PhD Egyptology

Our PhD Egyptology programme offers you the chance to make a genuine scholarly contribution to the field through your thesis. You may undertake your PhD either full-time or part-time.

Egyptology at Manchester has a long history dating back to the late 19th century, and we have a broad range of world-class resources which you can use as part of your research programme, including the following.

The Manchester Museum Ancient Egypt and Sudan Collection : Numbering more than 18,000 artefacts from Egypt and Sudan, ranging from the Neolithic to the Islamic Period, the museum offers students access to a large and well-provenanced collection of research materials.
The John Rylands Library : The Library holds an enviable collection of ancient texts, including hieratic, demotic and Coptic papyri, which can also be made available to researchers.
Egyptological research at Manchester is characterised by several themes:

the role of women in ancient Egypt;
new Kingdom and Late Period material culture;
ancient Egyptian ceramics and ceramic analysis;
Amarna Period royal ideology;
the reception of ancient Egypt from the Medieval Period to modern times.
Egyptology is part of the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology and, as such, our doctoral students will be able to participate in a vibrant academic environment and engage with specialists across a wide range of disciplines.

Papyrological research is also conducted within Ancient History, and projects focused on the papyrus resources located in the Manchester Museum and the John Rylands Library would be welcomed.

At the end of your time at Manchester, you will produce and submit an 80,000 word thesis and defend it in an oral examination (a viva).