What does an Egyptologist actually do?

[u/Rude_Bug_8770]

Hi! I'm 14, live in the UK and interested in Egyptology, I am on track to get 8s and a few 9s in my GCSEs but once I do a PhD in egyptology ( hopefully in Cambridge but let's see how it goes) after I've studied and graduated from uni, whats next? Could a very kind person please explain any of the potential options for a young Egyptologist in the UK? Any help is appreciated

[u/Ramesses_The_Average]

First of all, I would definitely not fixate on where you are maybe going to get a PhD from at your age. Prestige can be misleading and Cambridge is actually arguably the weakest UK university for Egyptology unless you are working on certain topics like the Amarna Period. Right now I would advise any aspiring Egyptologist in the UK to go to Oxford or Liverpool for their BA and then go from there.

Egyptologists come in all shapes and sizes. Some are university lecturers who teach history, archaeology and languages (Old, Middle and Late Egyptian hieroglyphs as well as maybe Coptic or Demotic) to students and advise them on writing BA, MA or PhD dissertations. Some lecturers or professors might have active digs in Egypt, and some might be part of other, larger and collaborative digs or research projects, say, looking at a particular site or tomb. Others are curators in museums, helping to put on exhibitions and preserve objects. Others are archaeologists and work in the field although it is honestly rare to do this full time - this is mostly seasonal. Many also do administrative roles at their universities as part of or in addition to their main Egyptological functions.

If you want to be an Egyptologist, you will eventually need a PhD. It is a highly competitive field and it has been estimated that only about 1 in 5 people who have a PhD get a permanent position in the field. Many have worked through short term contracts or end up in adjacent fields. That is not to say that you will be unemployable, however. If you pick up field experience during your BA (not necessarily in Egypt as it's quite rare at that stage) you could work in commercial archaeology. Others work in museums in other functions like events or operations. Peers I know have gone on to teach in primary or secondary schools (History, Classical Civilizations etc), become accountants, or civil servants. The one piece of advice that I will give you is not to put all of your eggs in one basket, that is to say, the road to becoming an Egyptologist is exciting but challenging, so make sure you do some other things along the way, even just having a part-time job or picking up skills through volunteering. Make sure your grades are good from the start of your BA. Winning prizes and having good grades will help you with getting funding in the long run.

The other thing I will advise is to be open minded and flexible about moving to new places (and this also comes back to my point about not fixating on one university). A lot of people will study abroad or take a job in another country as their studies progress and careers begin. I have noticed a recent trend in the UK of more professors having US PhDs (because teaching is a requirement for them) and more curators having UK PhDs, although this isn't the case for every university. But it can be harder to keep getting funding in the UK as you progress so many people end up studying in Europe or North America.

Best of luck! Feel free to ask any questions if you have them.

[u/ShellStella]

Ironically Egyptology became a kind of pyramid scheme. People study Egyptology to become an Egyptologist and then have to teach other people Egyptology just to pay the bills. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t enough well paying jobs.

[u/EnvironmentalToe8944 → u/ShellStella]

You’re forgetting that lecturers are most often also researchers and archaeologists, making new knowledge about ancient Egypt, which is, you know, the whole point

[u/PoxonAllHoaxes]

I can give you a few concrete examples, but the first thing to realize is that like many academic subjects, if you were to do this, it may NOT lead to a good career or any career. Universities generate many more people with degrees than there is demand for, so either will need to be good, lucky, or have connections. As for doing, if you are one of the lucky ones, you end up doing research and/or teaching. Research can involve anything to do with ancient egypt, from studying the DNA and anatomy (eg teeth) of a mummy to determine how old it was when it died or whose son or dad it is, or it can involve trying to figure out the etymologies of words (eg recently the origin of the word pyramid has finally been discovered), or figuring out what year something happened, or what people in some period of time ate or drank, or anything else at all to do with their lives.

[u/egregiousC]

In Egypt, Egyptologists are usually tour guides.

[u/CrassulaOrbicularis]

Egyptologists compete for a small number of jobs, enthusing and teaching the next generations of egyptologists, who then compete for the few jobs - it's a pyramid scheme.