Introduction to Middle Egyptian I

Service Description

Introduction to Middle Egyptian I: Foundations of Hieroglyphs This class is the first part of the introduction to the language of ancient pharaonic Egypt (Middle Egyptian) and its hieroglyphic writing system. During the 10-week course, students will develop a foundation in the grammar, vocabulary, and syntax of Middle Egyptian through guided grammatical analysis and regular exercises in reading, transliteration, and translation. Particular attention will be given to the structure and use of non-verbal constructions, including nominal, adjectival, and adverbial sentences, as well as their role in expressing identity, description, possession, location, and other basic relationships. The course will also introduce students to the conventions of hieroglyphic writing and prepare them to approach authentic Egyptian texts with increasing independence. This first part provides the grammatical and analytical foundation necessary for engaging with the verbal system and more complex sentence structures that will be covered in the second part of the course. The following schedule is designed for a 10-week course meeting for two 60-minute sessions per week. The course will use James Allen’s Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition (2010), as the primary textbook. I will provide the students with a PDF of this book. Students will be required to complete all assigned grammatical readings before the first class meeting each week. The first meeting of the week will then cover the new course material - explaining the linguistic principles, working through examples, and answering questions, while the second meeting will focus on reviewing and discussing the assigned homework, reinforcing the week’s grammatical concepts and transliteration/translation skills. Schedule 1. Egyptian Language, Writing, and the Sounds of Middle Egyptian — Chapters 1–2 2. Multiliteral Signs and the Egyptian Writing System — Chapter 3 3. Nouns and Pronouns — Chapters 4–5 4. Adjectives — Chapter 6 5. Adjectival and Nominal Sentences — Chapter 7 6. Prepositions, Adverbs, and Numbers — Chapters 8–9 7. Adverbial Sentences — Chapter 10 8. Nonverbal Sentences — Chapter 11 9. Nonverbal Clauses: Relative, Noun, and Adverb Clauses — Chapter 12 10. Verbs and the Infinitive — Chapters 13–14 Michael Tritsch holds a PhD in Egyptology from Yale University