Ancient Egyptian Science

general courses

The course sets out to introduce students to the history of knowledge science in ancient Egypt. In addition to providing an overview of topics such as astronomy, calendars, mathematics and metrology, also, for instance, magic, divination, and alchemy form part of the ancient scientific curriculum. Additionally, modern scholarly disciplines, such as biology or geography, will be discussed so as to understand how such subjects were conceived in ancient Egypt. The lecture provides an overview of the different areas of ancient Egyptian knowledge cultures from the third millennium BC to Late Antiquity, primarily drawing on ancient Egyptian evidence, both written sources and material culture. Evidence from contemporary neighbouring cultures will also be included. The focus of the course is on interpreting and reconstructing ancient practices and theories based on original sources (in translation) through a modern methodological approach to these by combining perspectives from philology, archaeology, and the history of science. One of the main objectives of the module is to make students aware of the importance of culture to interpret and understand ancient science and the practices and sociology connected therewith.

Remote learning

The history of ancient Egyptian science including subjects as astronomy, calendars, and natural history. One of the main objectives of the module is to make students aware of the importance of culture to interpret and understand ancient science and the practices and sociology connected therewith.

The course sets out to introduce students to the history of knowledge science in ancient Egypt. In addition to providing an overview of topics such as astronomy, calendars, mathematics and metrology, also, for instance, magic, divination, and alchemy form part of the ancient scientific curriculum. Additionally, modern scholarly disciplines, such as biology or geography, will be discussed so as to understand how such subjects were conceived in ancient Egypt. The lecture provides an overview of the different areas of ancient Egyptian knowledge cultures from the third millennium BC to Late Antiquity, primarily drawing on ancient Egyptian evidence, both written sources and material culture. Evidence from contemporary neighbouring cultures will also be included. The focus of the course is on interpreting and reconstructing ancient practices and theories based on original sources (in translation) through a modern methodological approach to these by combining perspectives from philology, archaeology, and the history of science. One of the main objectives of the module is to make students aware of the importance of culture to interpret and understand ancient science and the practices and sociology connected therewith.

Course reader will be provided

The student should:

Knowledge:

-Understand methods, scope, and social setting of ancient science and knowledge production

-Sources relating to science and knowledge production

-Connection between culture, epistemic traditions and connected practices

Skills

-Be able to analyses particular topics relating to ancient epistemic practices and science

-Analyze ancient sources, construct and present an argument, and historical overview of the ancient Egyptian history of knowledge and its sources in antiquity.

Competence:

-Awareness of the cultural specificity of the ancient Egypt and its significance for understanding modern world

-Awareness of significance the culture of the ancient Egypt

Written exam

1. What is knowledge and history of knowledge/science?

2. Astrology

3. Astronomy

4. Biology (botany and zoology)

5. Calendars

6. Chemistry and Alchemy

7. Divination

8. Geography and ethnography

9. Magic

10. Mathematics

11. Medicine

12. Metrology

13. Scholars and scholarly practices

14. Technological innovation