MA Archaeology of the Mediterranean, Egypt and Middle East

Degree co-ordinator: Corinna Riva

The Mediterranean, Egypt and Middle East are some of the major crucibles of cultural, economic and political change in world history, a focus of scholarship from prehistory to the Middle Ages, and where the past plays a critical role in the present, as well as in the creation of a viable future.

Students will develop an understanding of ancient societies of these regions from Prehistory through to the Medieval period and of current debates in archaeology and heritage. A specific focus will be given to major interpretative paradigms and principal investigative techniques - from fieldwork to heritage and museum studies - applied to these broader regions. Comparative perspectives across time and space will be encouraged. The unparalleled breadth of expertise that the Institute offers across these regions, and in diverse aspects of archaeological research and practice, affords students the possibility to develop independent research projects with a wide range of regional and chronological focuses. This expertise includes: the Prehistoric, Iron Age, Late antique and Islamic periods of the Mediterranean basin, Middle East and beyond; the comparative history of ancient art; museum archaeology, disciplinary and collection history, and critical heritage studies of Egypt and Sudan; the archaeology, social history and written evidence of third and second millennium BC Egypt and Sudan, as well as critical Egyptology studies; zooarchaeology and early pastoral societies of Western Asia.

Modules Courses

The degree is available either full-time over one academic year or part-time over two academic years (commencing September). It comprises two core modules (15 credits each), options to the value of 60 credits chosen by the student in consultation with the degree coordinator, and a dissertation of 15,000 words prepared on a germane topic, with guidance from an assigned supervisor.

Core Modules

All students must take the following:

• Heritage Ethics and Archaeological Practice in the Middle East and Mediterranean (ARCL0199; 15 credits; 11 weeks).
• Themes, Thought and Theory in World Archaeology: Foundations (ARCL0133; 15 credits; 11weeks)

The core module Themes, Thought and Theory in World Archaeology: Foundations provides a firm methodological foundation for archaeological interpretation through a review of the recent history of archaeological ideas and of current themes in archaeological theory. The core module Heritage Ethics and Archaeological Practice in the Middle East and Mediterranean will give students a firm basis on archaeological practice, policy, legislation on heritage and ethical issues in the context of Mediterranean Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Optional modules then allow students to explore the specifics of a given sub-region or period across the study region, the choice of options being tailored to the student's specific interests. This degree sets out to attract and challenge students seeking new intellectually and materially-driven approaches to the past of the Mediterranean, Egypt and Middle East, whether as a foundation for doctoral research or for intrinsic interest. It is suitable for students interested in the Prehistoric, Iron Age, Classical or Islamic/Medieval periods of these regions and their cultural heritage.

Option Modules

From an outstanding range of Masters course options, students choose options worth 60 units of credit (usually four 15-credit courses), among which are dedicated options for the study region. At least 45 credits should normally be chosen from the list below of option modules recommended for this degree programme (Please note not all modules are available every year):

• Aegean prehistory: major themes and current debates (ARCL0135, 15 credits, 11 weeks)
• Archaeologies of Asia (ARCL0152, 15 credits, 11 weeks)
• Archaeology of the Silk Roads (ARCL210, 15 credits, 11 weeks)  
• Coptic Language and Culture (ARCL0082, 15 credits, 11 weeks)   
• Making and meaning in Ancient Greek art (ARCL0162, 15 credits, 11 weeks) – not available in 2025-2027
• Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Language (ARCL0159, 15 credits, 11 weeks)   
• Medieval archaeology: Selected Topics and Current Problems (ARCLG004, 30 credits, 22 weeks)   
• Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the Near East: City-states and Empires (ARCL0200, 15 credits, 11 weeks) 
• Old and Middle Egyptian Texts (ARCL0080, 15 credits, 11 weeks) 
• The Mediterranean World in the Iron Age (ARCL0138, 15 credits, 11 weeks) 
• Themes and Debates in Egyptian Archaeology (ARCL0147, 15 credits, 11 weeks)
• Themes, thought and theory in world archaeology: current topics (ARCL0134, 15 credits) 

The remaining 15 credits may also be selected from this list or from amongst an outstanding range of other Masters modules offered at the UCL Institute of Archaeology or, subject to approval by the degree coordinator, or more widely within UCL and the University of London. All options are subject to availability and resources (please note not all modules are available every year). 

Dissertation

A dissertation of 15,000 words (90 credits) will be prepared by the student on a suitable topic, resulting from individual research in depth with guidance from an assigned supervisor who can provide relevant expertise. The dissertation topic is selected in collaboration with the supervisor in order to define a piece of independent research that is achievable through the support and expertise of the supervisor and thanks to the extensive resources of the Institute of Archaeology.

Examples of past dissertation projects include:

• Ancient Italy: a social prehistory of language.
• To burn or to bury? Mediterranean inhumation and cremation practices from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age.
• Theoretical and practical advances in underwater regional archaeological survey.
• A study of Mediterranean exchange routes from an analysis of Phoenician and Etruscan materials in southeastern Iberia.
• A stylistic study of ivory figurine heads from Nimrud.
• The social and cultural significance of Etruscan female anatomical votives.
• Ideology and urbanism in the Christianisation of Late Antique Greece.
• A study of Late Pre-palatial Crete and interaction with the East Mediterranean. 
• Microscopic analysis of ceramics from Shalfak, a Middle Kingdom fort in Nubia.
• Early Dynastic cylinder seals of the Diyala Region (Iraq): a contextual study.
• Settlement Structures in the 3rd millennium BCE: a reassessment of Old Kingdom Buhen and its social identity.
• Centering the “Peripheral”: regionality and agency in the early first millennium BCE at Bahriya and throughout Egypt’s western desert oases.