TELEVISION

History of Ancient Egypt

Series: Great Courses
4.6
(198)
sign up
Episodes
48
Rating
TVPG
Year
1999
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

Ancient Egyptian civilization is so grand that our minds sometimes have difficulty adjusting to it. If you're awed by the Great Pyramid, amazed by the magnificent golden mask and other treasures of Tutankhamen, curious about how this longest-lived of all ancient cultures has influenced us, or just intrigued by the mysterious hows and whys of all things Egyptian, then this course is for you.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1 to 3 of 48

1. Introduction

30m

sign up
What makes ancient Egypt so interesting? How do we know what we know about it? What can you, as a student, expect from these lectures?

2. Prehistoric Egypt

30m

sign up
In this lesson, we will see just how old "old" is. The basic divisions of prehistory will be discussed, and each category will be defined and its specific characteristics delineated. Once these categories are clear, we will discuss the difficulties of studying a prehistoric civilization.

3. Ancient Egyptian Thought

30m

sign up
What distinguishes mythology, religion, and philosophy from one another? What role did each play in the lives of the ancient Egyptians?

4. Napoleon and the Beginnings of Egyptology

30m

sign up
Why does modern Egyptology begin with Napoleon? How was Egypt studied before he and his army arrived with 150 scientists in tow in 1798? How did the monumental "Description de l'Egypte" that Bonaparte's savants produced become the benchmark for all future publications in the field?

5. The Rosetta Stone, and Much More

30m

sign up
The Rosetta Stone is a large granite stela, carved under Ptolemy V and unearthed by French troops in 1799. With inscriptions of the same text in Greek and Egyptian, it provided the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian language. Learn the four scripts in which ancient Egyptian can be written, as well as the three ways hieroglyphic signs can be used.

6. The First Nation in History

30m

sign up
How did Egypt become history's first nation? Once King Narmer unified Upper and Lower Egypt, it took only a few hundred years to build a power that would dominate the Near East for millennia. Learn why the political structure of ancient Egypt made this possible and how the "Narmer Palette" tells this story.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

Bob Brier, Ph. D.writer
The Great Coursesproducer
Bob Brier, Ph. D.actor