Fascinated by ancient civilisations?
We offer anyone with any level of knowledge, inspiring short courses on ancient Egypt and other areas of the ancient world.
Fascinated by ancient civilisations?
We offer anyone with any level of knowledge, inspiring short courses on ancient Egypt and other areas of the ancient world.
We are currently preparing our 2026 programme and will post details in the next couple of months. Note that the bookings for our spring BSS in Egypt are open with early bird special.
Our UK-based summer courses are held in person at University College London with many livestreamed and recorded. Our courses at other times of the year are usually convened online and also video recorded. See individual course listings for details.
Saturdays and Sundays 22-23 and 29-30 November, and Sunday 7 December (online and video recorded)
HIEROGLYPHS FOR BEGINNERS
with Mr Kit Devine (MPhil University of Oxford)
Dates TBC (online)
READING HIEROGLYPHS: THINKING ABOUT MORTALITY
with Mr Kit Devine (MPhil University of Oxford)
Course Directors: Mr Kit Devine (MPhil University of Oxford)
This is a 5-day course to be held online, and will also be available on video recording afterwards.
We are excited to bring back our popular beginners hieroglyphs course this year. Our Course Director has over 10 years' experience of the subject and as a former student of Dr Bill Manley (our previous tutor), Kit will take you through following Bill's teaching method. The course itself is a unique introduction to the world of Egyptian hieroglyphs specially written for BSS and requires no prior experience of the subject. Through a series of presentations and practical sessions, in the classroom and online, you will progress from the basics of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing to learning the language of the ancient Egyptians—and do so from day one by reading ancient monuments available online or on display in world famous museum collections.
This course is specifically intended for complete beginners but may well appeal to anyone wishing to refresh their knowledge of hieroglyphs, too. It has always proved to be an intense and rewarding experience.
NB: It is essential that you bring with you, right from the start, a copy of
Collier, M. and Manley, B. (2003) How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. British Museum Press. (Ideally, the 2003 revised edition, but the earlier edition is fine).
Course Directors: Mr Kit Devine (MPhil University of Oxford)
This is a 5-day course to be held online, and will also be available on video recording afterwards.
As usual we have planned a new course for those of you who love to experience the culture of pharaonic Egypt up close by reading ancient texts. This time we will be exploring responses to the inevitability of death as expressed in a selection of sources. In particular, we will look at The Dialogue of a Man with his Ba, an extraordinarily dark work of Middle Egyptian literature which takes the form of a dispute between a man and this aspect of his soul, as well as excerpts from harpists’ songs, and spells from the Book of the Dead (the selection can be fine-tuned based on class interest).
Note that this is an advanced reading class for students with good experience of hieroglyphic Middle Egyptian. Normally we expect you to have taken both BSS courses HIEROGLYPHS FOR BEGINNERS (first stage) and HIEROGLYPHS: THE NEXT STEP (second stage) beforehand. As a rule of thumb, before you begin this course you should be comfortable reading all the texts in How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs (see Recommended reading). Nevertheless, do not worry about the intensity of this course; throughout the week there will be plenty of time for your own work and for questions and answers with your tutor.
The course is based on handouts specially prepared for BSS. However, if available, you will find it useful to have the following to hand:
Collier, M. and Manley, B. (2003, revised edition) How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. British Museum Press.
Faulkner, R. O. (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith Institute.
Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae (an online version of the Wörterbuch): https://thesaurus-linguae-aegyptiae.de/home