28774 - Egyptology (1) (LM)

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Docente: Marco Zecchi
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: L-OR/02
  • Language: Italian

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students knows the general lines of Egyptology. They are also able to recognize and interpret some aspects of Egyptian civilization and learn the methodologies for dealing with a research.

Course contents

The course is divided into two parts.

The first part of the course is an introduction to the language and hieroglyphic writing of ancient Egypt. In particular, it will focus on the following aspects;
- the hieroglyphs (phonetic signs, determinatives, ideograms);
- the noun;
- the personal pronouns;
- introduction to the non-verbal and verbal sentences

Translation and commentary of a hieroglyphic text in Middle Egyptian.

In the second part of the course we will examine the practice of the damnatio memoriae in ancient Egypt, that is the cancellation of the person's memory and the destruction of every trace of his/her existence. The course will be divided into the following points:

-introduction to the damnatio memoriae as a cultural, political and religious phenomenon in ancient Egypt;

- value and importance of the personal name in Egyptian culture;

- perpetrators and victims;

- examples of damnatio memoriae against private individuals;

- examples of damnatio memoriae against sovereigns: the cases of the queen Hatshepsut, and the kings Akhenaten and Ahmose II;

- examples of proscription against divinities: the cases of the god Amon during the Amarna period and of the god Seth in the first millennium BC;

- effectiveness of the damnatio memoriae in Egyptian society.

 

Students attending the course for 6CFU can choose either the first part or the second part of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

FIRST PART:
P. Allen, Middle Egyptian. An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, Cambridge University Press 2014;

SECOND PART:

five of the following titles:

Arnold D., “The Destruction of the Statues of Hatshepsut from Deir el-Bahri”, in C.H. Roehrig – R. Dreyfus – C. Keller (ed.), Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, New York / New Haven /London, 2005, pp. 270-276.

Bochi P.A., “Death by drama: the ritual of damnatio memoriae in ancient Egypt”, Göttinger Miszellen 171(1999), pp. 73- 86.

Brand P.J., “Usurpation of Monuments”, in W. Wendrich (ed.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles 2010.

Bryan B.M., “Episodes of Iconoclasm in the Egyptian New Kingdom”, in N.N. May (ed.), Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond, Chicago 2012, pp. 363–394.

Connor, S., “Mutiler, tuer, désactiver les images en Égypte pharaonique.” Perspective 2 (2018), https://doi.org/10.4000/perspective.11431.

Der Manuelian P, 1999 “Semi-Literacy in Egypt: Some Erasures from the Amarna Period”, in E. Teeter – J.A. Larson (ed.), Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente, Chicago 1999, pp. 285-298.

Dorman P.F., “The Proscription of Hatshepsut”, in C.H. Roehrig – R. Dreyfus – C. Keller (ed.), Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, New York / New Haven /London, 2005, p. 267-269.

Dougherty S.P. - Friedman R.F., “Sacred of Mundane: Scalping and Decapitation at Predynastic Hierakonpolis”, in B. Midant-Reynes – Y. Tristant (ed.), Egypt at its Origins 2, Louvain/Paris/Dudley 2008, pp. 311-338.

Eaton-Krauss, Marianne, “Restorations and erasures in the post-Amarna period”, in Z. Hawass – B.L. Pinch (ed.), Egyptology at the dawn of the twenty-first century: proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo, 2000, Cairo 2003, volume 2, pp. 194-202,

Gozzoli R.B., “The Statue BM EA 37891 and the Erasure of Necho II's Names”, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 86 (2000), pp.67-80.

Hari R.,La “damnatio memoriae amarnienne”, in Mélanges Adolphe Gutbub, Montpellier 1984, pp. 95-102.

Hope C.A. – Warfe A.R., “The Proscription of Seth Revisited,” in C. Di Biase-Dyson – L. Donovan (ed.), The Cultural Manifestations of Religious Experience: Studies in Honour of Boyo G. Ockinga, Münster 2017, pp. 273–283.

Koch, C., “Usurpation and the erasure of names during the Twenty- sixth Dynasty”, in E. Pischikova – J. Budka – K. Griffin (ed.), Thebes in the first millennium BC, Newcastle 2014, pp. 397- 413.

May N.N., “Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East”, in N. N. May (ed.), Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond, Chicago 2012, pp. 1–32.

Ockinga, B.G. “Theban tomb 147: its owners and erasures revisited.”, The Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 19 (2008), pp. 139-144.

Ritner, R.K., “Killing the Image, Killing the Essence: The Destruction of Text and Figures in Ancient Egyptian Thought, Ritual, and ‘Ritualized History’”, in N.N. May (ed.), Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond, Chicago 2012, pp. 395–405.

Roth A.M., “Erasing a Reign”, in C.H. Roehrig – R. Dreyfus – C. Keller (ed.), Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, New York / New Haven /London, 2005, p. 277-281.

Smith M., “The Reign of Seth: Egyptian Perspectives from the First Millenium BCE”, in L. Bares – F. Coppens – K. Smoláriková, Egypt in Transition. Social and Religious Development of Egypt in the First Millennium BCE, Praga 2010, pp. 396-430.

Sourouzian H. 2006 “Seth fils de Nout et Seth d’Avaris dans la statuaire royale ramesside”, in E. Czerny – I. Hein – H. Hunger – D. Melman – A. Schwab A. (ed.), Timelines Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Leuven/Paris/Dudley 2006, pp. 331-54.

Wilkinson, R.H., “Controlled damage: the mechanics and micro-history of the damnatio memoriae carried out in KV-23, the tomb of Ay”, Journal of Egyptian History 4 (2011), pp. 129-147 .

Zecchi M., “Seth in motion: an iconographical analysis of his presence in ritual scenes”, Byrsa 29-32 (2016-2017), pp. 227-272.

Zecchi M., Adorare Aten. Testi alla corte del faraone Akhenaten, Bologna 2019.



  

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons. For the part of the course dedicated to the Egyptian language, a text of the Middle Kingdom in hieroglyphic writing will be read, analyzed and commented in class.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

First part of the course: students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge on some aspects of the grammar of the Egyptian language (Middle Egyptian): different typologies of hieroglyphs; the noun; personal pronouns and non-verbal and verbal sentences. Students who demonstrate a solid command of the Egyptian language and an equally good awareness of its grammatical aspects receive an excellent mark. Students with a lesser degree of linguistic competence receive a lower mark. Students who apply their grammatical knowledge mechanically, without showing an adequate awareness of the connections between grammar, meaning and context, who have not acquired the capacity to analyze a text do not pass the exam.

 

Second part: students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge on different aspects of the reign of Akhenaten, of the worship and nature of the god Aten, of the importance of the city of Akhetaten and of the relations between Egypt and the Near East at the end of the XVIIIth dynasty.

Students with a high capability to comment on aspects of the reign of Akhenaten and the religion of the Aten and who demonstrate good critical abilities and an understanding of the chosen bibliography and who express themselves with a language accurate and appropriate to the discipline will receive an excellent mark. Students with a capability to comment on aspects of the program and who demonstrate critical abilities and an understanding of the chosen bibliography and who express themselves with a language appropriate to the discipline will receive a good mark. Students who show to have memorized the main points of the subject, not accompanied by a particular critical ability and who will use a language not always appropriate to the discipline will pass the exam.

Students with a lack of knowledge of the discipline and who have not acquired the capacity to analyse the bibliography will not pass the exam.

Teaching tools

Power point and internet resources.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Zecchi

SDGs

Quality education Gender equality

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.