Upcoming Classes and Webinars

I offer remote, live webinars and classes about ancient Egypt. Topics include religion and magic, history, animals, literature, art, and much more. Classes focused on how to read hieroglyphs and hieratic teach you step-by-step the language and writing systems of ancient Egypt. My classes are designed for audiences of all background levels, and I do not assume prior knowledge of the topics and carefully define all terminology during the lectures. My detailed and innovative synthesis of primary sources rewards even those with extensive background in ancient Egypt. For every lecture, I create a vibrantly illustrated presentation that ties together art, architecture, archaeology, woven through with translations of hieroglyphic and hieratic texts.

Upcoming Class

GHOSTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

The ancient Egyptians believed the boundary between the living and the dead could be crossed. Families wrote letters to deceased relatives, and storytellers imagined spirits who asked the living for help. In this new two-part class, we'll read the three-thousand-year-old tale "Khonsuemheb and the Ghost" and other primary texts in translation, then follow Egyptian spirits into the fiction of Gautier, Haggard, and Lovecraft.

Live on Zoom: October 27 and November 3, 2:00–3:30 PM or 8:00–9:30 PM US Eastern (same material, unique Q&A in each; attend either or both)
Registration: $55, including the Zoom links, a curated reading list, one month of recording access, and our student Discord community. Pay via PayPal button below, or on Venmo @vintage-egyptologist (please include the email for receiving resources).

Learn more
GHOSTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT GHOSTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT
GHOSTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT
$55.00

Ghosts of Ancient Egypt meets live on Zoom October 27 and November 3, from 2:00-3:30PM and 8:00-9:30PM US Eastern Time. The two time slots cover the same material, but each live Q&A session is unique, and you are welcome to attend either or both. Registration is $55 and includes the Zoom link, a curated reading list of freely accessible resources, and access to the recordings for one month. Use the PayPal link below, or pay via Venmo to @vintage-egyptologist (and please include the email for registration information).

Gift Certificates

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Gift Certificates ⋆

Exploring Ancient Egypt with Dr. Colleen Darnell - Gift Card Exploring Ancient Egypt with Dr. Colleen Darnell - Gift Card Exploring Ancient Egypt with Dr. Colleen Darnell - Gift Card Exploring Ancient Egypt with Dr. Colleen Darnell - Gift Card Exploring Ancient Egypt with Dr. Colleen Darnell - Gift Card Exploring Ancient Egypt with Dr. Colleen Darnell - Gift Card
Exploring Ancient Egypt with Dr. Colleen Darnell - Gift Card
from $20.00

Give the gift of learning! Redeemable for any live, Zoom Egyptology class at colleendarnell.com.

I began my Zoom Egyptology program in January 2021 with a single goal: to make learning about hieroglyphs and ancient Egypt more accessible. Since then, I have taught hundreds of people around the world the basics of the ancient Egyptian writing system--and dozens of those students have continued on to my advanced classes, where they read original texts directly from the walls of tombs, temples, and papyri! When you enroll in one of my live classes, you are not only getting a unique experience and opportunity to ask questions, but you are also joining a community of people around the world (20 countries and counting!) who share your interest in ancient Egypt. 

In my lecture courses, you can explore topics as diverse as daily life, fashion and beauty to creation theology, solar religion, and the Valley of the Kings, to historical fiction, love poetry, and ancient Egypt in film (just to name a few). My teaching and research philosophy rests on one, simple principle: begin with the primary sources. In every class, I show you hieroglyphic and hieratic texts that are the basis of what we know about each topic. I combine this with artistic, architectural, and archaeological evidence to create new and exciting perspectives about ancient Egypt. Every class registration also comes with a curated list of freely available reading resources as well as recommendations for your Egyptological bookshelf, so that you can access the best secondary sources as well (including authors who present opposing viewpoints). Every registration also comes with access to a private Discord server, where you can chat with other students, share news stories, and access reading lists from previous classes. 

I hope you can join me!

Past Hieroglyph Reading & Grammar Courses

Scene from the tomb of Queen Nefertari showing her playing a game of senent.

Tomb of Nefertari

Ancient carved stone relief featuring a profile of King Akhenaten.

Hymn to Aten

Ancient Egyptian stela with carved hieroglyphs and an image of the Steward Montuuser

Story of Sinuhe

Page from a manuscript with a Coptic text.

Introduction to Coptic

Black and white photograph of the facade of the temple of Nefertari at Abu Simbel.

Temple of Nefertari at Abu Simbel

Ancient Egyptian painting from the tomb of Khnumhotep showing the trapping of birds.

Tomb of Khnumhotep

Ancient Egyptian Papyrus, named for Edwin Smith that contains a medical triage manual.

