Short courses

Summary

Christian thinking has been greatly influenced by ancient traditions. According to the Bible, throughout history there had always been a contact between the Egyptians and the Israelites. Indeed, Egyptology in the 19th century was mainly concerned with discovering cultural records and thus evidence for certain biblical events. Without intending to prove or disprove the historicity of biblical events or characters, this course looks at similar themes in the religions of ancient Egypt and Israel, as well as key figures using the latest discoveries in the field.   

This Courses Aims to: 

• Introduce students to key themes that are common to both Egyptian and biblical religions   

• Familiarise students with key figures who feature in biblical narratives and their connection to historical Egyptian characters  

• Encourage students to engage with both primary and secondary sources in order to assess critically issues relating to the historicity of key events and characters. 

By the end of the course, students should be able to: 

• Identify, compare and contrast key themes in Egyptian mythology and the Bible 

• Using primary and secondary sources compare and contrast key themes, characters and events 

• Discuss and critically evaluate previous and recent scholarly research on these issues 

• Explain the impact ancient Egypt had on the surrounding cultures and why it continues to influence western societies today.