Specificities of Teaching Ancient Egyptian Language in Russia and New Steps Towards Solving Current Pedagogical Problems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1997/3cvz2v40Keywords:
Egyptology, Ancient Egyptian language, Textbook preparation, Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), Integration of international teaching experience in RussiaAbstract
Historically Russia has enjoyed a rich Egyptological tradition, but currently suffers from a shortage of qualified scholars in this field. This is connected to a lack of modern resources for teaching Ancient Egyptian language geared towards Russian students, which means that even though Russia has impressive museum collections in the subject, the country finds it challenging to maximise their full potential. This article describes this problem, highlights why it is significant from both a cultural and a pedagogical perspective, and discusses steps towards improving the situation by creating a new Ancient Egyptian grammar in Russian.
Downloads
References
Loktionov, A. A. “Of Pilgrims and Poets, Prisoners and Politics: The Story of Egyptology in Russia”. In C. Langer (ed.), Global Egyptology: Negotiation in the Production of Knowledges on Ancient Egypt in Global Contexts. London: Golden House Press, 2017: 129–145.
Vigasin, A. A., A. N. Khokhlov, P. M. Shastitko (eds). History of Russian Oriental Studies from the mid-19th century to 1917 (История отечественного востоковедения с середины XIX века до 1917 года). Moscow: Publishing Company "Oriental Literature" RAS (Издательская фирма «Восточная литература» РАН), 1997: 434–459.
Lepsius, C. R. & H. Brugsch (eds). Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Alterthumskunde: Zwölfter Jahrgang. Berlin: J. C. Hinrichs, 1874. Online: https://ia801305.us.archive.org/7/items/za-s-volume-12-1874/Z%C3%84S-Volume%2012-1874.pdf
Museums of St. Petersburg website - https://www.spbmuzei.ru/egipetskij-zal-i-mumii-v-ermitazhe?ysclid=m30bmngkwk687654870
Piotrovsky, B. B. (ed.) Egyptian Antiquities in the Hermitage. Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1974.
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts website - https://pushkinmuseum.art/museum/buildings/main/floor1/1_egypt/index.php?lang=en
Lotman, Y. M. Semiosphere: Culture and Explosion, inside Conscious Worlds, Articles, Studies, and Notes (Семиосфера: Культура и взрыв, Внутри мыслящих миров, Статьи, Исследования, Заметки). Saint Petersburg: Art – SPb (Искусство – СПб), 2000.
Online list of Egyptology courses in Britain - https://www.hotcoursesabroad.com/study/training-degrees/uk/egyptology-courses/loc/210/cgory/dc.733-4/sin/ct/programs.html
Petrovsky, N. S. The Egyptian Language. Introduction to hieroglyphs, lexicon and sketch of grammar of the Middle Egyptian language (Египетский язык: Введение в иероглифику, лексику и очерк грамматики среднеегипетского языка). Leningrad: Leningrad University Press (Издательство Ленинградского университета), 1958.
Korostovtsev, M. A. Introduction to Egyptian Philology (Введение в египетскую филологию). Moscow: Publishing House of Oriental Literature (Издательство восточной литературы), 1963.
Allen, J. P. Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. 2nd ed., revised. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Bussmann, R. Complete Middle Egyptian: A New Method for Understanding Hieroglyphs. London: Hachette, 2017.
Ockinga. B. G. Concise Grammar of Middle Egyptian: An Outline of Middle Egyptian Grammar. Mainz: von Zabern, 1998.
Egyptologist's Electronic Forum: List of Egyptian grammars - https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/grammars/
Hoch, J. E. Middle Egyptian Grammar (SSEA Publication XV). Toronto: Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, 1997.
Gardiner, A. H. Egyptian Grammar, 3rd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957.
HSE University Project Webpage: Development of materials for a new Ancient Egyptian language textbook (Разработка материалов для нового учебника древнеегипетского языка) - https://smartpro.hse.ru/epp-view/2586
Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
Podolskiy, A. I. "Zone of Proximal Development". In N. Seel (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6. Berlin: Springer, 2012: 3485-3487.
Cambridge Latin Course Website - https://www.clc.cambridgescp.com/
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Prof. Alexandre Alexandrovich Loktionov, Albina Sergeevna Tsipileva (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


