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Egyptian Archaeology and Art

Code: 44501 ECTS Credits: 10
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Egyptology OB 1

Contact

Name:
Jose Lull García
Email:
jose.lull@uab.cat

Teachers

Miguel Carceller Sindreu

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites.


Objectives and Contextualisation

The general objective of the module is to bring the student closer to the following contents, in a critical way and always from the direct analysis of textual, iconographic, and archaeological sources and the reading of specialized and updated bibliography.

1) Descriptive geography and geology of ancient Egypt.

2) Descriptive archaeology of ancient Egypt: materials, techniques, sites, urban planning, mudbrick architecture, stone architecture, funerary archaeology, material culture (pottery, lithic industry, metallurgy, objects of daily life, objects of funerary furnishings: typologies and chronologies).

3) History of Egyptian art (statuary, painting, and relief) and techniques for the interpretation and dating of the Egyptian work of art.


Competences

  • Act in a creative and original way with solidarity and spirit of scientific collaboration.
  • Assess the quality, self-imposed, rigor, responsibility and social commitment, both in training and in the scientific and informative work.
  • Critically analyze a given scientific problem based on historical and cultural sources.
  • Describe, interpret and dating an archaeological site, a building or an artifact of ancient Egypt.
  • Describe the physical and human geography, geology, natural resources and the climate of Egypt since the beginning of the Holocene until today.
  • Explain, value and date a work of Egyptian art (painting, sculpture, relief art and furniture) in its historical, sociological and cultural context.
  • Knowledge and understanding that provide a basis or opportunity for originality in developing and / or applying ideas, often in a research context.
  • Recognize and evaluate sociological or ecological issues such as gender, otherness, multiculturalism, identity, immigration and the relationship between human societies and the environment, responding to the concerns of the society of our time.
  • Support the epistemology and methodology of historiography Egyptology and evaluate the different historiographical trends of the discipline.
  • Teaming up with special sensitivity interdisciplinarity.
  • That students are able to integrate knowledge and handle complexity and formulate judgments based on information that was incomplete or limited, include reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Act in a creative and original way with solidarity and spirit of scientific collaboration.
  2. Analyzed from a cultural symbolic formal point of view, functional and Egyptian iconography.
  3. Assess the quality, self-imposed, rigor, responsibility and social commitment, both in training and in the scientific and informative work.
  4. Critically analyze a given scientific problem based on historical and cultural sources.
  5. Datar, describe and interpret an Egyptian archaeological site (funeral, urban, military ...) or artifact (ceramic, lithic industry, metallurgy, building materials, everyday objects ...).
  6. Describe Egyptian funerary archeology in all its dimensions: tombs, grave goods, technological processes, ritual processes.
  7. Describe the history of Egyptian archeology and identify the missions and major work with special attention to the Spanish operations.
  8. Describe the techniques, structures and possibly symbolic meanings of Egyptian adobe architecture (palaces, houses, forts), stone (pyramids, temples, tombs) and hipogea (tombs) and settlement patterns and urban planning .
  9. Explain the historical development of statuary, Egyptian painting and relief from its origins to Greco-Roman times.
  10. Knowledge and understanding that provide a basis or opportunity for originality in developing and / or applying ideas, often in a research context.
  11. Recognize and analyze materials, industries and techniques used or developed by the ancient Egyptians, in order to understand their control and exploitation of the environment and urban and monumental buildings.
  12. Recognize and evaluate sociological or ecological issues such as gender, otherness, multiculturalism, identity, immigration and the relationship between human societies and the environment, responding to the concerns of the society of our time.
  13. Reflect on the problems of the artist and the artwork in ancient Egypt.
  14. Teaming up with special sensitivity interdisciplinarity.
  15. That students are able to integrate knowledge and handle complexity and formulate judgments based on information that was incomplete or limited, include reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.

Content

This module consists of two subjects:

1) Egyptian art (first semester)

2) Egyptian archaeology (second semester)

SUBJECT 1: EGYPTIAN ART

1. Introduction to Egyptian art
2. The art of Predynastic
3. The art of the Tinite Period
4. The art of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period
5. The art of the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period
6. The Art of the New Kingdom I (dyn. XVIII: first half)
7. The Art of the New Kingdom II (dyn. XVIII: second half)
8. The Art of the New Kingdom III (dyn. XIX-XX)

 

SUBJECT 2: EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

1. About absolute chronology and relative chronology
2. Introduction to the geology of Egypt. Mining areas and quarries
3. Construction. Transport of blocks, preparations and work.
4. Architecture of funerary archeology. Examples of royal and private complexes
5. Egyptian fortresses
6. Towns and urban centers
7. Egyptian temples
8. Typology of sarcophagi, coffins, ushabti, scarabs and other materials

