Egyptian Art and Archaeology
(HA 437 001/CA 437 001)
Tuesday, Thursday 10-11:30am, Tappan Hall 180

On-Line syllabus: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~twilfong/EgyArt/EgyArt.html


Instructors:

Terry Wilfong

Janet Richards

Through illustrated lectures and sessions conducted in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, the course will survey Egyptian art and archaeology from Prehistory through the Late Period, placing emphasis on art and architecture in context. Among the topics we will examine this term are the meaning and audience of Egyptian art; the major principles, themes and media of each period; the relationship of writing and art; art in relation to gender, sexuality and conceptions of the body in ancient Egypt; and the world view and religion with which Egyptian art was inextricably linked. Attention will be paid not only to the art and archaeology of the central elite, but also to that of the provinces and the middle and lower classes. The course will conclude with an examination of Egyptian "art" in museums, by considering how themes of Egyptian representation are viewed in the modern world.

This course will also feature an optional sidebar seminar for discussion of additional readings for interested graduate students. For instructions on how to register for this graduate sidebar seminar, please contact instructors.

Requirements:

  • Class attendance is mandatory
  • Assigned readings
  • Midterm (Feb. 27) and final (April 30)
  • Term paper (Due in Tappan Hall mailbox by 5pm Friday, April 18. Late papers will be penalized.)

    • Required Textbooks:
    Available from Shaman Drum Bookstore (313 South State Street Upstairs):

  • W. Stevenson Smith, The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt, revised with additions by William Kelly Simpson, Pelican History of Art (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981) (=SMITH)
  • Cyril Aldred, Egyptian Art (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1980) (=ALDRED)
  • Vassilika, Eleni, Egyptian Art, Fitzwilliam Museum Handbooks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) (=VASSILIKA)

    • Reccommended Textbook:
    Available from Kelsey Museum of Archaeology front desk

  • Janet Richards and Terry Wilfong, editors, Preserving Eternity: Modern Goals, Ancient Intentions: Egyptian Funerary Artifacts in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology (Ann Arbor: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 1995)
    •

    Other readings will be available on reserve in the Fine Arts Library (Tappan 260)

    On-Line Resources:

  • "ABZU" (Guide to Electronic Resources on the Ancient Near East)
    http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/ABZU/ABZU.HTML
  • Visit Kelsey Museum On-Line
    http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb

    • 1.) January 9
    Introduction/Organizational Meeting

    2.) January 14
    What is Egyptian art and what makes it "Egyptian"?

    3.) January 16
    The World of the Egyptians: the physical context of Egyptian art
    Film: "Nile, River of Gods"

    4.) January 21
    The historical context: Overview from Predynastic to Late Periods

    Readings:

  • ALDRED 7-10

    • 5.) January 23
    Principles and canons of representation in ancient Egyptian art

    Readings:

  • VASSILIKA 1-3
  • ALDRED 11-30

    • 6.) January 28
    The Predynastic period

    Readings:

  • SMITH 25-37
  • VASSILIKA 10-13

    • 7.) January 30
    The Early Dynastic period: Kingship and the canonical tradition

    Readings:

  • SMITH 38-51
  • VASSILIKA 14-17
  • ALDRED 31-44

    • 8.) February 4
    The Old Kingdom: Introduction

    Readings:

  • SMITH 53-69
  • VASSILIKA 18-19
  • ALDRED 45-58

    • 9.) February 6
    The Old Kingdom: The royal funerary cult and the legitimization of kingship

    Readings:

  • SMITH 70-118
  • ALDRED 59-77

    • 10.) February 11
    The Old Kingdom: Elite tombs and the afterlife

    Readings:

  • SMITH 119-149
  • VASSILIKA 20-21
  • ALDRED 78-105

    • 11.) February 13
    The First Intermediate Period and the issue of regional style

    Readings:

  • SMITH 151-167
  • VASSILIKA 22-25
  • ALDRED 106-112

    • 12.) February 18
    The Middle Kingdom: Pharaohs and the Royal Image

    Readings:

  • SMITH 168-189
  • VASSILIKA 30-33
  • ALDRED 113-138

    • 13.) February 20
    The Middle Kingdom: Mortals and the growth of bureaucracy?

    Readings:

  • SMITH 189-202
  • VASSILIKA 26-29, 34-37

    • 14.) February 25
    The Middle Kingdom: The elite versus the people--art and social status

    Readings:

  • SMITH 203-215
  • VASSILIKA 38-45

    • 15.) February 27
    MIDTERM EXAM - Tappan 180

    SPRING BREAK (No class March 4 or 6)

    16.) March 11
    Guest Lecture

    17.) March 13
    Review, Preview and Introduction to post-Middle Kingdom art
    The Second Intermediate Period and the early New Kingdom

    18.) March 18
    Temple as house and cosmos

    Readings:

  • SMITH 216-223
  • ALDRED 139-146

    • 19.) March 20
    Power and Gender: Hatshepsut and the Tuthmosids

    Readings:

  • SMITH 225-257
  • VASSILIKA 46-51
  • ALDRED 147-163

    • 20.) March 25
    Egypt's Dazzling Sun: "Mainstream" art of the Eighteenth Dynasty

    Readings:

  • SMITH 258-313
  • VASSILIKA 52-59
  • ALDRED 163-172

    • 21.) March 27
    "Revolution?" The Amarna Period

    Readings:

  • SMITH 335-356
  • VASSILIKA 60-69
  • ALDRED 172-186

    • 22.) April 1
    "His horizon where he is beheld with joy": The royal city of Akhetaton

    Readings:

  • SMITH 314-335

    • 23.) April 3
    Tutankhamon and the aftermath of Amarna

    Readings:

  • VASSILIKA 88-91

    • 24.) April 8
    The Art of the Ramesside Period: Restoration

    Readings:

  • SMITH 357-385
  • VASSILIKA 70-87
  • ALDRED 187-202

    • 25.) April 10
    Fieldtrip to Kelsey Museum:

    "Gender in Ancient Egypt" and the permanent installation of the ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian collections

    26.) April 15
    Continuity and change in the Third Intermediate Period

    Readings:

  • SMITH 387-394
  • VASSILIKA 92-102
  • ALDRED 203-224

    • 27.) April 17
    The Late Period and the power of archaism

    Readings:

  • SMITH 395-427
  • VASSILIKA 104-119
  • ALDRED 225-239

    • Papers due by 5pm Friday, April 18, in Tappan mailbox

    28.) April 22
    Conclusions: The meaning of Egyptian art revisited

     

    FINAL EXAM: 30 April, 4-6pm, Tappan 180