Women Gender in Ancient Egypt

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Who is the “femme fatale” in ancient Egyptian literature? How did “love spells” work? What did ancient Egyptian women write about in their private letters? This course guides students to explore the lives of queens, elite women, and ordinary people by reading the words written by these women and the words written about them. We will explore how ancient Egyptians conveyed sexual differences and established gender norms. We will then investigate the exceptional circumstances under which these norms are challenged. This class relies on textual sources, material cultures, and archaeological evidence from ancient Egypt. It supplements the discussion with relevant theories in gender studies.