Travel in Ancient Egypt

Long before modern tourism, ancient Egyptians were already on the move – for trade, mining, war, pilgrimage, diplomacy, and pleasure. This course reconstructs their journeys through the eyes of expedition leaders, soldiers, traders, diplomats, fugitives, criminals, and prisoners of war, drawing on inscriptions, letters, graffiti, and archaeological remains spanning the Old Kingdom through the Third Intermediate Period.

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Students trace routes to Nubia, Punt, the Sinai, and the Levant, examining the technologies that made travel possible – chariots, riverboats, seagoing vessels – and the hazards travelers faced: hostile terrain, bandits, pirates, and unpredictable weather. From Harkhuf's Nubian expeditions to the shipwrecked sailor's tale, from the Amarna Letters' royal diplomacy to the fugitive Sinuhe's flight abroad, the course uses firsthand ancient testimony to explore why people traveled, how they coped with danger, and how their journeys shaped Egyptian conceptions of their own land against the wider world.