HIGHLY RECOMMENDED COURSES:
history of ancient egypt
In this course from The Great Courses, you chronologically survey the full 3,000 years of recorded ancient Egyptian history. Because Egyptian history lasted so long, Egyptologists divide it into three periods called Kingdoms:
- The Old Kingdom saw the beginnings of nationhood for Egypt under one supreme ruler, the pharaoh. During this time, the pyramids were built and the rules of Egyptian art were established that would govern for 3,000 years.
- The Middle Kingdom, a period of stabilizing after the Old Kingdom collapsed, saw a nation fighting to regain its greatness.
- The New Kingdom, the glamour period of ancient Egypt, was when all the stars — Hatshepsut, Tutankhamen, Ramses the Great, Cleopatra, and others — appeared.
Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
No great civilization continues to speak to us like that of ancient Egypt. But what is it about this ancient civilization that still captures our imaginations? What made Egypt special, allowing it to grow, in Professor Bob Brier's words, "from a scattering of villages across the Nile to the greatest power the world had ever seen"?
Professor Brier has designed this course to focus on the fascinating leaders of ancient Egypt.
“My thesis in Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt is that what made Egypt great were the people — individuals who did great things,” says Professor Brier. “By recounting the lives and accomplishments of the great ones of Egypt, we will present a history of Egypt spreading over 30 centuries. By the time we come to the last ruler of Egypt, Cleopatra, we will have peered into almost every aspect of ancient Egyptian life, seen what made Egypt great, and what finally brought about its downfall. My hope is that by the end of the course you will have a sense that you personally know the men and women who made Egypt the greatest nation of the ancient world.”
A Guided Tour of Ancient Egypt
In this course, experience extraordinary sites and Egypt’s multifaceted culture where history and archaeology combine in one of the most memorable travel destinations on the planet. In the 24 lavishly illustrated lessons of The Great Tours: A Guided Tour of Ancient Egypt, you’ll delve into the civilization of the ancient Egyptians in compelling and unforgettable depth. This remarkable course, presented by Professor Melinda Hartwig, takes you on a richly detailed tour of Egypt’s greatest historical and artistic treasures — an exploration of Egyptian culture, art, and history on the ground, going far beyond guidebooks, conventional tours, and an ordinary series of lectures on Egypt.
Professor Hartwig, an Egyptologist with 40 years of fieldwork in Egypt, walks you through an extraordinary range of the most outstanding sites, taking you deep inside the pyramids, tombs, temples, palaces, and dwellings of the ancient Egyptians. She guides you, in detail, on exactly where to go, what to see at each site, and how to understand and appreciate what you’re seeing.
In the process of exploring the sites, you’ll learn in-depth about ancient Egyptian life, culture, and history — exploring how their elaborate art and decoration deeply encoded information and meaning. You’ll also see the extraordinary symbolism of their architectural forms, how that symbolism functioned, and the meaning of their legendary tombs and burial practices. Along the way, you will come to understand their conception of the universe, religious mythology and pantheon of gods, funerary beliefs, cultural rituals and festivals, realities of daily life, and more.
Beyond the famous pyramids and Abu Simbel so often visited by tourists lies a stunning wealth of other works of monumental architecture, edifices, resplendent tombs, colossal statues, temples, artifacts, and artworks. In Professor Hartwig’s company, you’ll take a far-reaching look at these treasures, in a sequence that follows the flowering of ancient Egypt along the banks of the Nile, from Alexandria and Cairo in the north to Aswan in the south.
Along the way, you’ll take in sites such as the majestic Ptolemaic temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo; the monuments of Thebes (modern-day Luxor) and the Valley of the Kings; the great Temple of Hathor at Dendera; Abydos, the sacred city of Osiris, god of resurrection; Amarna, city of religious revolution; the elaborate Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut, the daring woman who proclaimed herself pharaoh, in Thebes; and the excellent necropolis complex of Saqqara.
Professor Hartwig’s extraordinarily detailed and perceptive knowledge of the sites, and of Egyptian art, texts, and history makes this a thoroughly enthralling journey, revealing fascinating insights in every segment.
Among numerous illuminating perspectives, you’ll learn how:
- Egyptian religious rituals were undergirded by a perceived need to recharge and regenerate the gods, the pharaoh, and the cosmos;
- Detailed reliefs and paintings of beermaking, smelting gold, shipbuilding, sculpting colossal statues, and moving massive stones show us about Egyptian culture; how Egyptian temples symbolically reenacted the birth and rebirth of divine kingship, legitimizing the pharaohs’ right to rule; and
- The actual words and thoughts of the ancient Egyptians are heard through the inscriptions and captions on many reliefs and wall paintings, revealing how the Egyptians carried out their religious rituals, work duties, and daily tasks.
In The Great Tours: A Guided Tour of Ancient Egypt, you’ll discover a complex and mighty people whose spellbinding monuments, brilliant ingenuity, religious cosmology, and vision of the afterlife continue to captivate and dazzle the world.