 


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Exams 10 0.4 4, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13
Theoretical and practical classroom lessons with the support of ICT 80 3.2 1, 4, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13, 14, 3
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials, seminars, and class interventions and presentations 15 0.6 1, 4, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13, 14, 3
Type: Autonomous      
Study and personal work by the student 145 5.8 1, 4, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13, 14, 3

Specification of what the STUDENT'S AUTONOMOUS ACTIVITY consists of

a) Study (study is that process or set of personal or group activities that leads to knowing things and being able to explain them in a coherent and orderly manner, orally or in writing).

b) Personal work: critical reading of bibliography; completion of papers and works; preparation of presentations in class, seminars, and debates; exercises of analysis of textual sources; exercises of interpretation of iconographic and archaeological sources; case studies; keeping the student's portfolio up to date; preparing exams.

Important: The teaching methodology and the evaluation proposed in the guide may undergo some modification subject to the onsite teaching restrictions imposed by health authorities.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active participation in tutorials and seminars and interventions in class 10% 0 0 1, 4, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13, 14, 3
Exams 70% 0 0 4, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13
Individual or group papers with eventual presentation in class 20% 0 0 1, 4, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 11, 12, 13, 14, 3

Module evaluation system

Each of the two subjects that make up the module is evaluated independently. The final mark of the module results from the arithmetic mean of the final marks of the two subjects.

To pass the module it is necessary to pass the evaluation of the two subjects that compose it.

In the table, the hours of dedication to each activity are not specified because they may vary from one student to another. The approximate total hours of student personal work are specified in the table in the "Methodology" section.

The evaluation will consist of three types of activities:

1) Exams (see "Contents" section). Except for justified reasons, the students of the virtual modality will take the exams in synchrony with the students of the face-to-face modality, in connection with Microsoft Teams and with the camera activated. When this is not possible, they will agree with the professor the day and time of the exam, which will be as close as possible to those of the original exam.

2) Interventions and presentations in class; active participation in tutorials and seminars.

3) Individual or group papers.

In the event that some of these activities cannot be taken on-site for sanitary reasons, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB's virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities, and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

Regarding the make-up exams, the lecturer will agree with the students the dates, which must be within the monthfollowing theoriginal exam. Students who have passed an exam but wish to improve their mark mayalso take the make-up exam. In principle, the work and activities that the student performs autonomously are not subject to recovery.

Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 1/3 of the assessment items.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

 

This module does incorporate single assessment

1) Exams (70%)

3) Individual papers (30%)

The same assessment method as continuous assessment will be used.

 

Use of AI

These subjects entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.

 


Bibliography

SUBJECT 1: EGYPTIAN ART

Basic bibliography

ALDRED, Cyril. 1993. Arte egipcio en el tiempo de los faraones 3100-320 a. de C. El mundo del arte 18.
Barcelona: Destino (ed. original: 1980. London: Thames & Hudson).
 
ALEGRE GARCÍA, Susana. 2013. Arte en el antiguo Egipto. Claves para su interpretación. Cuenca:
Alderabán.
 
DAVIS, Whitney Vivian. 1989. The Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art. Cambridge-New York-Port
Chester-Melbourne-Sydney: Cambridge University Press.
 
DONADONI, Sergio. 2001. El arte egipcio. Fundamentos 160. Madrid: Istmo (ed. original: 1981. Torino:
Unione Tipografica-Editrice Torinese).
 
ESTRADA LAZA, Fernando. 2012. Entender y amar el arte egipcio. Barcelona: Crítica.
 
FISCHER, Henry. 1986. L'écriture et l'art de l'Égypte ancienne. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
 
HARTWIG, Melinda (ed.) 2015. A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
 
LALOUETTE, Claire. 1996. L'art figuratif dans l'Égypte pharaonique. Peintures et sculptures. Champs 326.
Paris: Flammarion.
 
MANNICHE, Lise. 1997. El arte egipcio. Alianza forma 141. Madrid: Alianza (ed. original: 1994. Paris:
Flammarion).
 
MICHALOWSKI, Kazimierz. 1991. El arte del antiguo Egipto. Madrid: Akal (ed. original: 1968. Paris:
Éditions Lucien Mazenod).
  
MOLINERO POLO, Miguel Ángel; SOLA ANTEQUERA, Domingo (coords.) 2000. Arte y sociedad del Egipto
antiguo. Ensayos 171. Madrid: Encuentro.
 
ROBINS, Gay. 1994. Proportion and Style in Ancient Egyptian Art. London: Thames & Hudson.
 
