Egyptology

Ancient Egypt represents the world’s first regional state and one of the world’s first primary complex civilizations. Its grand civilization, majestic architecture, divine kingship, and hieroglyphic script are alluring still. UCLA offers one of the few graduate programs in Egyptology in the United States. We provide Egyptology students with rigorous training in the language, literature, religion, archaeology, history, art and architecture of ancient Egypt.

The department regularly offers a variety of graduate-level Egyptology courses such as “Egyptian Museum Collections,” “Egyptian Archaeology,” numerous language seminars. Graduate students can become proficient in a number of languages not limited to Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Demotic and Coptic. We also recommend German and French as our primary research languages, and students must pass a language exam that shows reading proficiency. In many cases, students are encouraged to take Egyptian Arabic for research in the field.

Egyptology faculty at UCLA come from a wide array of specializations, including art history, archaeology, philology, and history. We aim for a multidisciplinary and contextual approach to the ancient world. UCLA boasts a vast array of resources available for students of Egyptology, including our own Encyclopedia of Egyptology and conference travel subsidies. The department also works with students to identify fellowships that will allow them to conduct research and fieldwork abroad. Great emphasis is placed on students’ own empowerment and professionalization. Students work closely with their faculty advisors to develop original research topics, prepare for comprehensive exams, and identify possible career options.

Our graduate students have received museum internships at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy. Graduates of the UCLA program have gone on to accept high level postdoctoral fellowships, including at the Institute for Study of the Ancient World at NYU, positions in academia, both teaching and academic affairs/university administration, for instance at UCLA, UCSB, Swansea University and California State Fullerton.