Information about next year's courses available November 2010
Archive (courses July 2010)
Photos by James Kellie
BSS in Egypt: 30 Nov - 7 Dec 2009 PLACES AVAILABLE
Exploring Amarna: Akhenaten's Abandoned City
a course directed by Professor Barry Kemp
In 2009 we celebrate the launch of 'BSS in Egypt', an exciting and innovative course taught in Egypt, with daily visits to fascinating and less-visited ancient sites.
This course is directed by Professor Barry Kemp, a renowned Egyptologist and Director of excavations at the site since 1977. This will be a unique opportunity to hear Professor Kemp give a week of lectures in addition to guided tours of Tell el-Amarna. The Course Co-ordinator, accompanying the group throughout, will be Lucia Gahlin, BSS Deputy Director and Egyptologist. Helen Lowell's photo shows Barry Kemp on site at Amarna holding a mudbrick stamped with the hieroglyphs: 'Office of Pharaoh's Correspondence'.
Course Description
This course will be a unique opportunity to study, in the heart of Egypt, one of the most fascinating periods of pharaonic history with one of the world’s leading experts on the subject. Professor Kemp will explore the most intriguing questions of Akhenaten’s reign. Was he a monotheist? Why and how did he build his new city of Akhetaten? How did the temple cult function? What did the people of Akhetaten really believe in? What was their quality of life? How did they cope with death? Why did Amarna lose its population? This course will also examine the city itself: the palaces, temples, houses and gardens; and the surviving art, craft, and decoration.
Professor Barry Kemp is Emeritus Professor of Egyptology at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. He has been Field Director at Tell el-Amarna since 1977, pioneering excavations formerly for the Egypt Exploration Society, and now as The Amarna Project supported by the Amarna Trust. His important publications include Amarna Reports, I-VI (EES, 1984-95) and Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation (Routledge, 2nd ed., 2006).
Suggested Reading
ARNOLD, D. The Royal Women of Amarna: images of beauty from ancient Egypt (New York, MMA, 1996)
FREED, R.E. et al. Pharaohs of the Sun (Boston, MFA, 1999)
MURNANE, W.J. Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, 1995).
STEVENS, A. Private religion at Amarna: the material evidence (Oxford, 2006)
WEATHERHEAD, F.J. Amarna Palace Paintings (London, EES 2007)
Archaeological site visits
Professor Kemp will give lectures in the afternoons. In the mornings we will visit the archaeological sites of Tell el-Amarna (two in-depth visits guided by Barry Kemp); the wonderful Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan; Hatshepsut’s rock-cut temple to Pakhet, Speos Artemidos; the remains of a 3rd dynasty pyramid, and New Kingdom temple at Zawieyet Sultan (also known as Zawiyet el-Maiyitin); Tuna el-Gebel with its Amarna boundary stela A, Ptolemaic and Roman period tombs, sacred ibis and baboon catacombs and huge Roman well; El-Ashmunein (Hermopolis Magna), cult centre of Thoth and a Coptic basilica; Old and Middle Kingdom tombs at Meir; and the Mallawi Museum.
Course Programme
| Day 1 | Morning flight to Cairo. Welcome dinner and night in 4* hotel. |
| Day 2 | Drive to Minya. Six nights in 3* hotel. Lecture: The great idea: was Akhenaten a monotheist? |
| Day 3 | Visit Amarna (including the Royal Tomb) Lectures: The building of Amarna: how, from what and by whom? The royal family’s buildings. |
| Day 4 | Visit Amarna to complete Barry Kemp’s guided tour. Lectures: How the temple cult worked. Streets, alleys and walled gardens. |
| Day 5 | Visit Meir Tombs and Mallawi Museum. Lectures: Art, craft and decoration. The style and quality of life. |
| Day 6 | Visit Zawyet Sultan (also called Zawyet el-Maiyitin); Beni Hassan and Istabl Antar. Lectures: Busy with their hands. What to believe in, and did you have to keep it secret? |
| Day 7 | Visit Tuna el-Gebel and Ashmunein. Lectures: Coping with death. Why Amarna lost its population. |
| Day 8 | Drive to Cairo and afternoon flight home. |
Fees
BSS in Egypt £1485.00 (single supplement: £125.00)
The price of this BSS in Egypt course includes: international flights; all travel (by coach) in Egypt; all hotel accommodation on full board; all lectures and guided tours; entrance to all sites; welcome drinks on the first evening in Minya; tea & coffee between lectures.
The price of this BSS in Egypt course DOES NOT include: travel insurance; Egyptian visa; drinks other than those mentioned above; tip for local Egyptian guide and coach driver.
Bookings
To book this BSS in Egypt course, simply complete the booking form and send it to BSS with a non-returnable booking fee of £250 per person, made payable to Sinusret Travel Ltd. The balance will be required by October 19th 2009.
Click here to download a 'BSS in Egypt' Enrolment form
