This is an introductory level course in Middle Egyptian, the classical language of ancient Egypt in use for more than two millennia. This course is suitable for students with no prior knowledge of the language. Students will be introduced to hieroglyphic signs, arguably one of the world’s most iconic scripts, as well as the foundational principles of Egyptian grammar. Building their vocabulary, students will learn to read simple phrases and sentences using exercises drawn from authentic ancient texts. Students wishing to complete exercises digitally may wish to download a transliteration font, such as Trlit_CG Times. Font and installation instructions are available from the website of the Online Egyptological Bibliography

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (F2F & Online simultaneously)

COURSE OUTLINE

• Reading signs: direction, alphabets, and phonetic complements
• Grammar building blocks: gender and number; nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns
• Building phrases: prepositions, genitive constructions, honorific transposition
• First sentences: non-verbal sentences and their negations
• Reading exercise: the marriage scarab of Amenhotep III

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Recognise Egyptian alphabets
2. Use tools such as a sign-list and dictionaries to transliterate and translate Egyptian signs and words
3. Understand basic grammar principles such as gender and number
4. Construct noun phrases
5. Read non-verbal sentences