Ancient Egyptian

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Are you curious about the ancient language of the pharaohs? Have you ever walked past hieroglyphic writing in a museum and thought ‘I wish I could read that?’ Are you a linguist with an interest in dead languages, Afroasiatic languages, or less-commonly-taught languages? If so, this course might just be for you. The goal of the course is to obtain basic/intermediate reading skills in Middle Egyptian, an Afroasiatic language written primarily in hieroglyphics and spoken about 4,000 years ago. The course will also focus on learning about and analyzing the grammar of Egyptian, especially its phonology, morphology and syntax. The course will feature extensive practice in reading and writing hieroglyphs as well as assigned readings on the linguistic analysis of Middle Egyptian. It is intended for students with some prior training in linguistics and/or experience with classical languages.