ROBINS, Gay, 2008. The Art of Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum (ed. original: 1997).
 
SCHÄFER, Heinrich, 1986. Principles of Egyptian Art. Oxford: Griffith Institute (ed. original: 1919.
Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs).
 
SMITH, William Stevenson. 2008. Arte y arquitectura del antiguo Egipto. Madrid: Cátedra (ed. original:
1958. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books).
 
VALDESOGO MARTÍN, María Rosa. 2011. El arte egipcio. Cómo interpretar y comprender la obra plástica del
antiguo Egipto. Madrid: Dilema.
 
WILKINSON, Richard. 2003. Magia y símbolo en el arte egipcio. Alianza forma 148. Madrid: Alianza (ed.
original: 1994. London: Thames & Hudson).
 
WILKINSON, Richard. 2004. Cómo leer el arte egipcio. Guía de jeroglíficos del antiguo Egipto. Barcelona:
Crítica (ed. original: 1992. London: Thames & Hudson).
 
ZIEGLER, Christiane; BOVOT, Jean-Luc. 2001. Art et archéologie. l'Égypte ancienne. Paris: École du
Louvre-Réunion des musées nationaux-La Documentation française.
 

SUBJECT 2: EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Basic bibliography

ANDREWS, Carol. 1994. Amulets of Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press.

 DODSON, Aidan.; IKRAM, Salima. 1998. The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity. London: Thames & Hudson.

 KEMP, Barry J. 1992. El antiguo Egipto. Anatomía de una civilización. Barcelona: Crítica [1989].

 KLEMM, Dietrich; KLEMM, Rosemarie. 2011. The building stones of ancient Egypt – a gift of its geology, African Earth Sciences 33, 631-642.  

 LEHNER, Mark. 1997. The Complete Pyramids. London: Thames & Hudson. 

 LULL, José. 2020. La astronomía como fuente de la cronología absoluta. El caso del antiguo Egipto, Astronomía 247.

 REEVES, Nicholas;  WILKINSON, Richard. 1996. The Complete Valley of the Kings. London: Thames & Hudson.

 SNAPE, Steven. 2014. The Complete Cities of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. 

 SULLIVAN, Elaine. 2008, Construction Methods and Building Materials. On Digital Karnak, Los Angeles: UCLA.

 VOGEL, Carola. 2010. The Fortifications of Ancient Egypt 3000-1780 BC, Oxford: Oxprey.

 WILKINSON, Richard H. 2002. Los templos del antiguo Egipto. Barcelona: Thames & Hudson

 

Further reading

ARNOLD, Dieter. 1991. Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry. Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press.

ARNOLD, Dieter. 2003. The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press.

BAINES, John; MÁLEK, Jaromir. 2000. Atlas cultural de Egipto. Dioses, templos y faraones. Barcelona: Óptima.

BAQUÉ, Lucas. 1996. Las ciudades de las pirámides en el antiguo Egipto. Barcelona: Mízar.

BARD, Kathryn A. 1999. Encyclopaedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis Ltd.

BARD, Kathryn  A. 2015. An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

BAUD, Michel. 1997. Balat/Ayn-Asil, oasis de Dakhla, la ville de la deuxième pèriode intermèdiaire. BIFAO 97, 19-34

BELMONTE, Juan A.; LULL, José. 2023. Astronomy of Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Perspective. New York: Springer.

BIETAK, Manfred. 1979. Urban Archaeology and the 'Town Problem'. In K. Weeks (ed.), Egyptology and the Social Sciences (pp. 97-144). Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

CASTEL, Georges. 1980. Deir el-Médineh, FIFAO 12. Le Caire: IFAO.

CLARKE, Somers. 1916. Ancient Egyptian Frontier Fortresses. JEA 3, 155-180.

CLARKE, Somers; ENGELBACH, Reginald. 1990. Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture. London: Dover Publications.

DODSON, Aidan. 1991. Egyptian Rock-cut Tombs, Shire Egyptology 14. Aylesbury: Shire Publications.

DODSON, Aidan; IKRAM, Salima. 2008. The Tomb in Ancient Egypt: Royal and Private Sepulchres from the Early Dynastic Period to the Romans. London: Thames & Hudson.

EMERY, Walter B.; MILLARD, Alan; SMITH, H. S. 1979. The Fortress of Buhen: The Archaeological Report. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

HALL, Rosalind M. 1986. Egyptian Textiles. Shire Egyptology 4. Aylesbury: Shire Publications.

