Department of Egyptology and Assyriology

Undergraduate Concentration

Breadcrumb

Honors Thesis

Undergraduate Concentration

Undergraduate students have wide-ranging choices in courses including introductory language, history and archaeology as well as topical classes on subjects such as Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion, literature, and science. The undergraduate concentration requires a total of at least ten courses. 

Many of our classes are open to all students at Brown and have no prerequisites. Concentrators in the department have the option of following tracks in either Egyptology or Assyriology. Both tracks provide students with a solid background in the field through exposure to the critical study of these ancient cultures using the tools of archaeology, epigraphy, and historical inquiry, and a variety of interdisciplinary, comparative, and theoretical approaches in order to explore these regions’ ancient languages and literatures, political and socio-economic modes of organization, art and architecture, religious traditions and other systems of knowledge, such as ancient exact sciences.

In some instances a course may be counted in more than one Foundation area, but each course will be counted only once, e.g., ASYR 0800 The Cradle of Civilization? could be counted either as a History course (Assyriology Track) or an Archaeology course (Assyriology Track) but not in both areas.

Students new to the areas of study in E&A or new to Brown will find the introductory script/language courses provide a suitable point of entry into the concentration: ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Mesopotamian cuneiform were used to write languages very different from our own, and the methods we use to extract meaning from these ancient scripts will invite students to learn and ask deeper questions about the interconnections between language and script, the archaeology of communication technologies, and the region's ancient histories and cultures. In addition, each year E&A offers introductory-level courses in the Foundation areas of the concentration, either as First Year Seminars or open courses at the 0100 level. Students will find that many 1000 level courses are open to students new to E&A's areas of study, though first year students may find these courses to be more challenging. 

Contact: Christelle Alvarez (christelle_alvarez@brown.edu), Director of Undergraduate Studies

Assyriology Track

The Assyriology concentration requires a total of at least ten courses. 

Four courses, one per area:

History

  • EGYT 0600 Ancient True Crime: Murder, Conspiracy, and Law
  • ASYR 0300 Babylon: Myth and Reality (FYS) 
  • ASYR 0800 The Cradle of Civilization? An Introduction to the Ancient Near East 

Archaeology

  • ASYR 0800 The Cradle of Civilization? An Introduction to the Ancient Near East
  • ASYR 1420 Monarchs, Gods and Demons: The Art of the Ancient Near East (HIAA 1420) 
  • ARCH 0372 Meeting with Mesopotamia 
  • ARCH 0760 Palaces: Built to Impress 
  • ARCH 1475 Petra: Ancient Wonder, Modern Challenge
  • ARCH 1712 Ruins: Cross-cultural Understandings of the Material Traces of the Past
  • ARCH 1635 The Great Heresy: Egypt in the Amarna Period
  • ARCH 1879 A World in Color: Seeing and Experiencing Colors in Ancient Times 

Religion and Literature

  • EGYT 0300 In the Beginning: Cosmos and Creation in the Ancient World (FYS) 
  • ARCH 0255 Monsters 
  • ASYR 0310 Thunder-gods and Dragon-slayers (FYS) 
  • ASYR 1100 Imagining the Gods
  • ASYR 1110 Literature of Ancient Iraq 

Making Knowledge - Ancient and Modern

  • ASYR 0320 The Origin(s) of Science (FYS)
  • ASYR 0500 Mathematics in the Ancient World 
  • ASYR 1160 Color and Culture in the Ancient Near East
  • ASYR 1500 Ancient Babylonian Magic and Medicine
  • ASYR 1600 Astronomy Before the Telescope
  • ASYR 1700 Astronomy, Divination and Politics in the Ancient World 
  • ASYR 1725 Scientific Thought in Ancient Iraq 
  • ARCH 1025 Greece-Egypt-Anatolia-Mesopotamia: Transcultural Interactions in the Ancient World 
  • ARCH 1538 Heritage Under Fire
  • ARCH 1830 Fake! History of the Inauthentic
  • ARCH 1890 Lost Languages

Two courses: one course in a cuneiform-based language, normally Introduction to Akkadian, Introduction to Sumerian, or Introduction to Hittite. One additional language course, either Intermediate Akkadian or another language with the EGYT or ASYR course code.

  • ASYR 0200 || ASYR 1000 Introduction to Akkadian
  • ASYR 0210 || ASYR 1010 Intermediate Akkadian
  • ASYR 0250 || ASYR 1400 Introduction to Sumerian
  • ASYR 0900 || ASYR 1900 Introduction to Hittite
  • EGYT 0310 || EGYT 1310 Middle Egyptian I
  • EGYT 0320 || EGYT 1320 Middle Egyptian II

At least two additional courses at the 1000 level or higher that include ancient Mesopotamia as a major component of the syllabus, usually in ASYR or ARCH.

Two additional courses on some aspect of the ancient/premodern world, at least one of which should be with the department's faculty.

All concentrators in Egyptology and Assyriology are required to complete a capstone project. Under normal circumstances a concentrator will complete a capstone project in their last undergraduate year, the idea being that the project will be a culmination of the student's academic path at Brown and in the department. Students have three options for fulfilling the capstone requirement in Egyptology and Assyriology: 

1. Honors Thesis (see policies and procedures for Honors in Egyptology and Assyriology)

2. Independent Study: A one-semester reading and research independent study course under the direction of a faculty advisor in the department (this course may count toward the concentration Depth or Breadth requirement subject to the approval of the concentration advisor and DUS). The independent study should result in a research paper (at least 5000 words) or a significant original translation and analysis of an ancient text or a coherent group of related texts. 