Medical Texts

My hieroglyph program is structured around a grounding in grammar followed by courses where you read directly from temple or tomb walls; I also offer a wide-range of advanced courses that focus on different genres, including literary, religious, historical, and medical texts. Texts originally composed in hieratic are read in hieroglyphic transcriptions, with additional hieratic sections where students read the texts in the original script. The classes listed here are a small selection of previous courses, and additional classes grammar classes Non-verbal Sentences, Pseudo-verbal sentences, The Egyptian Verb. Tomb and temple classes have focused on the Tomb of Djehutyhotep II, Tomb of Paheri, Theban Tombs of the New Kingdom, Medinet Habu Temple (and more); advanced reading courses have included the Coffin Texts, Capture of Joppa, Papyrus Westcar, Rock Inscriptions of Elkab, the Story of Sinuhe, Medical Texts, the Annals of Thutmose III, Kadesh Battle Poem (and more!).

Ancient Egyptian papyrus with a hieratic text.

Introduction to Hieratic

Ancient Egyptian tomb of King Ramesses VI, showing part of the ceiling.

The Book of the Hidden Chamber

Ancient Egyptian stela showing King Antef II making an offering and a hieroglyphic text.

Pseudo-verbal Sentences

Khonsu kneeling with his hands raised in a gesture of adoration.

Tomb of Sennedjem

Drawing of the hieratic text on the Hu Bowl, containing a letter to the dead.

Letters to the Dead

Past Lecture Classes

Decorated wall from the sarcophagus chamber in the tomb of Ramesses VI.

Secrets of the Valley of the Kings

An ivory "magical wand" depicting protective goddesses.

How to Cast a Spell in Ancient Egypt

Painted relief from the tomb of Queen Nefertari, showing ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and the queen, in a traditional crown, making offerings.

Deciphering Cartouches

Ancient Egyptian carved stone relief from the reign of Akhenaten showing women playing instruments.

Party Like an Ancient Egyptian

Ancient Egyptian stone relief carving of King Thutmose III.

Historical Fiction in Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian wall painting depicting two coffins, priests, and a mourning woman.

Introduction to Ancient Egypt

Gold statuette of the god Amun.

Ancient Egypt in Creation Theology

A Roman period mummy board from the Fayum, showing a young woman wearing gold jewelry.

Fashion and Beauty in the
Age of Cleopatra

Ancient Egyptian wall painting from the tomb of Khnumhotep II.

Ancient Egypt in Film

Ancient Egyptian carved stone relief showing Queen Nefertiti.

A New Horizon: The Rise of Akhenaten and Nefertiti

Ancient Egyptian stone statue of King Hatshepsut wearing a long, divine beard.

The Life and Times of Hatshepsut

Colorful poster for the theatrical production of Cleopatra by William Fox, featuring Theda Bara in Egyptian costume.

Egyptomania

Other past lecture classes include: The Ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books; Queens of Ancient Egypt and Nubia; Fundamentals of Ancient Egyptian Art; Magic, Alchemy and Hermeticism; Fashion and Beauty in the Age of Cleopatra; the Dawn of Egypt; Age of the Pyramids; The Goddess Isis; Tattooed Priestesses in Ancient Egypt; Animals in Ancient Egypt; Ancient Egyptian Military History; Fakes, Frauds, and Fantasies of Ancient Egypt (and more!).

Kind Words

  • "Having taken every one of Dr. Colleen’s Zoom classes over the last four years, I find her to be delightful, informative, lovely and brilliant! You will never regret spending time with her and you will always learn something new no matter how well versed in Ancient Egypt you are!”

    Lauren P

  • "The classes bring Ancient Egypt alive! Colleen’s knowledge and expertise in the field is deep. She is engaging and makes everything very user friendly. I can’t recommend the classes enough!"

    Gabrielle F

  • "​​I absolutely recommend Dr. Darnell’s courses on Egyptology. She is so knowledgeable and her insight is brilliant. She goes above and beyond to also provide resources for further studies. She has such passion for the subject and it radiates when she is teaching!"

    Julia V

  • I appreciate both the breadth of the topics she chooses to present — everything from Hermeticism and the Book of Thoth to Pharaoh Hatshepsut and the Queens of Ancient Egypt and Nubia — but also the depth to which she researches each of those topics. I’ve learned about aspects of Ancient Egyptian culture that I might not otherwise have been able to access.

    Elizabeth W.

  • Anyone interested in Egyptology and hieroglyphs should definitely attend Colleen Darnell's courses! It's always an absolute pleasure to participate in her classes. It's great that you can clearly see she enjoys sharing her knowledge with others. AND, she was right! After just the first unit of "How to Read Hieroglyphs," I was able to read hieroglyphs in Egypt and in museums!

    Thorsten J.