Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies

Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies opens one of the richest and most challenging fields in the humanities: the study of the ancient civilisations of the Nile valley and the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates. Egypt, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babylon, the Hittites, and the Levantine world together constitute the foundation of written civilisation, the origin of agriculture, urbanism, and state formation, and the cradle of three of the world's major religions. To study these cultures seriously means learning ancient languages, engaging with material culture, and grappling with questions about how ancient societies worked and what they have bequeathed to the modern world.

At the University of Oxford, this three-year full-time programme gives you intensive training in the languages and scripts of the ancient world. You are likely to study Ancient Egyptian and its hieroglyphic script, as well as cuneiform writing systems used for Sumerian, Akkadian, and other Mesopotamian languages, though the specific languages depend on your chosen path within the programme. Archaeology, history, and literary analysis are all part of the degree, and you will engage with primary texts directly, in their original languages.

Oxford's tutorial system and its exceptional library and museum resources, including the Ashmolean and the Bodleian's papyrus collection, make it one of the very few places in the world where this degree can be studied at this level.

The career paths from this degree are specialist but well defined. Academic research and teaching are the most direct destinations, and many graduates go on to doctoral work before pursuing careers in university departments, research institutes, and museums. Museum curatorship and Egyptology consultancy are established fields.

The rigorous analytical, linguistic, and research skills the degree develops also transfer to law, publishing, the civil service, and heritage management. Postgraduate study in Egyptology, Near Eastern studies, archaeology, or ancient history is the natural next step for most graduates.