Faculty of Arts

Undergraduate - Unit


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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL


FacultyFaculty of Arts
Organisational UnitArchaeology and Ancient History
OfferedClayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Associate Professor Colin Hope


This unit will explore the culture of ancient Egypt during the first millennium BCE until the conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. This period witnessed a succession of conquests by peoples who had been traditionally regarded as opponents of the Egyptian state, namely Libyans, Sudanese, Assyrians/Babylonians and Persians. This resulted in a merging of cultural traditions and changes in administrative policies. The unit will examine both the Egyptian response and the impact of these non-Egyptian cultures through the textual and archaeological record, including descriptions by external sources such as Herodotus. As such the unit will explore the reception of ancient Egyptian culture in the Mediterranean and Western Asia.


  1. Students should have gained knowledge of the historical evolution of ancient Egypt during the first millennium.
  2. Students should be aware of the major cultural characteristics of the sub-phases within the period and how they relate to both the Egyptian and non-Egyptian traditions.
  3. Students should understand the nature of the available documentation and its reliability.
  4. Students should develop an appreciation of the international character of the period and the constant changes in the political arena.
  5. Students should be able to undertake independent research drawing upon a variety of data sets and to present this in both oral and written formats.
  6. Students should be able to engage with contemporary theory relevant to archaeological and historical interpretation of the period.


Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements


See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study


Twelve credit points of second-year Arts units.