BA History and French / Course details

Egypt is the best-documented region of the Graeco-Roman world. The quality and quantity of evidence related to and coming from this area allow historians to study Egyptian society and even people’s lives to a scale that it is impossible to be achieved for other regions of the ancient world. This course offers an introduction to the history and culture of Egypt in the Hellenistic and Roman period, with a focus on the imperial phase when the region became a province of the Roman Empire. Through a close study of Greek, Latin and Egyptian papyri in English translation, together with literary and archaeological evidence where appropriate, students will be guided to an in-depth study of key-themes and topics in the history of the region and more broadly the Mediterranean world, such as literacy and education in a multicultural society, ethnicity, race and power, demography and social structures, imperial administration, religions and magic. 

• to be introduced to the history and culture of Egypt in the Hellenistic and Roman period
• to be introduced to the study of written evidence from Egypt in English translation
• to learn how to analyse papyri in translation as a source for ancient history
• to locate papyrus evidence from Egypt into the wider historical background
• to learn how to use papyri for research and integrate them with other types of ancient sources

The lectures for this course unit will be delivered online.

• to understand how papyrus and other Egyptian evidence is related with the study of classical civilization and ancient history
• to understand how ancient writings were produced and used in the classical world
• to be able to classify ancient writings according to their aims, contents and material aspect

• To construct an argument in written and oral form
• To assimilate and summarise large quantities of evidence, and to engage critically and analytically with this evidence
• To conduct independent research
• To present the results in a professional manner with appropriate and detailed reference to sources and modern published scholarship

• To engage with collections of ancient writings and other material evidence
• To manage time
• To engage in critical discussion and debate

• To be able to communicate ideas in appropriate written and oral form
• To work in groups
• To analyse data and be able to interpret them

• N. Lewis, Life in Egypt under Roman Rule, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1986.
• R.S. Bagnall, Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History, London & New York: Routledge 1995
• A. Bowman, Egypt after the Pharaohs: 332 BC – AD 642 from Alexander to the Arab Conquest, Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press 1986
• P. Parsons, City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish: Greek Papyri Beneath the Egyptian Sand Reveal a Long-Lost World, London: Phoenix 2007.
• J. Rowlandson (ed.), Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998
• E.G. Turner, Greek Papyri: an Introduction, Princeton: Princeton University Press 1968