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Dr. Julia Troche joins Eric and Rob to discuss teaching about Ancient Egypt.  Dr. Troche is an Egyptologist and a Professor of History at Missouri State University.  She begins by noting that with the enormity of ancient Egyptian history, teachers should emphasize continuity and change to help their students better understand that Egyptian history is not static.  One example of how they can do this is by looking at the role of kingship across time.  While kingship remains an important factor in Ancient Egyptian politics and culture, views of the king change during different eras.  For instance, a statue of King Khafre in the Old Kingdom includes a small representation of the god Horus, revealing that the king is not seen as a god on earth.   However a statue of King Nectanebo from the New Kingdom includes a much larger representation of Horus, revealing  the increased role of divinity in what has become a more theocratic political system.  Belief in life after death is another example of continuity and change.  While the belief in an afterlife remains consistent across time, changes in funerary texts from Pyramid Texts in the Old Kingdom, to Coffin Texts in the Middle Kingdom, to the Book of the Dead in the New Kingdom demonstrate greater access to funerary texts over time.  She also clarifies several misconceptions about Egyptian history.  First, the Intermediate Periods that occurred between the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms were not eras of backwardness and chaos.  Rather, they were decentralized periods where considerable creativity allowed for changes in Egyptian culture.  She also clarifies that the pyramids were built by Egyptians and they were not built with slave labor.  

Lesson Plans and resources:

The “King Khafre Enthroned” lesson can be found at https://bit.ly/4xIKmfE

The “Continuity and Change in Ancient Egypt's Funeral Traditions” lesson can be found at https://bit.ly/46a7qrW

Online Resources shared by Dr. Troche:

Khafre Enthroned: https://arce.org/khafre-enthroned/ 

Nectanebo Horus statue: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544887 

Ptolemy I Soter (Greek Design): https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010279145 

Ptolemy I Soter (Egyptian Design): https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA1641?selectedImageId=36907001 

Pyramid Texts: https://pyramidtextsonline.com/sarc.html 

Teaching Resources: https://www.britishmuseum.org/learn/schools/ages-7-11/ancient-egypt 

Teaching Resources: https://www.metmuseum.org/essays?toah=true&department=egyptian-art 

Teaching Resources: https://www.ees.ac.uk/learn/digital-resources.html 

Credits

Opening theme music, “Bossa Bossa,” created by Clare Howard www.clarehoward.com  Music supported by the National Council for History Education www.ncheteach.org

Transition theme music, “The Clock is Ticking,” created by Emily Hahn.

Logo artwork created by Jessica Goldman.

Shit I Have to Teach in 20 Minutes is produced by Eric Hahn and Rob Good.  Audio and video editing by Sebastian Rosales.

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