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Egyptology: Books

The Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library is the premier research library for Egyptology at the University of Oxford. It incorporates the libraries previously housed in the Griffith Institute and the Ashmolean Museum.
Subjects: Egyptology

Introduction

The majority of books held by the Bodleian Libraries, in both physical and electronic formats, can be searched via SOLO. On this page you will find recommended books, guidance on how to search for and access print and ebooks, and libraries in the University that might be relevant for your studies and research.

Physical books

Use the tabs above to explore the key texts and libraries for students of Egyptology. Access to collections and borrowing privileges are subject to conditions; please check individual library websites for further information.

Help with books

For those wishing to learn more about searching for physical collections in Oxford, we recommend the following:

Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library

The Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library is one of the Bodleian Libraries’ principal research libraries and home to the main research collections for Egyptology as well as Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Classics and Ancient History, Papyrology, Numismatics, Archaeology, Eastern Art and Western Art. This unique combination of subjects in one building respects their overlaps to the effect that all aspects and periods of Egyptology, including Coptology and Sudanology, are fully covered up to and excluding the coming of Islam.

The library offers borrowing services, IT and printing facilities and workspaces. It provides for taught courses and research. Less frequently used books are stored offsite and need to be requested to a reading room via SOLO.

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is the University's largest library, with holdings numbering several million items. Frequently used books on Egyptology, Late Antique Egypt, Papyrology and Epigraphy are kept in the Lower Reading Room. Less frequently used books are stored offsite and need to be requested to a reading room via SOLO, or you can request a scan to be sent to your email.

​​​​​​A number of other libraries may be of relevance to those studying Egyptology. 

The Peet Library, which comprises c. 3,400 books on Egyptology, is a specialist collection of Egyptology material which is maintained and updated by Queen's College library. It is open to all students of Egyptology in the University and anyone else who can prove that access to the collection will be beneficial to their studies. In order to gain access, you must contact the Professor of Egyptology, richard.parkinson@queens.ox.ac.uk.

            Holds books relevant to Bible Studies. 

            Holds titles on the Middle East from the Arab conquest onwards.

            Holds various titles relevant to middle eastern religions and languages.

            Holds various titles relevant to ancient near eastern religions.

Electronic books (ebooks)

Ebooks are digital versions of written works. Broadly speaking they come in two forms: they are either 'born digital' or are digital reproductions of printed books. See the tabs above for details of different ebook resources relevant to those studying Egyptology.

Features

Many ebooks have enhanced functionality, such as connectivity with reference management software, the ability to annotate and accessibility features.

Access

Members of Oxford University can use ebooks that the Bodleian Libraries have purchased for free. Search for them on SOLO. They can be read on a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, e-reader or mobile phone; you just need your Oxford Single Sign On to access them. Individually purchased ebooks are all searchable on SOLO, but not all purchased ebook collections are, so it is important to visit the websites of ebook collections too. Look at the 'ebook collections' tab above.

Note, some ebooks have restrictive access and usage terms, for example they can only be read by one person at a time.

Some books are acquired via 'electronic Legal Deposit'. These must be read on a library desktop computer in one of the Bodleian Libraries. Further information on how to identify and access electronic Legal Deposit items on SOLO is at the link below.

Help with ebooks

The links below are provided for those wishing to learn more about ebooks. 

The following is a list of ebook collections applicable to those studying Egyptology at Oxford. Not all ebook collections are available on SOLO, so it is important to visit ebook collection websites to expand your search. You can browse and search across all ebooks on the provider's website and encounter titles of interest you may not have otherwise found.

Access

The ebook collections have been selected by the Bodleian Libraries and you are able to access them for free because of institutional subscriptions to the content. You will need your Oxford Single Sign On to access the collections if you are not on the University network.

A number of eresources, including ebook collections, are freely available online and listed below.

Access

Some of these resources are listed on SOLO but not all, so it is important to visit the websites to expand your search. You do not need your Oxford Single Sign On to access them. These are different to the ebooks purchased by the Bodleian Libraries for which you need your Single Sign On for access.

  • AWDL

    Ancient World Digital Library is an initiative of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World and aims at providing access to a broad range of scholarly materials relevant to the study of the ancient world. Expanding the collection, AWDL is actively soliciting partnerships with publishers, scholarly societies, organizations and individuals who hold the rights to scholarly content.

  • AWOL

    Ancient World Online is in the first instance a database for open access material relating to the ancient world, inc Ancient Egypt, Nubia, the Sudan, Papyrology and Late Roman Egypt.

  • Internet Archive

    A non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.

  • CORE

    CORE’s mission is to aggregate all open access research outputs from repositories and journals worldwide and make them available to the public. In this way CORE facilitates free unrestricted access to research for all. A vast amount of material on Egyptology can be accessed through this portal.

  • Digital Book Index

    Provides links to more than 165,000 full-text digital books from more than 1800 commercial and non-commercial publishers, universities, and various private sites. More than 140,000 of these books, texts, and documents are available free.

  • Getty Research Portal

    The Getty Research Portal is an online platform providing global access to digitized art history texts, inc many older books on Ancient Egypt, the Sudan and the Ancient Near East. It provides access to digitized resources for the printed literature of art, including fundamental texts, rare books, exhibition catalogues, auction catalogues, and related literature.

  • Google Scholar

    Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.

  • MetPublications

    This is a portal to the Metropolitan Museum's comprehensive publishing programme with over 1,500 titles, including books, online publications, and Bulletins and Journals from the last five decades.

  • Open Book Publishers

    Open Book Publishers is one of the biggest independent open access academic publishers of monographs in the UK.

  • Oriental Institute Chicago publications

Many Egyptological publications by the OI are available as Open Access and can be downloaded from their website.

Propylaeum DOK is the full-text server of the Specialized Information Service Classics and is made available by the University Library of Heidelberg. It includes Egyptological and Ancient Near Eastern Studies electronic publications.

You will find study skills resources compiled by Bodleian Libraries staff available on Oxford Reading List Online (ORLO).

Access

You will need your Oxford Single Sign On credentials to access the list.

Recommend a book

If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the print or ebook you are looking for, you can make a recommendation by completing the form below (Oxford Single-Sign On required).

Inter-library requests

If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the book you are looking for, we may be able to source it through Oxford's inter-library request service.

Why are some books not available electronically?

There are a number of reasons why the Bodleian Libraries may be unable to provide electronic access to a resource. The ebooks guide explains some of these reasons: