Many visitors to our website dream of becoming Egyptologists and are seeking information on the education required for such a career. We have compiled information regarding the general educational requirements for a career in Egyptology (especially geared toward the American educational system), as well as a list of links to universities around the globe offering academic programs in Egyptology.
What to Study
Most full-time Egyptological jobs require that you have a Ph.D. in Egyptology, or be well on your way toward obtaining one. Training in Egyptology for a doctoral degree can take at least eight years of university, both undergraduate and graduate programs, and often much longer. Many university programs offer the opportunity to specialize either in Egyptian language or in art and archaeology of ancient Egypt. If you are studying at a university that allows you to specialize either in archaeology or Egyptian language you should take some courses in both fields regardless of the field in which you ultimately decide to specialize.
For high school students interested in becoming Egyptologists, you should learn French and German if available, take history and other humanities classes, and get a good grounding in sciences, computing, and courses to improve your writing and research skills, in short, take all the college prep courses you can. This will depend a great deal on what is available in your local high school system. Read all that you can get on various aspects of ancient Egypt and the ancient Near East, including history, archaeology, art, religion and literature.
At university, as an undergraduate, you should follow a liberal arts program. Very few universities offer undergraduate degrees in Egyptology, but such a degree is not required for those wishing to do a higher degree in Egyptology. However, at an undergraduate level, courses in art history, particularly ancient art will be helpful. You should also take courses in social sciences, especially ancient history, anthropology and archaeology. Some universities offer interdisciplinary programs in area studies and if the Eastern Mediterranean is offered in such a program it is a good way to get a wide range of background courses complimentary to Egyptology.
Languages form the foundation of any Egyptologist's knowledge: a reading knowledge of French and German are essential for advanced research in Egyptology, and you should take courses in these languages if you do not already have these skills. If you hope to eventually do archaeological work in Egypt, learning Arabic, either the classical form or the Egyptian dialect, will help. Greek or another ancient Near Eastern language may also be helpful for those interested in comparative work or specializing in the later periods of ancient Egyptian history.
Egyptologists specialize either in language or archaeology, although all must take at least some courses in both areas. As a specialist in the ancient Egyptian language, you will need to take courses in the various forms of the language (Old, Middle and Late Egyptian in both hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts, Demotic, and Coptic). If you decide to specialize in Egyptian archaeology, courses on art and architecture of ancient Egypt in different periods will be needed. Having some training in another specialty of use to archaeology can often increase your marketability, so consider learning surveying, photography, or drawing.
Where to Study
The following is a list of weblinks to university programs that offer a specialization in Egyptology, arranged alphabetically by country.
Australia
Ancient History Department
Macquarie University
Sydney, NSW
www.anchist.mq.edu.au/
Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History
Monash University
Melbourne
www.arts.monash.edu.au/archaeology/
Austria
Institut f�r �gyptologie
Universit�t Wien
www.univie.ac.at/egyptology
Belgium
Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology
Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven
www.arts.kuleuven.be/ema/
Department of Egyptology
Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven
millennium.arts.kuleuven.ac.be/egyptology/
Institut Orientaliste
Universit� Catholique de Louvain
www.fltr.ucl.ac.be/FLTR/GLOR/EPO/Egypte/default.htm
Facult� de Philosophie et Lettres
Universit� Libre de Bruxelles
www.ulb.ac.be/facs/philo/index.html
Facult� de Philosophie et Lettres
Universit� Libre de Li�ge
www.ulg.ac.be/facphl/
Bulgaria
Department of Mediterranean and Eastern Studies
New Bulgarian University in Sofia
www.nbu.bg/index.php?l=433
Canada
Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto
www.utoronto.ca/nmc
People's Republic of China
Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations
North East Normal University Changchun
vod.nenu.edu.cn/web/eindex.htm
Czech Republic
Egyptologicky �stav
Univerzita Karlova
www.prf.cuni.cz/
Denmark
Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies
University of Copenhagen
www.hum.ku.dk/cni/
Egypt
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Egyptology
American University in Cairo
www.aucegypt.edu/academic/sape/Egy/Egyptology.htm
Finland
Department of Asian and African Studies
University of Helsinki
www.helsinki.fi/hum/aakkl/
France
Ecole du Louvre
Paris
www.ecoledulouvre.fr/index2.html
Institut de Papyrologie et d'Egyptologie
Universit� de Lille III
www.univ-lille3.fr/portail/index.php?page=SciencesHistoriques
Institut d'Egyptologie V. Loret
Universit� Lyon 2
www.mom.fr/
Sorbonne Egyptological Research Centre
Universit� de Paris-Sorbonne
www.paris4.sorbonne.fr/en/article.php3?id_article=127
Germany
�gyptologisches Seminar
Freie Universit�t Berlin
www.fu-berlin.de/aegyptologie
Seminar f�r Arch�ologie und Kulturgeschichte Nordostafrikas
Humboldt-Universit�t zu Berlin
www2.hu-berlin.de/aknoa/
Institut f�r �gyptologie
Johannes-Gutenberg-Universit�t
www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Philologie-III/aegypt/
Fachbereich Kunst- Orient- und Altertumswissenschaften
Martin-Luther-Universit�t Halle Wittenberg
www.orientarch.uni-halle.de
Fachgebiet �gyptologie
Philipps-Universit�t Marburg
staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~aegypt/
�gyptologisches Seminar der Universit�t Bonn
Universit�t Bonn
www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/Philfak/aegypt/
Seminar f�r �gyptologie und Koptologie
Universit�t G�ttingen
www.gwdg.de/~uhak/
Arch�ologisches Institut �gyptologie
Universit�t Hamburg
www.uni-hamburg.de/Studium/index_e.html
�gyptologisches Institut
Universit�t Heidelberg
www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/helios/fachinfo/fachref/aegypt/wel...
