over the southernmost part of Egypt in the First Intermediate Period. This is recorded in a series of remarkable inscriptions preserved in his tomb at Moalla. The inscriptions draw on a sophisticated repertoire ranging from contemporary tropes of individuality,self-reliance and patronage found in other First Intermediate Period inscriptions from the south of Egypt through to unique depictions of his exceptional and extraordinary abilities and achievements which look more towards the royal. This is all somewhat encapsulated in the repeated refrain which divides up the inscriptions:‘such am I,a male without equal,’a refrain which points to masculinity and its role as a resource for power as a key element in the inscriptions.

Recommended Reading:

J. Assmann. The Mind of Egypt:History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs. Hardback:2002;Metropolitan Books,New York;Paperback:2003,Harvard University Press. [available e.g. on Amazon]. See Part 2:‘The First Intermediate Period’,particularly chapter 5,which concentrates on the Ankhtifi inscriptions,including extensive translations.

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Dr Glenn Godenho:Ankhtifi’s Identity

We will round this study day up by considering textual,material and architectural evidence from Ankhtifi’s tomb complex in order to consider the effects of Ankhtifi’s monumental self-presentation.

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Dr Glenn Godenho and Dr Campbell Price:Special Collections and Archives and Garstang Museum

In the Libraries Special Collections and Archives department,we will look at examples of three important works related to Egyptology held in the Sydney Jones library,University of Liverpool,and consider the motivations for their creation and their reception and contribution to Egyptology.  We will look at:

- The Description de l’Egypte (1820-1826)

- Richard Lepsius’Denkmaeler (1849-1856)

- David Roberts’Egypt &Nubia,from drawings made on the spot by David Roberts (1846-1849)

You will also have the opportunity to see the department’s Garstang Museum.

The Garstang Museum of Archaeology honours Professor John Garstang. Between 1904-1914 Garstang’s work at various cemeteries in Upper Egypt unearthed a wealth of objects from burials of all periods of Egyptian civilisation. The Garstang Museum also contains objects from outside Egypt;from Meroe in the Sudan,Jericho in the Levant,and Sakje Geuzi in Anatolia.

The Museum displays some of the key objects in our collection,reflecting some of the key areas of strength in teaching and research in SACE –Egyptology,Classical Studies,and Prehistoric and Near Eastern Archaeology –and a long and continuing history of archaeological fieldwork around the world.

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The Liverpool World Museum:  Introduction to the collection with the curator,Dr Ashley Cooke,and Handling Sessions

With 16,000 items this is one of the largest egyptian collections in the country. there are over 1000 items on display in a gallery refurbished in 2008.  our holdings are very much linked to the garstang museum of archaeology at liverpool university.  The museum and the leading Liverpool merchant families funded John Garstang’s excavations. Through agreement with the Egyptian authorities sponsors of his digs were rewarded a share of the artefacts discovered. Under the same arrangement the museum also benefited from other expeditions of the Egypt Exploration Society and Petrie’s British School of Archaeology in Liverpool. But at the heart of the collection is Joseph Mayer’s gift of nearly 5000 items. Liverpool was one of the world’s busiest port cities and Mayer was able to build a large collection based on purchases of important collections made by diplomats and travellers in the early 1800s. His collection includes items of international significance  such as the second largest holding of Tomb Robbery papyri from the end of the New Kingdom. In 1852 Mayer opened his own Egyptian Museum and in 1867 he donated his entire collection to the museum.

Further information on the collections:

• 102 highlights on a worldwide database of Egyptian collections:http://snipurl.com/27ykm2

• Museum website:http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/humanworld/ancientworld/egyptian/

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Dr Ian Shaw:Introduction to Hatnub

This lecture discusses the basic nature of the Hatnub travertine quarries,which were primarily in use from the Old Kingdom through to the Middle Kingdom,providing important evidence on cultural,economic and political aspects of the transition between these two periods. Among the questions and problems explored will be the following:

• When,and for how long,was Hatnub quarried?
• What is travertine and where else was it quarried?
• Who re-discovered Hatnub?
• What social,economic and historical information can we gain from the site?
• What kind of objects were made from travertine?
• Were they made at Hatnub or at their destinations?

