thanks

Great

Nice

good

good

👍

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G

G

This is a nice introduction to Ancient Egypt and there is a lot of good information. The length of the videos are very good but you do not need the introductory clip and the music every time. It gets boring after listening to it 10 times.

I would like to make a few additional suggestions

1- The speaker Prof Silverman is certainly a world expert in this field, but he is simply reading from a script in the most uninteresting and driest possible way. It is simply boring to listen to him but individuals who love to learn more about this topic will endure anyway. Is there a way to make the speeches more interesting and lively?

2- I think there needs to be more substantive information and more data presentation as to how we know what we know. It is critical to mention where the information is obtained during the videos, not as recommended reading at the end. XYZ publications demonstrate that xxxx was recognized as the king in yyy tomb. etc.

3- It is also helpful to provide more context by referring to what is happening in different parts of the world at the same time. Especially for middle and new kingdoms and certainly afterwards, Egypt's history is much more connected to the surrounding countries.

In summary, I would like to say I enjoyed this course and I am glad to have taken it. Thank you.

Overall the course was really great, flexible and an easy way to learn about Egyptian History. We are living in a time where a lot of the current idea's are being challenged in regards to Ancient Egypt, in the most part I thought David did a great job of just sticking to the facts, but also pointing out where things are current beliefs or assumptions based on the evidence at hand. Example he states the Pyramids were 'most likely built the the Egyptians' in the first Dynasty under its 2nd King - Khufu. I like this approach, I think we need to be open minded and flexible so we can go where the evidence takes us, not try and manipulate which evidence is put forward and mock other ideas that might seem somewhat far fetched. So the ancient astronaut theory is extreme and somewhat far fetched, but not impossible. I don't believe that the Pyramids were built by Ancient Astronauts but the current evidence to support them being built by Khufu is in no way air tight and convincing. Therefore the AA theory has space to breed and grow, so I guess my point is perhaps David should just say he doesn't believe that theory and there is no solid evidence to support it.

This course was a lot of fun. Professor Silverman visibly enjoys talking about this subject and he is very knowledgable. The course is a good overview of Ancient Egyptian culture, detailing the most important aspects. It is clearly an introduction to Ancient Egypt, not an all-encompassing course.

The book Ancient Egypt by professor Silverman et al was extremely useful throughout the course, and I highly recommend finding a copy or consulting an online resource. Each week corresponds to 1 or 2 chapters from this book, so it's the ideal companion guide.

My only points of criticism are the tests. Each test contains at least 1 question that I did not find the answer to in the videos or accompanying book, and it's a bit unclear to me where we would've found the answer to these questions. Nevertheless, this is fairly limited and the tests are perfectly doable if you've followed along.

As I was going through the course, it struck me that I was hearing almost the same thing I studied in my courses in the early 1970's in which the material for the sphinx and Giza pyramids was based on determinations by "scholars" from the 1880's and early 1900's. I was also surprised that no consideration was given for more recent re-interpretations of the timeframe for the sphinx, in view of studies done on the possible water erosion, possible reshaping of the head and so on. To me, these theories are worth mentioning as possibilities; thus, I felt some disappointment.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the course overall and enjoyed seeing so many different artifacts that helped define different eras in the history of Egypt. I also enjoyed learning about the dig in which the university is involved. Thanks!

Very good material, very well presented and paced. The opportunity to see the artifacts in the Penn museum is well worth your time. The instructor is engaging and knowledgable without being tiresome, and many of the same concepts or reinforced from lesson to lesson so you get a better idea of how all this information fits together.

I took off one star for the quizzes (note that they cover both the videos and supplemental readings, which of course if fair, but it doesn't tell you that). You cannot see what answer you gave when you check your score, so you're left guessing. A layout showing your answer vs. the correct one woud be a helpful learning reinforcement.

Also question #9 on the Week 6 quiz has two possible correct answers, according to the video.

