Short Course: Introduction to Ancient Egypt

In this short course, participants will learn about one of the world’s most ancient and enduring civilizations, Ancient Egypt. This course will be hosted at Liverpool’s World Museum, which houses some of the UK’s best Ancient Egyptian collections. The course includes talks, gallery tours, behind-the-scenes sessions, real object handling, and discussions with Egyptology specialists. It's suitable for beginners and those with an intermediate understanding of Egyptology. 

The fee for this course is £150 per participant. This includes six led sessions at World Museum Liverpool and the optional visit to the museum stores. The course will run across six Saturday afternoons, 1 - 3.30pm on:

17, 24, 31 August

7, 14, 21 September

The optional extra visit to the stores will be on the afternoon of Friday 27 September.

As the sessions will be held back of the house it would be appreciated if attendees could arrive at the World Museum 15 minutes before the course start time as it might be difficult to admit latecomers into back of house areas.

Further details

Week One: The Geography of Ancient Egypt: We will study the natural landscape in which the Egyptians built their civilisation, as well as their relationships with neighbouring regions.

Week Two: Overview of the Dynastic Period (part one): We will cover the first 1500 years of Egyptian history, highlighting the key changes and personalities between the unification of the country about 3100 BC until the end of the Middle Kingdom. We’ll meet the builders of Egypt’s greatest pyramids, like Imhotep, Djoser, and Khufu, and Egypt’s expansionist warrior kings like Senwosret III.

Week Three: The Dynastic Period (part two): We'll discuss the development of Egypt’s New Kingdom, focusing on personalities like Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, and Ramesses II. We will also cover the collapse of the empire and the end of pharaonic civilisation.

Week Four: Ancient Egyptian Religion: We'll cover the complex subject of Egyptian religion and how beliefs changed over time. Discover the Egyptians' beliefs about the creation and maintenance of the world, and the attributes of Egypt’s most enduring deities.

Week Five: Ancient Egyptian Funerary Practice: The Ancient Egyptians are probably best known today because of their funerary customs, leading many people to assume they were ‘obsessed by death’. This week we’ll challenge some of these notions and give an overview of the changing mortuary practices throughout Pharaonic history. We’ll discuss Egyptians' ideas of the soul, the practice of mummification, and the importance of creating a tomb for eternity.

Week Six: Legacies of Ancient Egypt: In our final session, we'll explore the rediscovery of Ancient Egypt through centuries of exploration and archaeology. We'll discuss major discoveries like Tutankhamun’s tomb and consider the future of Egyptology. Participants will also get a special chance to visit the museum’s closed-off antiquities stores and interact with real objects and the curatorial team.

National Museums Liverpool (NML) is pleased to be offering these short courses, offering participants the opportunity to find out more about different subjects through our world class collections. 

We aim to make our courses as accessible as possible and if there is anything we can put into place to help you attend please get in contact with the course facilitator, Matt Exley, at Matt.Exley@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.