which uni is best for studying Egyptology?

Hi guys I am preparing to follow my heart and change my career at 29.can anyone share some experience on the similar subject ?or experiences as a mature student?
Cheers.

@Edminzodo did Egyptology and is probably best placed to advise!

Honestly there are so few unis offering it in the UK that "best" is kind of relative. Off the top of my head I believe Oxford (via Oriental Studies), Cambridge (via Archaeology), Swansea, Liverpool, and UCL (again based in the Archaeology department) offer undergraduate degrees and/or modules in Egyptian archaeology and language. SOAS may also be of interest as it offers an Ancient Near Eastern Studies course with Akkadian jointly with UCL (and you can take Egyptian archaeology/language options from UCL).

I think Oxford offers the greatest possible depth in the language, and also offers Coptic, Demotic, and Akkadian options.

@Edminzodo did Egyptology and is probably best placed to advise!

Honestly there are so few unis offering it in the UK that "best" is kind of relative. Off the top of my head I believe Oxford (via Oriental Studies), Cambridge (via Archaeology), Swansea, Liverpool, and UCL (again based in the Archaeology department) offer undergraduate degrees and/or modules in Egyptian archaeology and language. SOAS may also be of interest as it offers an Ancient Near Eastern Studies course with Akkadian jointly with UCL (and you can take Egyptian archaeology/language options from UCL).

I think Oxford offers the greatest possible depth in the language, and also offers Coptic, Demotic, and Akkadian options.

Hi guys I am preparing to follow my heart and change my career at 29.can anyone share some experience on the similar subject ?or experiences as a mature student?
Cheers.

@Edminzodo did Egyptology and is probably best placed to advise!

Honestly there are so few unis offering it in the UK that "best" is kind of relative. Off the top of my head I believe Oxford (via Oriental Studies), Cambridge (via Archaeology), Swansea, Liverpool, and UCL (again based in the Archaeology department) offer undergraduate degrees and/or modules in Egyptian archaeology and language. SOAS may also be of interest as it offers an Ancient Near Eastern Studies course with Akkadian jointly with UCL (and you can take Egyptian archaeology/language options from UCL).

I think Oxford offers the greatest possible depth in the language, and also offers Coptic, Demotic, and Akkadian options.

Hi guys I am preparing to follow my heart and change my career at 29.can anyone share some experience on the similar subject ?or experiences as a mature student?
Cheers.

Hi Claire,

So, as I said in the post above, I did Egyptology at Liverpool. The universities where you can study pure Egyptology are Oxford (http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/oriental-studies/egyptology), Liverpool (https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/egyptology-ba-hons/overview/), and Swansea (https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/artsandhumanities/classics-ancient-history-and-egyptology/ba-egyptology-v410/). At Cambridge, you can study it as part of their Archaeology course, at UCL you can study it as part of the Archaeology of Egypt and the Sudan (I think that's the new name) course, and you can also study a bit of Egyptology at UWTSD in Wales.

If you are wanting to start this September, you have missed the boat for Oxbridge applications, so you're looking at courses which still have availability (https://digital.ucas.com/search/results?SearchText=egyptology&SearchSubmit=SearchSubmit&ProviderText=&SubjectText=&AutoSuggestType=&filters=Destination_Undergraduate&AcademicYearId=2020&RegionDistancePostcode=&DistanceFromPostcode=25mi - ignore the Oxbridge ones as they are closed).

Egyptology, especially as a single subject, is a harder course than most people realise. You don't have to have any prior knowledge, but the course is varied so it covers a lot of subjects. At Liverpool, you study 4 versions of hieroglyphs (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, and also Coptic, but that's written in a pseudo-Greek alphabet), alongside history and archaeology classes, and classes in religion, material culture etc. In the first year, you take a second subject to complement your Egyptology studies (most people take archaeology and so end up doing lab work and practicals).

If you're going for a more language-heavy course, e.g. Oxford or Liverpool, I'd recommend having a look through Collier's How To Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. At Liverpool there are ways you can get around language study in later years but this involves switching your course a little - if you want to study just Egyptology you will be doing a lot of hieroglyphs, which most people don't realise, so be sure to have a look and see if this is something you're willing to commit to. If you're more interested in archaeology, I'd recommend looking at UCL, and maybe Swansea (but they both do some language, too - it's hard to study a civilisation properly unless you know what they're saying).

I could type all day so if you have any more specific questions, let me know. If you do want to come in 2020, I'm not sure if there are any specific requirements a university might want you to fill or if you would just go through the standard UCAS process, so you'd have to speak directly to an admissions team for that.

In terms of being a mature student, I've met quite a lot of mature students studying archaeology or Egyptology. In my smallest class with my closest friends in final year, the age range was 21 - 29, with a few being around the 25 mark. But of course, this varies year on year.

If you need any further guidance, let me know, and of course, I can answer very specific questions about Liverpool, too.

Thank you so much for the info!Ed🤩
I am very glad I have reached out to you.
I will be sure to have a look at the book about reading characters and make sure that this is what I could sign up for.thank you so much for the heads up!
I am thinking about 2021 would be a better place to start since I need to prepare multiple tests for enrolment.

Thanks again for building a space here for egyptology.I hope to talk to you soon

No problem. If you have any other questions, ask them here or drop me a message directly.

The only tests (as far as I am aware) that you would need to do would to be for Cambridge(?), unless you are an international student. What tests were you thinking of? If you're not bothered by an Oxbridge application, I certainly think you could start in 2020 if you wanted to. You still have 8-9 months for that.

Yes I am a international student resident several years in Nz and originally from China.so I am thinking about sat test which substitute for the A level and probably a IELTS for English.🤨

ClaireMM, you asked why my niece is going to SOAS for Archaeology with History. I suspected she doesn't know what she really want, and the real reason is that her older sister attends SOAS too (Global Music)

Ah, okay - 很高认识你, 我说一点儿中文. I'd say email the admissions team of each university directly and see what they say. I had a friend who was a mature international student on my course and they did really well so it can be done. Here is the contact form for Liverpool - https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/international/contact-us/#form - 20% of our students across the university are from China, so you definitely wouldn't be alone in that sense. There are a few who have studied Egyptology, too. I think you'll definitely need to do the IELTS but if you have work experience they might not ask for other qualifications. But I'm not an expert so you'd have to ask the Liverpool (and the other university) teams. Best of luck!