Bloomsbury Summer School
Fascinated by ancient civilisations?
We offer anyone with any level of knowledge, inspiring short courses on ancient Egypt and other areas of the ancient world.
2021 courses – recommended reading
A TASTE OF Hieroglyphs (For beginners)
It would be a good idea on the day (but not essential) to have with you a copy of:
Collier, M. and Manley, B. (2003) How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. British Museum Press (ideally 2003 revised edition, but earlier edition fine).
NB: If you intend to take the remainder of the full one-week course Hieroglyphs for (Almost) Beginners, then you should be aware that this book is essential for that course.
Art and Archaeology of Mesoamerica in 100 Objects
Berdan, F. F. (2014) Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory. Cambridge University Press.
Cowgill, G. (2015) Ancient Teotihuacan: Early urbanism in Central Mexico. Cambridge University Press.
Evans, S. T. (2013) Ancient Mexico and Central America. Thames and Hudson. It is recommended that all students obtain a copy of this book.
Hieroglyphs for (Almost) Beginners
Collier, M. and Manley, B. (2003) How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. British Museum Press (ideally 2003 revised edition, but earlier edition fine).
This is the required course book, so do ensure you have a copy with you at each class (the first or second edition are equally as useful).
Coptic: A course for beginners
Cannuyer, C. (2001) Coptic Egypt: The Christians of the Nile. Thames and Hudson.
Death and Divinity in Graeco-Roman Egypt
APPEAR (Ancient Panel Paintings: Examination, analysis, and research) Project: www.getty.edu/museum/research/appear_project/
Picton, J., Quirke, S., and Roberts, P. C. (eds) (2003). Living Images: Egyptian funerary portraits in the Petrie Museum. Left Coast Press.
Price, C. (2020) “While skulls bobbed on the waves”: Flinders Petrie (& others) at Hawara, KMT. A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt 31(2): 16–29. PDF: www.academia.edu/43997805/_While_skulls_bobbed_on_the_waves_Flinders_Petrie_and_others_at_Hawara
Price, C. (2020) Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting identities from the Graeco-Roman Period. Nomad Exhibitions / Manchester Museum. Order a copy for £25 incl. UK P&P: cprice@liv.ac.uk
Riggs, C. (2002) Facing the Dead: Recent research on the funerary art of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. American Journal of Archaeology 106(1): 85–101. PDF: www.academia.edu/12440030/_Facing_the_dead_Recent_research_on_the_funerary_art_of_Ptolemaic_and_Roman_Egypt_American_Journal_of_Archaeology_106_1_2002_85_101
Cleopatra’s Hieroglyphs: Reading Hieroglyphic Texts from the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods
There is no complete English reference grammar or sign-list for Graeco-Roman hieroglyphic texts. All the necessary teaching material will be provided by the Course Director. If you so choose, you can begin familiarising yourself with the topic through the following titles.
NB: These also include studies relevant to the wider context of written culture in Graeco-Roman Egypt, and not specifically focussed on linguistic / philological problems:
Bowman, A. K. (1986 and following re-editions) Egypt after the Pharaohs: 332 BC – AD 642: From Alexander to the Arab Conquest. British Museum.
Engshade, A. (2016) Traditional Egyptian II (Ptolemaic, Roman). In UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, UCLA. URL: digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz002k6stb (click on “View PDF Content”).
Fairman, H.W. (1943) An Introduction to the Study of Ptolemaic Signs and Their Values. In BIFAO 43: 51-138. URL: www.ifao.egnet.net/bifao/043/02
Hill, M. (2016) Egypt in the Ptolemaic Period. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Met. URL: www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ptol/hd_ptol.htm
Prada, L. (2018) Multilingualism Along the Nile. In The Getty Iris Blog, J. Paul Getty Trust. URL: blogs.getty.edu/iris/multilingualism-along-the-nile
Riggs, C. (ed.) (2012) The Oxford Handbook of Roman Egypt. Oxford University Press.
Wilson, P. (1997) A Ptolemaic Lexikon. Peeters.
Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
Hart, G. (2005) The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Routledge.
Mark, Joshua J. (2016) Egyptian Gods – The Complete List. In Ancient History Encyclopedia. URL: www.ancient.eu/article/885
Pinch, G. (2002) Egyptian Mythology: A guide to the gods, goddesses and traditions of ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
Quirke, S. et al. (2003) Ideology and Belief in Ancient Egypt. In Digital Egypt for Universities. URL: www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/themes/beliefae.html
Shaw, G. (2014) The Egyptian Myths: A guide to the ancient gods and legends. Thames and Hudson.
Wilkinson, R. H. (2003) The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson.
UCLA Online Encyclopedia of Egyptology: Articles on many of the ancient Egyptian gods, myths and temples, e.g. Wilkinson, R. H. (2008) Anthropomorphic Deities. URL: escholarship.org/uc/item/5s54w4tc
Reading Coptic: Exemplary Lives
The following books are not essential, but you may find it helpful to bring a copy with you, if you happen to have one.
Cannuyer, C. (2001) Coptic Egypt: The Christians of the Nile. Thames and Hudson.
Smith, R. (1993) A Concise Coptic-English Lexicon. Scholars Press.
