History of Egypt II

Catalog description

As a continuation of EGYT 1430 , this course will examine the political and social history of ancient Egypt since the Ramesside Period (ca. 1292-1069 BC) until the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The topics that we will discuss in this course will include, among others, the military and building achievements of such great warrior kings like Ramesses II, the famous Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites and the world’s first peace treaty, the harem conspiracy under Ramesses III, the Nubian pharaohs from the Kingdom of Kush, the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, and the subsequent Hellenistic rule under the Ptolemies and Cleopatra. The second half of Egyptian history is closely linked with those of her nearest as well as more distant neighbors and the rapidly changing political situation in the ancient Near Eastern, Mediterranean, and African regions. We will thus learn how we, as historians, should approach the study of this dynamic period and how to critically analyze various textual and archaeological sources in order to reconstruct the historical reality of the ancient world.