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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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101 - 125 of 817 Reviews for Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization

By Dhwani M

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Jul 27, 2022

The course provided comprehensive knowledge about Egyptian History and has increased my appetite to know even more about it so that I may progress towards my aim of becoming a historian/archaeologist. It has increased my hunger of acquiring more knowledge about ancient times.

By mohamed h m

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Dec 9, 2019

This course is truly wonderful, I found with it a very large amount of documented information about the ancient Egyptian civilization to the degree of fascinated me, and made me feel information poverty about my country civilization ..

The way the subject is taught is great

By Vicki Z F

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May 25, 2020

Excellent course and wonderful instructor. The course left me wanting more! The only criticism I have is the abysmal state of the transcripts (in terms of accuracy, grammar, coherence, they all left much to be desired). And that is my ONLY criticism -- this course is great!

By Chandler W

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Aug 18, 2017

Provided great background info on the culture and revealed new perspectives-I learned a great deal about how diverse and dynamic the legacy of ancient Egyptian civilizations are and gained better fact-based knowledge that contradicted some of the info I learned in the past.

By Lara F

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Jan 10, 2018

I hoped when I started this course that I would develop a framework for understanding and building on knowledge about Ancient Egypt. The course gave a useful taster of different elements of this fascinating society and has inspired me to learn more. Exactly as I hoped.

By Маша П

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Jul 28, 2017

Thank you! Actually it was great time i've spent with this course, it takes 3 days and partly my knowledge in these sphere. Also I want to say, that Penn museum is really great, and I wish every worker and museologist a lot of new artefacts and professional inspiration.

By paulina l

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Jun 2, 2019

Es un curso muy completo para comprender y conocer el antiguo Egipto. Tanto los videos, como las lecturas complemenatarias, así como el poder hacer notas son de utilidad para resumir la información y poder contestar las preguntas que se hacen al final de cada módulo.

By Ramon v O

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Jan 23, 2022

Great course of the basic knowledge of Egypt, teached by David Silverman. Great backgrounds and artifacts in the Penn museum, and endless knowledge from Dr. Silverman. Highly recommended. Looking forward to the other Egypt course by the University of Pennsylvania.

By Alan S

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May 15, 2020

This course, along with Introduction to Ancient Egypt and its Civilization, was an excellent introduction to Egyptology, particularly given the amount of information packed into a relatively short course. I feel much more knowledgeable about this topic than before.

By Madelyn B

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Apr 27, 2020

This course was very well taught and easy to understand. Everything was explained well and covered exactly what it said, an introduction to Ancient Egypt. Don't expect minute detail on random subjects, though that would be fascinating. Entertaining, easy, and basic

By Rebecca

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Aug 16, 2020

I took this course for fun, and I really enjoyed it. I learnt so much, and its all very interesting. Sometimes I wish I was there to witness the rise and fall of Egypt, and all their customs.

Egypt has been one of my favorite old civilizations, and always will be.

By Priya P

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May 2, 2020

I loved the course thoroughly and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Egyptian civilization and want to delve in deep. I was awed by how beautifully Dr. Silverman explained it. Thanks to him and the Penn Museum for coming up with this course.

By Elkhan K

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Jul 17, 2022

4.35/5 Difficult for me to translate simultaneously. Many rare English words. Good practice for consecutive translation. I might be anybody but I was born In Russia. Nevertheless. Impossible might be possible all that matters is work on self-development.

By Claire H

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May 28, 2017

Dr. Silverman is clear and easy to follow, and I appreciated the many suggested readings that were available online from various institutions. As with any good introduction/overview, it left me more interested and wanting to study the subject in more depth.

By Jaquelina M

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Feb 12, 2018

Dr. Silverman thanks a lot! you made me to open my brain once again. I loved all explanation on mummified. This course help me to continue my path on my research in América. Thanks, once again. I will continue studying any course based on ancient cultures.

By Lee M J

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Jul 1, 2017

This course has further provided me a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of ancient Egyptian life and culture as well as their beliefs and monumental architecture. Thank you very much Dr Silverman and Penn University for providing this course. : )

By Mary N J

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Mar 8, 2021

I thought that this was an excellent introduction to Ancient Egypt. I give a talk once or twice a week to 6th grade students at the Field Museum and this gave me new ideas on how to present my materiel in an interesting way. I truly enjoyed this class.

By Gary C

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Apr 8, 2020

Excellent Course. Thoroughly enjoyable, highly informative and a first-class learning experience! I recommend this to anyone who is interested in the subject and wants to get a good understanding of the key timelines and concepts of Ancient Egypt

By Daniel P

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Dec 8, 2021

Great to have such a course! The course does not only focus on texts but also shows a lot of pictures and gives many insights into the collection of the Penn Museum. One can see that a lot of effort was put into this course. Thank you for that!

By Eliza B

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Jun 19, 2020

This course was interesting and easy to follow. I had no prior knowledge of Ancient Egyptian culture or history but now have some concept of how the culture changed over time and general trends in the historical periods. Thank you Dr. Silverman!

By Jennifer B

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May 7, 2020

I really enjoyed the course. I gave a great overview of the subject matter as which allowed the student to obtain much more information that just a high level overviews. The companion book and suggested additional reading were quite interesting.

By alvaro c

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Dec 14, 2018

Un curso interactivo muy rico en contenido. Las explicaciones del Dr Silverman son muy claras y fáciles de entender. Recomendaría que los vídeos fueran mas largos en vez de varios vídeos pequeños pues es mas cómodo. Un curso muy recomendable.

By Catherine G

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Nov 13, 2016

enjoyable course I have watched a lot of egyptian documentaries and had a keen interest in the topic and would like to do more study but notice there is not a lot of classes and specialised courses in this in australia which is a real shame.

By Natasha V

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May 22, 2023

Excellent not only for those who are just starting their journey in ancient history but also for those who do ahve some knowledge of Ancient Egypt and basically gets all what you know in one place. The presentation is absolutely fabulous

By Jose M M F

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Apr 20, 2020

Muy interesante, me ha dado información clara sobre aspectos esenciales de la cultura del Antiguo Egypto.

Un saludo desde España, en estos momentos difíciles que estamos viviendo todos contra el virus.

Muchas gracias y suerte para todos.