Yanney, R. (2020) Life of St Pachomius. St Shenouda Press.
Hieroglyphs: The next step
Collier, M. and Manley, B. (2003) How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs (revised edition). British Museum Press.
This is the required course book, so do ensure you have a copy with you at each class (the first or second edition are equally as useful.) The following books are not essential, but you may find it helpful to bring a copy with you, if you happen to have one.
Faulkner, R. O. (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith Institute.
Manley, B. (2012) Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners. Thames and Hudson.
The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt
Dodson, A. (2016) The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt. Pen and Sword. It is recommended that all students obtain a copy of this book.
Dodson, A. M. and Ikram, S. (2004) The Tomb in Ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson.
Hornung, E. (1999) The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife (translated by D. Lorton). Cornell University Press.
Reeves, C. N. and Wilkinson, R. H. (1996) The Complete Valley of the Kings. Thames and Hudson.
Wilkinson, R. H. and Weeks, K. R. (eds) (2016) The Oxford Handbook to the Valley of the Kings. Oxford University Press.
Love Spells, Oracles, Amulets: Ancient Egyptian Rituals of Magic and Divination
The Coptic Magical Papyri: Vernacular religion in Late Roman and Early Islamic Egypt (a useful website and blog with entries on Late Antique magic and magic in general). www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de
For complete list to databases of magical text and objects online: www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/online-resources
For a bibliography with links to additional scholarly works: www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/bibliography/#general
Reading Hieroglyphs: Spirits in context
This course is based on handouts specially prepared for BSS. However, we recommend that you bring a copy of the following with you:
Collier, M. and Manley, B. (1998 or 2003) How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. British Museum Press.
If you happen to have a copy of the following, you will find it useful at BSS or, indeed, whenever you read ancient Egyptian texts:
Faulkner, R. O. (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith Institute.
Ancient Persia: New perspectives
Allen, L. (2005) The Persian Empire. University of Chicago Press.
Kuhrt, A. (2007) The Persian Empire: A corpus of sources from the Achaemenid Period. Routledge.
Llewellyn-Jones, L. (2013) King and Court in Ancient Persia, 559 to 331 BCE. Edinburgh University Press.
Potts, D. T. (ed.) (2013) The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Oxford University Press.
Wiesehöfer, J. (1996) Ancient Persia: From 550 BC to 650 AD. I. B. Tauris.
Online resources
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Umfeb4VEg&t=2591s
www.livius.org/category/persia/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pykby-lD9yg&t=30s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ies4CHHQhxY
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7S2eyAgnyw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6mo09hdfng&t=2239s
More generally on the Near East, visit: www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/home/home.php
An amazing selection of Persian-related books and materials for downloading is available at: oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/persia.html
Stone Tools and Technologies in Ancient Egypt – postponed until 2022
Lucas, A. and Harris, J. (2012 [1948]) Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries. Courier Corporation.
Nicholson, P. and Shaw, I. (2000) Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge University Press.
Scheel, B. (1998) Egyptian Metalworking and Tools (Shire Egyptology). Shire Publications.
Stocks, D. A. (2003) Experiments in Egyptian Archaeology: Stoneworking technology in ancient Egypt. Routledge.
Weissberg, S. and Bleiberg, E. (2019) Striking Power: Iconoclasm in ancient Egypt. Pulitzer Foundation.
Petrie, W. M. F. (1917) Tools and Weapons: Illustrated by the Egyptian Collection in University College, London, and 2,000 outlines from other sources. Bernard Quaritch.
The Great Civilisations of the Nile Valley: The land and its people
Hays, J. (2018) Disease and Health Problems in Ancient Egypt. In Facts and Details. URL: factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub404/entry-6405.html
Janssen, R. and Janssen, J. (2007) Growing Up and Getting Old in Ancient Egypt (2nd edition). Golden House Publications.
McKnight, L. M., Atherton-Woolham, S. D., and Adams, J. E. (2015) Clinical Imaging of Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies. RadioGraphics, 35(3): 2108–2120.
Ray, J. D. (1976) The Archive of Hor. Egypt Exploration Society.
Strouhal, E. (1992) Life in Ancient Egypt. Cambridge University Press.
Szpakowska, K. (2007) Daily life in Ancient Egypt: Recreating Lahun. Blackwell Publishing.
Yletyinen, J. (2009) Holocene Climate Variability and Cultural Changes at River Nile and its Saharan Surroundings. PDF: www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:400169/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Wasef, S., Subramanian, S., O’Rorke, R., Huynen, L., El-Marghani, S., Curtis, C., Popinga, A., Holland, B., Ikram, S., Millar, C., Willerslev, E., and Lambert, D. (2019) Mitogenomic Diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies Sheds Light on Early Egyptian Practices. PLoS ONE 14(11): e0223964.
The Lord of All: The multifaceted nature of Pharaoh
Clayton, P. A. (1994) Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The reign by reign record of the rulers and dynasties of ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson.
Dodson, A. (1995) Monarchs of the Nile. Rubicon.
Maitland, M. (2012) Pharaoh: King of Egypt. British Museum Press.
Shaw, G. J. (2012) The Pharaoh, Life at Court and on Campaign. Thames and Hudson.