HASSAN, Fekri A. 1993. Town and village in ancient Egypt: ecology, society and urbanization. In T. SHAW, P. J. J. SINCLAIR, B. ANDAH, A. OKPOKO (eds.), The Archaeology of Africa: food, metals and towns (pp. 551-569). London: Taylor and Francis.

HELCK, Wolfgang. 1957. Bermerkungen zu den Pyramidstädten im Alten Reich. MDAIK 15, 91-111.

IKRAM, Salima. 2003. Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

ISSAWI, B.; MCCAULEY, J. F. 1992. The Cenozoic  Rivers of Egypt: The Nile Problem, in R. Friedman, B. Adams (eds.), The Followers of Horus. Studies dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman. Oxbow Monograpgh 20. (pp. 121-138). Oxford: Oxbow Books.

KAMPP, Friederike. 1996. Die thebanische Nekropole. Zum Wandel des Grabgedankens von der XVIII. bis zur XX. Dynastie. Theben 13. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.

KEMP, Barry. 2012. The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Amarna and its People. London: Thames & Hudson.

KLEMM, Rosemarie; KLEMM, Dietrich. 2008. Stones and Quarries in Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press.

KILLEN, Geoffrey. 1994. Egyptian Woodworking and Furniture. Shire Egyptology 21. Aylesbury: Shire Publications.

KURTH, Dieter. 2004. The Temple of Edfu. A Guide by an Ancient Egyptian Priest. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

LEHNER, Mark. 2002. The Pyramid Age Settlement of the Southern Mount at Giza. JARCE 39, 27-74.

LUCAS, Alfred. 1962. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, London: E. Arnold & Co.

LULL, José. 2004. La astronomía en el antiguo Egipto. Publicacions de la Universitat de Vaència: Valencia.

LULL, José. 2002. Las tumbas reales egipcias del Tercer Período Intermedio. Oxford: Archaeopress.

LULL, José. 2007. Algunas pistas sobre los enterramientos reales de los saítas y últimos reyes indígenas durante las dinastías XXVI-XXX. BAEDE 17, 105-122.

MARCHAND, Sylvie;  SOUKIASSIAN, Georges. 2010. Balat VIII. Un habitat de la XIII dynastie - 2 Période Intermédiaire à Ayn Asil. FIFAO 59. Le Caire: IFAO.

NICHOLSON, Paul T. 1993. Egyptian Faience and Glass. Shire Egyptology 18. Aylesbury: Shire Publications.

NICHOLSON, Paul T.; SHAW, Ian (eds.). 2000. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

PARRA, José M. 2008. Historia de las pirámides de Egipto. Madrid: Ed. Complutense. [1997]

SAMPSELL, B. M. 2003. A Traveler's Guide to the Geology of Egypt. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

SCHEEL, Bernd. 1989. Egyptian Metalworking and Tools. Shire Egyptology 13. Aylesbury: Shire Publications.

SIDEBOTHAM, Steven E.; HENSE, M.; NOUWENS, H. M. 2008. The Red Land. The Illustrated Archaeology of Egypt´s Eastern Desert. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

SHAFER, Byron E.; ARNOLD, Dieter. 1997. Temples of Ancient Egypt. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

SMOLÁRIKOVÁ, Květa. 2008. Saite Forts in Egypt. Praha: Czech Institute of Egyptology.- SOLIMAN, R. 2009. Old and Middle Kingdom Theban Tombs. London: Golden House.

SNAPE, Steven. 1996. Egyptian Temples, Shire Egyptology 24. Aylesbury: Shire Publications.

SPENCER, A. Jeffrey. 1979. Brick Architecture in Ancient Egypt. Warminster: Aris & Phillips.

STADELMANN, Rainer. 1981. La ville de pyramide à l'ancien empire. RdÉ 33, 67-77.

STADELMANN, Rainer. 1997. Die ägyptischen Pyramiden. Vom Ziegelbau zum Weltwunder. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.

TAVARES, Ana. 2011. Village, town and barracks: a fourth dynasty settlement at Heit el-Ghurab, Giza. In Nigel STRUDWICK, Helen STRUDWICK (eds.), Old Kingdom. New Perspectives (pp. 270-277). Oxford: Oxbow Books.

UPHILL, Eric P. 1988. Egyptian Towns and Cities. Shire Egyptology 8. Aylesbury: Shire Publications.

VANDIER, Jacques. 1952-1978. Manuel d'archéologie égyptienne, 6 vols. Paris: A. et J. Picard.

VERNER, Miroslav. 2002. The Pyramids. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

VIVIAN, Cassandra. 2008. The Western Desert of Egypt. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

 


Software

No specific program to take this module is required.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(TEm) Theory (master) 1 Spanish annual afternoon