Ancient Egyptian Grave Goods



Overview

Most Ancient Egyptian artefacts derive from tombs, with some pertaining to the realm of the dead and others to the sphere of daily life. This course will acquaint you with the five most common grave goods: shabtis; scarabs and amulets; canopic jars and coffins. It will further review a lesser known artefact category: Letters to the Dead. Aided by a visit to the Ashmolean Museum, we explore some of the challenges faced by today's conservators in preserving the fragile materials from which these grave goods are made, and the decisions curators must then take when displaying them to the public.

This five-week course is standalone, bite-size introduction to ancient Egyptian Archaeology. However, it has also been scheduled as a complementary course that can be taken seamlessly in the weeks before An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Tomb Art should students desire to enrol for both.

Programme details

Courses starts: 25 Jan 2024

Week 1: Shabtis

Week 2: Scarabs & Amulets

Week 3: Letters to the Dead

Week 4: Canopic Jars & Coffins

Week 5: Visit to the Ashmolean Museum

Digital Certification

To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend at least 80% of the classes on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £140.00
Take this course for CATS points £10.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Mrs Rosalind Janssen

Rosalind Janssen’s career was spent at UCL: firstly as a curator of the Petrie Museum, and then as a Lecturer in Egyptology at the Institute of Archaeology. She currently teaches Egyptology at the OUDCE and the City Lit in London.

Course aims

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the study of material culture by providing a basic knowledge of a selection of some common grave goods found in Ancient Egyptian graves.

Course objectives:

  • To be able to describe five categories of Ancient Egyptian grave goods.
  • To recognise what these object categories have to tell us about Ancient Egyptian religious thought.
  • To evaluate issues involved in the conservation and display of fragile materials.

Teaching methods

A diverse range of teaching methods will be used throughout the course, acknowledging that students learn in different ways.

Seminar format with:

  • tutor presentations using PowerPoint and video clips
  • questions and answers
  • whole group discussion
  • small group activities 
  • museum object-based learning

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  • recognise five key Egyptian grave goods;
  • critically evaluate the religious theme inherent in Ancient Egyptian artefacts;
  • engage in object-based learning in order to discuss issues involved with the conservation and display of these grave goods;
  • develop learning autonomy through the submission of short exercises.

Assessment methods

Option A: short exercises over the period of the course, in the form of:

  • reflective learning diaries
  • Jigsaw learning presentations
  • individual object reports
  • book/article/radio/tv review

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

While this is an introductory course, you will find it helpful to look at the website of the Ashmolean Museum's Ancient Egypt and Sudan Collection in preparation for the class visit:

https://www.ashmolean.org/ancient-egypt-and-sudan

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support