A very clear introduction with a highly knowledgeable guide. He is not the most enthusiastic guy and could seem quite boring, but he is highly informative. The quiz questions don't work all that well. The spacing is odd at times. The balance of questions is very hard to predict. Also I wasn't able to check up on my mistakes, so as to find the correct answers, but this might be my incompetence. Somehow I wasn't able to access the discussion until I had posted my own contribution, which meant that what I had to say did not take account of what others had already said. However, these problems apart it was a good introduction to the subject.

Enjoyable introduction to Ancient Egyptian History. Interesting subject matter although the topics that were of primary interest to me were not covered in the Introduction, I did however, gain a lot of broad stroke knowledge across a variety of topics. The supporting images added to the overall enjoyment of the course. It is a wonderful privilege indeed, to have access to Penn University - Dr Silverman and have his vast knowledge made so freely available to anyone wishing to participate. The quiz at the end of each course were not difficult and provided a focus to the learning. Thank you Penn University and in particular Dr Silverman.

The course is a good general knowledge introduction to Egypt, there is lots of information stuffed into each week. The lecturer's style is super dry, but the lectures are ultimately very useful. This course style is sometimes a bit disconnected, in that the information you are given is often handled purely as information, and not quite as often contextualized. This tends to make the quizzes, and discussion prompts feel disjointed, and challenging in the way that it's difficult to use your newfound knowledge in application. That being said, I really enjoyed the class as a very direct knowledge-gathering experience.

Good information, organized in an interesting and unique way. The graphics and labeling are beautiful.

The course is flawed, however, by the way the professor is obviously reading a script from a teleprompter. His delivery is uncomfortably slow. and. Awkward. withunatural. pauses. In. hisspeech. I wish he would just talk! He seems knowledgeable but his passion for the the subject is ruined by the stilted speech. My favorite video was the last one, where he and a lab technician are in a restoration lab, and the two of them are just talking. If the entire course had been that way, it would be a 5-star winner.

I did learn a few new things, but I would have to say the course is very easy to pass. The hardest part is the essay questions, but these are optional. Anyone having basic knowledge of Egyptian history could pass all the quizzes without doing anything else. You only have to get 50% correct.

The recorded lectures were good, but not great. The speaker is reading the transcript and it seems like for the first time. He is not speaking naturally and it's a bit stiff.

Nevertheless, for someone just starting, the course has all the essential information needed and you will learn a lot.

Course was intresting, material was explained in a way that most people would have understood it. Even without a degree in history or anything like that. However David P Silverman is not a person to be put in front of a camera. He doesn't look at the camera and I think this is caused because most of the time he is reading of what he wants to say. Apart from that he speaks in one tone all the time wich in due time gets quit boring. Try to sound more entheusiastic. I know he probarbly is, it just doesn't show on camera.

Very interesting course that doesn't require the learner to have any knowledge on ancient Egypt. Regardless, it is also interesting for people involved in Archaeology (especially beginners who may not have had much contact with the area yet) since it provides interesting and accessible information. The lector is easy to comprehend, very knowledgeable and shows many examples but it is obvious that he reads his speech from a screen in front of him and that makes his lectures rather stiff and less enthusiastic.

It was an interesting course, the lectures were kind of dry but the information delivered was worth sitting through them for not to mention the artifacts themselves, always moving to see them. The quizzes could have been better as some of the questions could be ambiguous or referenced material that wasn't discussed, some may have had more than one correct answer depending on which archaeologist one decided to stand with. Overall, I enjoyed it and plan on taking the next installment, Wonders of Ancient Egypt.

David Silverman presented the course in a very clear and concise way. With the limited amount of time to cover such a diverse subject it was a very good introduction. The only negative thing was the statue like manner of his presentation in front of the sphinx most of the time. It would have been nice to see other rooms in the Penn museum.

I used the course as a refresher as I have taken courses in the UK on Ancient Egypt. I would strongly recommend this as an introduction, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Excellent content and presentation. Excellent reading materials. Transcripts contain numerous errors, which is problematic when trying to discern names of people discussed if it isn't clear from the presentation. I watch each video more than once and pay attention both with and without the transcript. When I still can't figure out the word or name, I resort to Google or Wikipedia, which is not my preferred method, and it adds a lot of time to the module. But the substance is great.