3. Course Project: a project undertaken in connection with an EGYT/ASYR/ARCH course at or above the 1000 level (this course may count toward the concentration Depth or Breadth requirement). The specific project should be discussed with, and must be approved by, the instructor of the relevant course and the DUS.

The capstone project can take many forms, but the common feature shared among all possible projects will be a public presentation. Typically in the final semester before graduating, the concentrator will give this capstone presentation before the department community. The format of the presentation may vary: students may give an illustrated lecture, present and discuss a video or installation, or propose a novel presentation modality. Both the content and the format of the capstone project must be discussed beforehand and approved by the concentration advisor and DUS no later than the end of the first semester of the senior year. 

Egyptology Track

The Egyptology concentration requires a total of ten courses.

Four courses, one per area:

History

  • EGYT 0200 Egypt in the Time of Cleopatra
  • EGYT 0500 The Pyramids in Context
  • EGYT 0550 Black Pharaohs: Nubian Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt
  • EGYT 0600 Ancient True Crime: Murder, Conspiracy, and Law
  • EGYT 1030 Collapse! Ancient Egypt after the Pyramid
  • EGYT 1430 Pyramids, Power, Propaganda 
  • EGYT 1465 Life on the Nile: Ancient Egypt beyond the Pharaohs

Archaeology

  • EGYT 1510 Ancient Egyptian Art 
  • ARCH 0150 Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology and Art
  • ARCH 0760 Palaces: Built to Impress
  • ARCH 1712 Ruins: Cross-cultural Understandings of the Material Traces of the Past
  • ARCH 1622 Art, Secrecy, and Invisibility in Ancient Egypt
  • ARCH 1630 Fighting Pharaohs: Ancient Egyptian Warfare
  • ARCH 1635 The Great Heresy: Egypt in the Amarna Period
  • ARCH 1879 A World in Color: Seeing and Experiencing Colors in Ancient Times 

Religion and Literature

  • EGYT 0300 In the Beginning: Cosmos and Creation in the Ancient World (FYS) 
  • EGYT 1100 Ancient Voices: The Literature of Ancient Egypt 
  • EGYT 1420 Ancient Egyptian Religion and Magic 
  • ARCH 0255 Monsters

Making Knowledge - Ancient and Modern

  • EGYT 1400 Black Reception of Ancient Egypt and Nubia 
  • EGYT 1485 Magic, Mummies, and Drugs
  • EGYT 1490 Calendars and Chronology in Ancient Egypt
  • EGYT 1495 The Science and the Medicine of the Ancient Egyptians 
  • ASYR 0320 The Origin(s) of Science (FYS)
  • ASYR 0500 Mathematics in the Ancient World 
  • ASYR 1160 Color and Culture in the Ancient Near East
  • ASYR 1600 Astronomy Before the Telescope
  • ARCH 1025 Greece-Egypt-Anatolia-Mesopotamia: Transcultural Interactions in the Ancient World 
  • ARCH 1538 Heritage Under Fire
  • ARCH 1830 Fake! History of the Inauthentic
  • ARCH 1890 Lost Languages

Two courses: one course in the ancient Egyptian language, ordinarily Middle Egyptian I. However, other phases of the ancient Egyptian language can be substituted for one or both of these, such as Late Egyptian or Coptic. One additional language course, either Middle Egyptian II or another language with the EGYT or ASYR course code. 

  • EGYT 0310 || EGYT 1310 Middle Egyptian I
  • EGYT 0320 || EGYT 1320 Middle Egyptian II
  • EGYT 2210 Introduction to Coptic (parallel numbering to come)
  • EGYT 2410 Late Egyptian (parallel numbering to come)
  • EGYT 2610 Introduction to Demotic (parallel numbering to come)
  • ASYR 0200 || ASYR 1000 Introduction to Akkadian
  • ASYR 0210 || ASYR 1010 Intermediate Akkadian
  • ASYR 0250 || ASYR 1400 Introduction to Sumerian
  • ASYR 0900 || ASYR 1900 Introduction to Hittite

At least two additional courses at the 1000 level or higher that include ancient Egypt as a major component of the syllabus, usually in EGYT or ARCH.

At least two additional courses about some aspect of the ancient/premodern world, at least one of which should be with the Department’s faculty.

All concentrators in Egyptology and Assyriology are required to complete a capstone project. Under normal circumstances a concentrator will complete a capstone project in their last undergraduate year, the idea being that the project will be a culmination of the student's academic path at Brown and in the department. Students have three options for fulfilling the capstone requirement in Egyptology and Assyriology: 

1. Honors Thesis (see policies and procedures for Honors in Egyptology and Assyriology)

2. Independent Study: A one-semester reading and research independent study course under the direction of a faculty advisor in the department (this course may count toward the concentration Depth or Breadth requirement subject to the approval of the concentration advisor and DUS). The independent study should result in a research paper (at least 5000 words) or a significant original translation and analysis of an ancient text or a coherent group of related texts. 

3. Course Project: a project undertaken in connection with an EGYT/ASYR/ARCH course at or above the 1000 level (this course may count toward the concentration Depth or Breadth requirement). The specific project should be discussed with, and must be approved by, the instructor of the relevant course and the DUS.

The capstone project can take many forms, but the common feature shared among all possible projects will be a public presentation. Typically in the final semester before graduating, the concentrator will give this capstone presentation before the department community. The format of the presentation may vary: students may give an illustrated lecture, present and discuss a video or installation, or propose a novel presentation modality. Both the content and the format of the capstone project must be discussed beforehand and approved by the concentration advisor and DUS no later than the end of the first semester of the senior year. 

Honors Thesis