Egyptology and Ancient History, BA (Hons)

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Course Overview

Ancient Egypt, with its pharaohs, grand monuments, and hieroglyphs, has fascinated people for thousands of years.

Here at Swansea you can study its great sweep of history and compelling cultural practices in their context within Africa, the Levant, and the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean.

Our three-year degree is founded on object-based learning, offering you hands-on experience with the artefacts in our in-house museum, the Egypt Centre. You also have the option to learn the ancient Egyptian language and writing system, as a gateway to exploring their surviving texts for yourself.

You will be equipped to understand how Egyptian society developed over millennia, from the neolithic to the time when the Nile valley was conquered by Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

Why Egyptology and Ancient History at Swansea?

We are based in our stunning Singleton Park campus, in parkland overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula.

Classics and Ancient History at Swansea is ranked:

  • 2nd in the UK for Student Experience (Times Good University Guide 2025)
  • 2nd in the UK for Teaching Satisfaction (Guardian University Guide 2025)
  • 3rd in the UK for Teaching Quality (Times Good University Guide 2025)
  • Top 20 in the UK for Graduate Outcomes (Complete University Guide 2025)
  • Top 51-150 in the World (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025) 

You have options to study Egyptology and Ancient History with a semester abroad during your second year, or to spend a full year abroad after your second year. We have contacts with universities in Australia, North America, Asia, and Europe.

We are committed to teaching you how to understand historical landscapes. Our optional first-year heritage module allows you to understand the past in its place on sites around Swansea and South Wales. We also have a study trip module which affords you the chance (whenever circumstances allow) to visit ancient sites overseas, for example in Greece or Italy.

You are also able to gain valuable experience and understanding of the museum industry and heritage practices, through a range of placements, or by undertaking a full year in industry, allowing you to gain valuable workplace experience ready for your career. As well as modules where you work with objects from the Egypt Centre, we have the Egyptian Collection Practicum, a third-year module which offers two weeks of intensive work experience in the museum. You can also get involved by participating in such initiatives as the Swansea University Pottery Project, which aims to catalogue all ceramic fragments in the collection. There is also the opportunity to volunteer at the Egypt Centre, which boasts an international scholarly network with frequent seminars, short courses, and a school programme.

If you are considering teaching as a career, or would just like to see what teaching in a school might be like, you can gain valuable experience with our Schools Placement module. This module allows you to instruct pupils in local schools in the culture of the classical world, for credit. We foster such links in part via the Welsh Classics Hwb which aims to produce resources for teaching Latin and the ancient world in schools.

Your Egyptology and Ancient History Experience

Throughout your Egyptology and Ancient History degree, you will each have a personal tutor from among the teaching staff to lend academic support. We are a close-knit community which enjoys exploring the ancient world beyond the classroom.

Our student-run Ancient World Society organises social and cultural events, including museum trips.

Assessments in this course offer you a wide range of opportunities to demonstrate your newfound understanding of the ancient world. You may be asked to compile an ‘object life cycle’, where you will set out how particular specimens were created and then made their way from their point of origin to their current location, or design a plan for the exhibition of a particular group of artefacts. Our assignments also help you develop your experience in communicating your knowledge in various ways, for example in presentations, blogposts, or creative assignments.

Egyptology and Ancient History Employment Opportunities

To enhance your career prospects, we offer the opportunity to sign up for various employability and engagement-related placements, such as the Week of Work.

Students of Egyptology and Ancient History typically develop excellent presentation and writing skills, related to research, analysis, and problem solving. You will learn to develop your ideas in a wide range of formats applicable to your life after university.

Our graduates enter careers in a wide range of sectors including:

  • Heritage and Tourism
  • Teaching
  • Media and Public Relations
  • Business and Management
  • Politics and Civil Service

Modules

During your first year, you’ll study four compulsory modules and two optional modules, with topics including Greek, Latin, Gods and Heroes, Ancient Philosophy and Rhetoric and a Field Trip.

Year 2 includes two compulsory and four optional modules, with topics typically including Egyptian Archaeology, Egyptian Art and Architecture, Archaic Greece, Gender in the Roman World, and a Schools Work Placement, teaching ancient history and languages.

Your degree with culminate in year 3, with a wide range of optional modules that can include The Archaeology of Ancient Nubia, advanced levels of Greek or Latin, Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius, and a compulsory Classics, Ancient History and Ehyptology Dissertation.

If you choose to study a Year Abroad or Year in Industry, these will take place between the 2nd and 3rd years of study, making your degree 4 years total.

Egyptology and Ancient History, BA (Hons)

Egyptology and Ancient History with a Year Abroad, BA (Hons)

Egyptology and Ancient History with a Year in Industry, BA (Hons)