Department of Archaeology

MA Archaeology (Egypt, Ancient India, Near East)

Overview

Few MA courses dealing with the archaeology of Egypt, India, or the ancient Middle East are available in the UK. While other providers might insist that you concentrate on a single geographical area, we allow for a more flexible approach. As this strand is one of four within the broad MA Archaeology, you will be able to relate your specific regional teaching to methodological and theoretical developments in archaeology as a whole. The specialist teaching available to you on our programme covers Ancient India, Iran, the Arabian Penninsula and the Indian Ocean, in addition to the Ancient Near East and Egyptian archaeology and languages.

The department is now running a Near Eastern Fieldwork Training Project in Kuwait linked to the MA. All students wishing to gain Near Eastern fieldwork experience in a safe environment are eligible to apply to participate.

Facts

Find out more about entry requirements, mode of study, duration of the course, and tuition fees here. (Note: this link will direct you to the University's central course tool. Use the link provided to return to the Department of Archaeology homepage.)

Find out more about funding your programme here.

Programme structure: Specialist Route (1), Specialist Route (2), Research Training Route (3), Research training Route (4). See below for more details.

How will I be taught?

The MA in Archaeology courses are composed of several modules: Research and Study Skills in Social Archaeology (RSS), combinations of a Research Topic module related to your strand (either single or double), a Selected Module from those on offer elsewhere in the Department, a Guided Study module and a dissertation.

Part-time students are expected to complete the course in 2 years. The choice of modules for each year should be made in consultation with the Strand Convenor. It is usually expected that part-time students will complete RSS in the first year and the dissertation in the second year.

RSS is taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, practicals and one field trip.

In addition, students do a Research Topic module, which can be single or double. For the Research Topic Module students must choose one or two topics depending on whether they are taking a single or double module. Teaching is undertaken through a series of lectures and tutorials.

Module Table

What will I be studying?

Research Topics offered in the Egypt, Ancient India and the Near East Strand (subject to availability):

  • Archaeology of the Egyptian State
  • Continuity and Change in South Asia
  • Ancient Near East
  • Cultural Landscapes of Eurasia
  • The archaeology of Eastern Arabia

The Guided Study module is based exclusively on tutorials and seminars, and allows you to follow a detailed and specialised course of study in their specified area. It facilitates the provision of intensive teaching of specified geographical areas and/or topics, which will provide vital preparation for research.

Dissertation: All strands of the MA in Archaeology programme require a triple-module dissertation of up to 20,000 words.

Who will teach me?

Prof Robin Coningham is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health and holds a Chair in Archaeology. He is committed to field research and has conducted fieldwork in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka aimed at refining Early Historic chronologies and investigating the region's second Iron Age, urbanization, the genesis of Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea trade and the archaeology of early Buddhism.

Dr Derek Kenet is a Senior Lecturer and is interested in the archaeology of South Asia, Arabia, the Gulf, and the western Indian Ocean in the Early Historic to Late Antique/Early Medieval periods; the archaeology of Islam in the Near East; the Sasanians; the archaeology of trade and economy; archaeological field techniques. He is an advisor to the Department of Antiquities and Museums of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.

Prof Tony Wilkinson's special interests have included landscapes of dry lands (deserts) and wetlands (specifically those submerged beneath the sea). He has undertaken landscape fieldwork in Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran, as well as various places in the UK. His book Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East received the Society for American Archaeology Book Prize (2004) and the Wiseman Book Award from the Archaeological Institute of America (2005).

Prof Graham Philip's interests centre upon long-term aspects of human-environment interaction in the Middle East. He has directed and co-directed several important projects in the region including The Vanishing Landscape of Syria, The Fragile Crescent, and the Invisible Dead Project.

Dr Penny Wilson is currently the Field Director of the joint Durham University/Egypt Exploration Society/Supreme Council of Antiquities project at Sais (Sa el-Hagar). She is interested in the dynamics of life in the Nile delta including coping with the Nile's flood regime in the past, the development of urban centres and the tension between agricultural life and the state, the interactions between teh religious life and thinking of the temple and the world outside, and the nature of religious experience in 'ordinary' daily life.

What is my next step?

For further information on applying for the MA in Archaeology (EAINE), please visit How to Apply.

All Home/EU applicants offered a place on the MA in Archaeology (EAINE) course will be asked to pay a £500 deposit by 1 April 2013. For offers made by the Department after 1 April 2013, each applicant will have 4 weeks to pay the £500 deposit from the official offer letter. This £500 deposit will be deducted from the first instalment of fees after starting the course in September 2013. Please note, that this £500 deposit will only be refunded in the event of the applicant not meeting their conditions set out in the official offer letter.

All Overseas applicants offered a place on the MA in Archaeology (EAINE) course will be asked to pay a £1000 deposit no later than 6 weeks following any official offer emailed letter. Please note, that this £1000 deposit will only be refunded in the event of the applicant failing to meet their conditions set out in the official offer letter or refusal of a visa for entry to the UK. Please ensure that you read this information concerning the deposit.

This £1000 deposit will be deducted from the first instalment of fees after starting the course in September 2013.