Ancient Egypt is known for its pyramids, temples, and tombs, to the extent that the Egyptologist John Wilson once quipped that it was a "civilization without cities" but in recent years urbanism in Pharaonic Egypt has emerged as one of the most dynamic areas of emerging research. This course will investigate the role of urbanism in Pharaonic society, focusing primarily on archaeological evidence. From the earliest urban settlements of the Predynastic period through to the Ptolemaic metropolis of Alexandria, we will investigate the development of urbanism and urban forms in an ancient Egyptian context.

Our 12 class meetings will be divided into roughly three units. The first 4 meetings will provide a broad overview of ancient Egyptian urbanism and the kinds of evidence we can use to interrogate urban life in Pharaonic Egypt. The next 6 class meetings will look at specific case studies, advancing chronologically through Egyptian civilization from the Predynastic through the Ptolemaic Period. The final course meetings will be devoted to student presentations related to their final research project/paper. Typically, classes will begin with a brief introductory lecture and then move on to discussions of various articles that we read about the chosen topic.