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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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151 - 175 of 817 Reviews for Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization

By Chelsea B

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Apr 17, 2020

Loved the course. Very informative and lots to learn. Quizzes are simple and as long as you remember the lecture material, you'll be fine. The instructor is a LITTLE dry but he has a ton of information to give.

By Erdi E

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May 28, 2017

I want to thank Dr. Silverman and his colleagues to bring that amazing course to us. And I wish there would be more courses on Ancient Egyptian topic as well. Thank you for this wonderful experience.

Erdi Ekinci

By swarnadeep b

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Jul 13, 2020

Extremely Insightful and really helped learn many things. Though I am an Aerospace Engineer my predilection for History has never gone away. This course definitely fulfilled my thirst for knowledge of History.

By Mark M

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Feb 11, 2020

Endlessly fascinating for an Egypt junkie like me! There's not much coverage of Egyptian language and writing overall, but that material is available elsewhere. The glimpses of Penn's collection are a treat.

By Eline

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Apr 6, 2019

I've loved this entire course but have noticed that on the English subtitles not every name matches what's been said by Silverman. Other than that it's been a fun ride and I'd definitely recommend this course.

By Deleted A

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Jul 17, 2020

This course really delves into Ancient Egypt. David Silverman also taps into the Egyptian mindset and makes links between their rituals and beliefs about the world, which makes the lessons a fresh experience.

By Marissa H

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Dec 12, 2016

This course was enlightening, to say the least. Dr. Silverman is very knowledgeable in his field and every time he mentioned some artifact in the Penn Museum, it made me more and more interested in visiting.

By robert s

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Dec 19, 2020

This is an exceptionally interesting course, giving a detailed treatment of many facets of the history, culture, architecture, burials, government, and religion of the ancient Egyptians. Highly recommended!

By Deleted A

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Jun 20, 2020

Excellent video lectures by David Silverman within a stimulating environment of the Penn Museum. Would thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in learning a basic overview of themes in Egyptian history!

By Muidul I S

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Apr 24, 2020

It's great and so much informative. Already cleared my confusions about the early history of Egyptian evolution in a short time historical presentation.

Thank you so much to the instructor and coursemates.

By Roman P

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Aug 12, 2017

Very good introductive course, covering all the Egyptian topics which tend to appear in popular culture in a systematic and intriguing way. Plus the good overview of Egyptian history in the ancient times

By Sandra R E

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Oct 7, 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.

By Janet R

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Nov 23, 2020

I have really enjoyed this course, the quality and content have been amazing.

I have learned so much and have enjoyed reading the Prof’s book. I looked forward to the next challenge.

Janet (Penn U)

😀

By Abdul R

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May 21, 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.

By Jayden M

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Oct 18, 2022

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to Ancient Egypt and its civilization. By taking this course, you gain a understanding of basic concepts of the Anicent Egyptian life and afterlife.

By RAUL F T

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Oct 11, 2020

An excellent introductory course in the study of Egyptology. Chronology, concepts about religion, gods and burial, and mummification were well conducted by Dr David Silvermann. Thank you very much.

By Yasmim P Y

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Apr 7, 2020

I loved the course. I'd strongly suggest, though, that some debate about how Africa was deprived of their Egyptian material legacy could take place - perhaps as a separate module at theeee ending.

By Estefania I G

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Mar 22, 2020

A través de este curso me di cuenta que mi acervo acerca del tema es limitado y que cada que aprendo algo del antiguo Egipto comprendo que desconozco muchas cosas de esta enigmática cultura

By Joyce C

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Aug 6, 2022

Very informative course. Dr. Silverman was an excellent lecturer. I appreciated that the back drop for the course was actually the Penn Museum. I wish the course was longer.

Thank you!

By Andrea M

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Feb 11, 2021

The Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization was truly a gift!!! Thank you so much. I truly learned so much and this course will assist in discovery when revisiting Egypt.

By Rejana R

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Feb 22, 2020

It was amazing to delve in the glorious history of Ancient Egypt . I loved to learn about the kings, queens and the monuments which defined the definite past. I will rate it 100/100!

By Daivid L

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Jun 13, 2023

Very informative and interesting, this course gives a good background on a variety of topics regarding ancient Egypt and does not require preliminary knowledge. Strongly Recommend !

By Stanislava Z

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May 2, 2023

It's a great introduction course about ancient Egyptian civilization! I would recommend to anyone who doesn't know anything about Egypt and those who wants to refresh its knowledge.

By Abhik M

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Aug 28, 2021

I absolutely loved this course and the overall demonstration by Mr. David Silverman. This will certainly help me in my future and I recommend everyone to take this wonderful course.

By Monique L

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Mar 26, 2020

What a wonderful experience and professor. I've had an interest in Ancient Egypt since I was a child and feel so much more informed and eager to learn more in his following courses.