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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization by University of Pennsylvania

4.6
stars
2,682 ratings

About the Course

Colossal pyramids, imposing temples, golden treasures, enigmatic hieroglyphs, powerful pharaohs, strange gods, and mysterious mummies are features of Ancient Egyptian culture that have fascinated people over the millennia. The Bible refers to its gods, rulers, and pyramids. Neighboring cultures in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean wrote about its god-like kings and its seemingly endless supply of gold. The Greeks and Romans describe aspects of Egypt's culture and history. As the 19th century began, the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt highlighted the wonders of this ancient land, and public interest soared. Not long after, Champollion deciphered Egypt's hieroglyphs and paved the way for other scholars to reveal that Egyptian texts dealt with medicine, dentistry, veterinary practices, mathematics, literature, and accounting, and many other topics. Then, early in the 20th century, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun and its fabulous contents. Exhibitions of this treasure a few decades later resulted in the world's first blockbuster, and its revival in the 21st century has kept interest alive. Join Dr. David Silverman, Professor of Egyptology at Penn, Curator in Charge of the Egyptian Section of the Penn Museum, and curator of the Tutankhamun exhibitions on a guided tour of the mysteries and wonders of this ancient land. He has developed this online course and set it in the galleries of the world famous Penn Museum. He uses many original Egyptian artifacts to illustrate his lectures as he guides students as they make their own discovery of this fascinating culture....

Top reviews

SE

Oct 6, 2022

This was an excellent course in the history of ancient Egypt. I have always been fascinated by their culture & this course taught me many things that i was not aware of. I really enjoyed this course.

AR

May 20, 2023

The course was very interactive and offers a tons of activities. The teacher was very nice and the teaching was very easy to understand. The assignments were a bit challenging but very interesting.

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676 - 700 of 817 Reviews for Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization

By Fleur B

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Sep 20, 2022

Having travelled through Egypt many moons ago, I was surprised of how much I actually remembered from my trip on the different kingdoms etc. I feel that it was a bit 'dry' and a bit of personality was needed!

By Amira M

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Aug 18, 2020

It was an amazing experience to learn through videos and English subtitles accompanied with on-site pictures for monuments. It was simple, interesting and focused on details.

Thanks Dr. David and the team

By Manuel R O

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Oct 14, 2022

I found it to be a basic course for people who are new to the fascinating world of Egyptian civilization. I hope that in the future there will be the possibility to go much deeper into the topics.

By Amy H

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Dec 28, 2020

Interesting topics but quite difficult to follow at times due to the amount of complex words and ideas used. Would recommend to anyone prepared to spend a decent amount of time working on it.

By Suzanne S

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Oct 16, 2022

The information in this class was good, however, the speaker was boring. I am sure he is a very knowledgeable person on this subject matter, but his delivery needs some improvement.

By Bassem M K

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Feb 9, 2019

If you are into the Ancient civilisation of Egypt, this is a good start to hook you up, but if you are looking for more answers, this is not enough. You need more, and i need more.

By pardis a

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Feb 3, 2019

it was awesome. just the professor had this really monotone voice without any impression on his voice or face, that made the courses a tiny bit boring. but it was a great course

By Tejas M

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Dec 23, 2019

Really good introduction to anyone who wants to get a clear picture of the chronology of Egypt's ancient civilization, as well the major elements of it's DNA. Great course.

By Gail M

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May 11, 2021

Fascinating I enjoyed it very much.

I do suggest the notes be reviewed as there are a number of typographical errors and a few missed words..

Aside from that excellent

By Ethan T

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Aug 8, 2022

I really enjoyed this course and recommended it for anyone intrigued by ancient Egypt, now the only thig I wish is that there was more lectures and covered more.

By Yente B

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Aug 13, 2017

I did enjoy this course, but the instructor seemed very stiff and was clearly reading from a prompter. This made it hard to focus on what he was saying sometimes

By Ramon o c

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Apr 16, 2020

Es interesante como introduccion . Seguro que motivará a los estudiantes a buscar más informacion sobre el fascinante mundo de la civilización antigua en Egipto

By Michal A

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May 25, 2017

Very pleasant narrative, although a bit arbitrary choice of topics. At some points it got too detailed in relation to the general overall nature of the course.

By Emily A

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Nov 15, 2016

Definitely recommend if you need a crash-course on Ancient Egypt! In-depth, concise, and well explained; suitable for all those interested in ancient history

By Aahan R

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May 1, 2020

An essay type question paper would also be quite useful since that will enable the person to go through the material and write proper essay type answers.

By Alpana R

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May 24, 2019

Week 2 ----History and Chronology Quiz is very tough. But the later onces are good enough. I have learnt a lot with this course. It fulfills my dream.

By Ira P

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Jan 8, 2018

This was a really good course. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is genuinely interested in learning more about Egyptian myths and history.

By Carlos A A B

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Dec 9, 2016

Very interesting course. I was looking forward to at least a week dedicated to studying ancient hieroglyphs but they were only mentioned in passing.

By Jeffrey S P

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Apr 17, 2022

It was fine. David needs to look into the camera or the camera person need a bad job. Also the instruction needs to be smoother less mechanical.

By Thomas P

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Sep 20, 2019

Fascinating course, great content. Lecturer seemed uncomfortable with presenting to camera at first, but seemed to improve as course went on

By Meredith J M

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Dec 5, 2020

The information was great. However please go through the transcripts and correct it's to its.

I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot.

By Mary S

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Apr 30, 2020

While Dr. Silverman is not an animated speaker, he is clear, direct and to the point. I enjoyed learning new things about ancient Egypt.

By RESSE B

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May 7, 2019

Great cours, learn a lot in it. Bacis about Acient Egypt Civilization, history, deities, writing systems etc.... Thanks Pr. Silverman.

By Naopa S

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Nov 1, 2021

Excellent course. Thank you Professor Silverman!

Particularly liked the discipline of immediate course assessments.

Naopa Strode

By Elsa R

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May 8, 2020

Very interesting course, the only thing I missed was a bit more order within each weekly session, with subparts clearly define.