Recommended Reading:

Aston,B.G. (1994) Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels:Materials and Forms (Heidelberg:Heidelberger Orientverlag).

Harrell,J.A. (2001) ‘Calcite’,in Redford,D.B. (ed.),The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford:OUP),pp.223–4.

Shaw,I. (2010) Hatnub:Quarrying Travertine in Ancient Egypt (London:EES)

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Dr Ian Shaw:Religion and Ritual at Hatnub

There are a number of surviving archaeological and textual traces that suggest the practice of some forms of religious ritual at Hatnub,from the Old Kingdom through to the Middle Kingdom. Three basic types of archaeological feature at the site may be interpreted as forms of religious or ritualistic expression:petroglyphs,‘shrines’ and stone alignments. The use of stone alignments in Egypt and Nubia stretches back into prehistory,notably at the late Neolithic site of Nabta Playa (c.4900 BC) in the Western Desert,about 100km to the west of Abu Simbel,where a unique miniature ‘megalithic’ complex was discovered in 1992 in the vicinity of seasonally occupied cattle-herders’ encampments. Other Egyptian quarrying and mining sites incorporate parallels for all three of the types of archaeological features found at Hatnub (e.g. orthostats at Serabit el-Khadim,shrines of various types at Gebel Zeit,Timna and Serabit el-Khadim,and petroglyphs at Wadi el-Hudi and Wadi Maghara).

Recommended Reading:

Bloxam,E. (2006) ‘Miners and mistresses:Middle Kingdom mining on the margins’,Journal of Social Archaeology 6:277–303.

Shaw,I. (2010) Hatnub:Quarrying Travertine in Ancient Egypt (London:EES),pp.97-107.

Valbelle,D. and C. Bonnet (1996) Le sanctuaire d’Hathor,maîtresse de la turquoise:Sérabit el-Khadim au Moyen Empire (Paris:Picard Editeur).

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Dr Roland Enmarch:The Graffiti and Inscriptions at Hatnub

Quarrying activity in Egypt,as with most other activities,was not a purely functional activity. The Egyptians felt the need to commemorate themselves here,as so often elsewhere,and many of these inscriptions carry a sacral or ideological character. Inscriptions connected to quarrying are of course known from a number of Egyptian sites in Egypt,and in my talk I will be contextualising those from Hatnub by comparing some of the material found at other sites.

Recommended Reading:

R. Enmarch,‘Of Spice and Mine:The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor and Middle Kingdom Expedition Inscriptions’,in F. Hagen et al. (eds),Narratives of Egypt and the Ancient Near East:Literary and Linguistic Approaches. OLA 189;Leuven,2011.

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Dr Ian Shaw:Hatnub in the Wider Context

This lecture looks at Hatnub in a wider context,firstly by comparing it with other ancient quarrying and mining areas in Egypt,and secondly by examining the specific issues of conservation and cultural heritage raised by this kind of archaeological site,often comprising relatively ephemeral remains surviving in remote areas.

Recommended Reading:

Bloxam,E. and T. Heldal (2007) ‘The industrial landscape of the northern Faiyum Desert as a world heritage site:modelling ‘outstanding universal value’ of 3rd millennium BC stone quarrying in Egypt’,World Archaeology 39/3:305–23.

Shaw,I. (1994) ‘Pharaonic quarrying and mining:settlement and procurement in Egypt’s marginal areas’,Antiquity 68/258:108–19.

Shaw,I. (2002) ‘Life on the edge:gemstones,politics and stress in the deserts of Egypt and Nubia’,in Friedman,R. (ed.) Egypt and Nubia:Gifts of the Desert,London:British Museum Press,pp.244–251.

http://www.quarryscapes.no/

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