Ancient Egypt ANTH P399 Fall 1993 TR 1:30-2:45 KT 149 Dr. William Baden, KT205B , 481-6202 Office Hours: M-F 8:00am-4:30pm by Appointment The primary goal of this class is to explore Ancient Egyptian Cultures from an anthropological perspective. This means we want to learn to uncover how they adaptively changed by looking at their material remains. Ultimately, this will help us discover how we make similar changes as a society and how these decisions define our culture. Each student must demonstrate, through a series of written assignments, a basic understanding of archaeological terminologies, methodologies, and assumptions used to understand and describe: Culture History Culture Lifeways Culture Process as they apply to Egyptian cultures dating between 3050 and 332 BC. Major topics of discussion will include architecture, economics, social organization, technology, and writing. You will be graded on your ability to gather information and present concise, logical, and structured papers on specific topics that exercises your newly acquired knowledge of Ancient Egypt. Textbooks: Cyril Aldred 1987 The Egyptians. Thames and Hudson Ltd, London and New York. John Wilson 1956 The Culture of Ancient Egypt. University of Chicago Press. Michael Rice 1991 Egypt's Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, Chapman and Hall, New York. Readings:Additional readings will be placed on reserve at the Helmke Library. Papers: Paper 1 - Time Machine Proposal(40 pts.) Paper 2 - Symbolism Analysis (100 pts.) Paper 3 - Specialized Bibliography (120 pts.) Paper 4 - "Material Correlates" Paper based on Paper 3 (140 pts.) Unsched - There will be one unscheduled quiz consisting of one question that will be given at some "random" time during the semester. It will not count towards the final total points for your grade, but will be added as bonus points to your total as an adjustment for "borderline" grades. (10 pts.) Papers:All papers should follow the citation standards of American Antiquity (see American Antiquity 1992 57(4):749-770). All papers are due at the beginning of the due date's class session. Grades on any paper turned in late will be reduced in points by 20% of the maximum possible grade (e.g. an 80 point paper will lose 16 points). No paper will be accepted more than one week late. All papers should be analyzed by a spelling checker and a grammar checker (both available on the student PC's) prior to turning them in. Grading:You will be graded on a 400 point-maximum scale. The grade scale will minimally be A = 400-360; B = 359-320; C = 319-280; D = 279-240; F = 239-0. The total points earned from your papers plus your score on the unscheduled quiz will be used to determine your final grade. Assignments/Topics: Aug 24/26: Introduction and Environment Wilson : Chapter 1 Aldred : Chapters 2 & 3 Aug 31: Chronology Aldred : Introduction Sep 2: Paper 1 due Sep 7/9: Origins Rice: Chapter 2 Maisels : (on reserve) Sep 14/16: Origins Wilson: Chapter 3 Sep 21/23: Religion Aldred: Chapter 2 Sep 28/30: Symbolism/Writing Oct 5: Symbolism/Writing Oct 7: No Class Oct 12: Architecture Oct 14: Paper 2 due Oct 19/21: No Class - ?Maybe? Oct 26/28: Architecture *Last day to withdraw - Oct 27 Nov 2: Paper 3 due Nov 4: Lifeways Aldred: Chapter 14 Herodotus (reserve) Nov 9/11: Lifeways Aldred: Chapter 8:112-119 Nov 16/18: Culture Process Nov 23: Culture Process Renfrew (reserve) Nov 30/Dec 2:Culture Process Rice: Chapter 4 Dec 7/9: Culture Process Dec 10: Paper 4 due (by 4 PM) Dec 16: Final Exam Date; 1-3 PM; No exam planned There will not be any class October 7th and the week of October 18-22. In the event that bad weather prevents me from teaching class (even though IPFW has not officially closed), you will be responsible for using that "free" time period for readings and paper preparation. To check in advance on suspect days, call either the Sociology- Anthropology Office (481-6842) or Computing & Data Processing Service's Help Desk (481-6030). Reserve Readings Herodotus 1920 Herodotus, with an English translation. Book II, "chapters" 1-99. Maisels, Charles 1990The Emergence of Civilization. Chapter 7: Theories of the State. Renfrew, Colin 1979Systems Collapse as Social Transformation: Catastrophe and Anastrophe in Early State Societies. Paper 1 "A Proposal for a Temporal Expeditionary Excursion" Due Date: September 2, 1993 Points: 40 Goal:Present a proposal for a "time travel" excursion to the reign of Tutankhamun. The proposal should include a section defining a single goal of this mission, descriptions of three interdisciplinary specialists that will accompany you, and a section on the implementation of your research strategy. Your goal statement must address your travel destination in terms of time and space (when and where are you going). It must clearly state what single aspect of this period will be studied. The three specialist descriptions should specify the skills and perspectives each person will bring to the team. It should be clear why you selected the disciplines and how their knowledge will contribute to your goal. Your implementation section should outline the types of observations you will be making, who will be making them, and what kinds of material you will be bringing back (if appropriate). It should include a time schedule that allocates time for fact-finding activity. You can assume that you have one year to complete your work, enough food for the duration of the project, and understanding of the period's written and spoken language. Concentrate your proposal on how you would gather information. Your role in this project will be to coordinate and organize the process of gathering and interpreting the information. Use your textbooks to help you specify the characteristics of this time period. Grading: 1)Grammar and Readability: Your paper should be "readable" with accurate spellings. Its presentation should be clean with identifiable sections. You should follow American Antiquity format for citing and listing your references (examples are available). Footnotes and endnotes are not acceptable. (15 points) 2) Content: This paper should address each of the specifications outlined above. You should be able to give this paper to another class member and he or she should be able to "carry out" your proposal. (25 points) The paper should be 3-4 typed, double spaced pages. The paper is due no later than 1:45 PM September 2, 1993. Late penalties are described in the course syllabus. Make a personal copy of your paper prior to turning it in. Copyright 1993 William W. Baden as to this syllabus and all lectures. Students are prohibited from selling (or being paid for taking) notes during this course to or by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of the professor teaching this course.
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