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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Wonders of Ancient Egypt by University of Pennsylvania

4.8
stars
977 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. This course focused on five key areas in the study of Ancient Egypt: 1) Principles of Egyptian Art, 2) The Basics of the Language of Ancient Egypt: Hieroglyphs, 3) Egyptian Magic, 4) Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, and the Religion of the Aten, and 5) The Burial of Tutankhamun and the Search for his Tomb. This course is intended to accompany, and ideally to follow, Introduction to Ancient Egypt (also available on Coursera)....

Top reviews

VE

Jul 10, 2020

This was an incredibly detailed course that provided an in-depth and interesting view of ancient Egypt. I would highly recommend this as an essential course for those interested in Egypt's history.

NP

Feb 18, 2024

I really enjoyed this course and really appreciate the effort of Dr. Silverman and the team to be able to allow us a comprehensive glimpse into this fascinating ancient civilization. Thank you!!!

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26 - 50 of 325 Reviews for Wonders of Ancient Egypt

By Lee M J

Dec 2, 2017

Wonders of Ancient Egypt also has further provided me a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of ancient Egypt. Dr Silverman is extremely knowledgeable in ancient Egyptian History and Language. I was very impressed by his Hieroglyph writing lectures as well. Reading and learning about King Tut's discovery by Howard Carter was the highlight of this course. : ) Thank you very much Dr Silverman and Penn University for providing this course. : )

By Safrin N

Dec 28, 2020

Such a great course for the lovers of ancient Egypt and its history and mysteries! I took this course purely out of my love and fascination for such a brilliant ancient civilization in the world. thank you sir David Silverman for the clear, precious lectures along with images and explanations.

I recommend this course 100% fantastic job to the university of Pennsylvania. hope to visit the Penn museum one day! thank you.

By Katharina R

Nov 3, 2020

I would like to thank the Professor Dr. Silverman for giving me the opportunity to gain deeper knowledge into the field of Egyptology which I enjoyed very much. The content of the course is well structured and the visualization along with the represenation of top quality. I also appreciate the fact that there are additional links and content with Penn Museum and other sources providing further and deeper exploration.

By Jocelyn S

Nov 2, 2020

Wonderful thorough course on the inner living, culture, art, death, magic and more of Ancient Egypt. Dr Silverman is an expert lecturer and the examples and illustrations aid well. The quizzes and additional reading materials were challenging and appropriate. The only critique I have is the end of every video is about 2 minutes of Glossary items / references that was very time consuming.

By cath m

Nov 2, 2022

Although I have been to Egypt, I didn't understand the meaning of so many of the marvels that I saw. Now I do. This course has enrichened my knowledge, and when I go back to Egypt again, I will appreciate even more the incredible achievements and belief systems of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. Many thanks to Dr. Silverman and the interesting lectures he presented.

By Khalukhaev S

Jun 17, 2019

Good and interesting course containing a great deal of useful information. For example I've learned 6 Gardiner's lessons of Ancient Egyptian and haven't received any information about "Interrogative sentences" yet. While Mr. Silverman gave a simple interrogative word that is used by egyptians like "Question mark" in english or interrogative word "Hal" in arabic.

By Jeanne L

Jul 19, 2020

Second course here with Dr. David Silverman. I really like his style of teaching, easy to understand. Impressed by his vast knowledge and appreciate his direction to both artifacts in the Penn Museum and outside sources for further study. The credits at the end of each video for material and photos used is another source of continued indepth study. Thank you!

By Emelyne R

Sep 1, 2019

I took this class because I was in a period of my life where I hadn't any job but I didn't have the will to actually do anything teaching or law related. I always loved Egypt and its history, this class actually taught me a lot about it. It's easy to stay on tracks and if you like history and Egypt this is a good course to do during summer and holidays time !

By F M

Apr 3, 2022

The course is magical!

Prof. David P. Silverman motivates and inspires us to learn not only history of Ancient Egypt but also art, culture, medicine, and he also dispels some myths and establishes real facts. I am very grateful and highly recommend this particular course to anyone who has this inner sense of belonging to Ancient Egypt

Best wishes,

Maria

By robert s

Dec 20, 2020

A fascinating history continuing on the excellent first course by Prof. Silverman — but more focused on religious and funerary rituals, architecture and magic, ancient Egyptian language, and the 18th Dynasty that includes the reign of Tutankhamun — that also gives an introduction to writing, pronunciation and grammar of hieroglyphics.