Seminar f�r �gyptologie
Universit�t zu K�ln
www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/aegypt/index-page.html
�gyptologisches Institut
�gyptisches Museum Universit�t Leipzig
www.uni-leipzig.de/~egypt/Institutshomepage/start.htm
Institut f�r �gyptologie
Universit�t M�nchen
www.fak12.uni-muenchen.de/aegyp/index.html
Abteilung �gyptologie
Universit�t Trier
�gyptologisches Institut
Universit�t T�bingen
www.uni-tuebingen.de/aegyptologie/
Institut f�r �gyptologie
Universit�t W�rzburg
www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aegyptologie
Institut f�r �gyptologie und Koptologie
Westf�lische Wilhelms-Universit�t
www.uni-muenster.de/Rektorat/studium/stud-agy.htm
Hungary
Department of Egyptology
E�tv�s Lor�nd University
Budapest
www.elte.hu/index_noflash.html
Israel
Department of Egyptology
The Hebrew University
Jerusalem
www.huji.ac.il/huji/eng/
Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilisations
Tel Aviv University
www.tau.ac.il/humanities/archaeology/index.html
Italy
Pontificio Istituto Biblico
Roma
www.biblico.it/
Dipartimento di Scienze Archeologiche
Sezione Egittologia
Universit� di Pisa
www.egittologia.unipi.it/
Universit� degli studi di Roma "La Sapeinza"
Roma
www.uniroma1.it/
Japan
Institute of Egyptology
Waseda University
Tokyo
www.waseda.ac.jp/projects/egypt/index-E.html
The Netherlands
Languages and Cultures of the Middle East
University of Groningen
odur.let.rug.nl/mes/profile/vak.htm
Talen en Culturen van het Nabije Oosten (TCNO)
Faculteit der Letteren
University of Leiden
www.letteren.leidenuniv.nl/
New Zealand
Department of Classics and Ancient History
University of Auckland
New Zealand
www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/cla/Index.html
Norway
Department of Greek, Latin and Egyptology
Universitet i Bergen
www.hf.uib.no/i/klassisk/
Poland
Intsitute of Archaeology
Jagellonian University
Krakow
www.uj.edu.pl/Arch/
Department of Papyrology
University of Warsaw
www.papyrology.uw.edu.pl/
Institute of Archaeology
University of Warsaw
www.archeo.uw.edu.pl/
Portugal
Instituto Oriental
Faculdade de Letras
Alameda da Universidade
Lisboa
www.fl.ul.pt/unidades/institutos/instituto_oriental.htm
Romania
Facultatea de Istorie
Universitatea Bucuresti
Bucuresti
www.unibuc.ro/en/catd_hciaa_en
Russia
Faculty of History
Moscow State University
www.ied.msu.ru/faculties/history.html
Oriental Department
University of St. Petersburg
www.spbu.ru/
South Africa
Department of Ancient Studies
University of Stellenbosch
www.sun.ac.za/as/
Spain
Department de Prehist�ria, Hist�ria Antiga I Arqueologia
University of Barcelona
Barcelona
www.ub.es/prehist/main.htm
Facultad de Geograf�a e Historia
Universidad de Seville
Seville
www.cica.es/aliens/dhaus/
Sudan
Department of Archaeology
Faculty of Arts
University of Khartoum
www.sudan.net/uk/f-art.htm
Sweden
Institutiones f�r Egyptologi
Uppsala Universitet
www.arkeologi.uu.se/egy/
Switzerland
�gyptologisches Seminar
Universit�t Basel
www.unibas.ch/aegyptologie/
Department der Altertumswissenschaften
Universitas Friburgensis
www.unifr.ch/dbs/index.html
D�partment des Sciences de l'Antiquit�
Universit� de Gen�ve
www.unige.ch/lettres/or/plandetu/plegypte.html
Orientalisches Seminar
Universit�t Zurich
www.ori.unizh.ch/Egyptology/egyptology.html
Taiwan
National Taiwan University
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Taipei
www.ntu.edu.tw/new-version/english/main.html
United Kingdom
Faculty of Oriental Studies: Near and Middle East
Oxford University
www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/nme/egyptian_info.shtml
Department of Ancient History and Archaeology
University of Birmingham
artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aha/
Department of Archaeology
University of Bristol
www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Archaeology/index.html
Faculty of Oriental Studies
University of Cambridge
www.oriental.cam.ac.uk/egypt1.html
Institute of Archaeology
University College, London
www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/index.htm
Department of Archeology
University of Durham
www.dur.ac.uk/Archaeology/
Department of Egyptology
School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology
University of Liverpool
www.liv.ac.uk/sace/
Department of Classics, Ancient History and Egyptology
University of Wales
Swansea
www.swan.ac.uk/classics/egypt/
United States of America
Department of Egyptology
Brown University
Providence, RI
www.brown.edu/Departments/Egyptology/
Department of Near Eastern Studies
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
www.jhu.edu/%7Eneareast/
Institute of Fine Arts
New York University
www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/
Department of Near Eastern Studies
University of California, Berkeley
neareastern.berkeley.edu/
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
University of California, Los Angeles
www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/egyptology/index.html
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
University of Chicago
humanities.uchicago.edu/depts/nelc/
Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology
University of Memphis
www.memphis.edu/egypt/
Department of Near Eastern Studies
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
www.umich.edu/%7Eneareast/
Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
www.sas.upenn.edu/ames/
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Yale University
New Haven, CT
www.yale.edu/nelc/
Uruguay
Instituto Uruguayo de Egiptologia
Uruguayo
www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/8458