By Noelle C

Mar 12, 2021

This was field with fascinating facts and informative references from art, architecture, ancient culture, traditions and even linguistics. I throroughly enjoyed it and learned an immense amount I had not previously known. It’s re-ignited my interests in Egypt and I continue to follow recent news of discoveries. Well done.

By Angela C

Jul 6, 2018

10 stars if I could. I loved this course. I learned so many new facts. I think Mr. Silverman was a great teacher. He explain so many things perfectly to help understand. I would love to meet him if ever in Philadelphia. I have so many questions about what he experienced throughout his career. Thanks so much Mr. Silverman.

By Gloria R

Apr 18, 2022

A thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing learning experience. Dr. Silverman is an authority on the Wonders of Ancient Egypt and the experience of taking the course makes me want to go back to visit the Penn Museum and continue learning about ancient civilizations. I recommend this course without reservations.

By Rishita D

Dec 4, 2018

If studies can be made so easy and readily available then I think we should not limit ourselves just what we are taught in schools and colleges. Let the door of knowledge open up to all. The course has indeed helped me to learn and kbow something which i always fancied. Now i want to learn more. Thank you.

By Eilidh M

Feb 18, 2018

This is a really interesting course, which I would strongly recommend to anyone who has the slightest interest in Ancient Egypt and its culture. Particularly interesting were the lectures about hieroglyphics and the tomb of Tutankhamun. I am overwhelmed by Dr. Silverman's knowledge about this subject.

By Geng Z

Dec 23, 2020

This is an amazing course that brought me on a tour of ancient Egypt across it's art, culture, history and architectures. The videos/lectures are perfectly paced and clear. No doubt a very rewarding and eye-opening course and highly recommended for however fascinated by the ancient Egypt.

By Harriet R

Jun 21, 2020

This has been a really fascinating and engaging course. The materials have been clear and relevant, and the subject matter has been incredibly interesting. Professor Silverman's videos are easy to follow and understand, and are paced well. I really want to take the companion course now!

By Ravishankar T

Mar 6, 2022

I vowed to study Ancient Egypt, thanks to this course. The content has been presented so succinctly yet interestingly and profoundly. I will probably visit Egypt this year, around 22nd October. Whenever I visit the US (my daughter lives in Houston), I will make a trip to Philadelphia

By László S

Jan 13, 2018

A very thorough course. I recommend to anyone interested in this wonderful culture. I enjoyed every minute of it and the knowledge gained here will be useful to me in my own art history presentations. Thank you for the essential knowledge and I wish everyone a lot of success!

By YOGESH.B

Aug 9, 2021

HI, I am Yogesh. I studied this lesson from India. I love reading about history .It was very useful for me. I got to know Ancient Egypt and its rulers and people well. I hope it will be very useful for me to join the archeology in my country ….. Thanks COURSERA 😊😊👍

By Akhilesh S

May 30, 2018

Thank you Dr. Silverman and the staff of Penn university for this excellent course. This course, along with the 'Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization' course, provides a detailed and delightful introduction to the world of the Ancient Egyptians.

By Andrea M

Jul 4, 2020

A really good course. Maybe is not like a class but more like some data giving. Though, if you put attention, you can learn interesting facts of Egyptians. Also, you can see that professor master the subject, and that's quite nice. Congrats and thank u.

By AMANDA M H

Nov 29, 2017

Excelent! I love It Very muchas And i ' ok but This course.

I like Very much study about Egypt Civilization, their religion, society, culture, ritual. I' mais From Brasil, but This is The Second course by teacher David P. Silverman. See you Soon gere!

By lou l

Mar 6, 2022

Like the first course, Introduction to Ancient Egypt, professor Silverman's class was fascinating. It provided a great insight into Ancient Egypt and its mystieries. Very enjoyable and rich experience. Thank you. Awaiting the next chapter!

By E R

May 1, 2021

The content was so interesting and provided a great introduction to Ancient Egyptian civilisation. Also, the fact that deadlines and tests were set helped keep me on track as well as motivated. Would definitely recommend this course!