Frances Williams has been a valued part-time tutor for Classical and Archaeological Studies at Kent University since 1991. She has delivered a variety of modules relating to ancient Egypt at the Canterbury and Tonbridge campuses on part and full time programmes. Her modules are very popular with students. Frances also leads tours of Egypt and the ancient world.

Frances writes: “Being taken to the British Museum by my father - to be kept out of mischief while visiting family friends in London - is my first memory of Egypt – fascinated and horrified in equal proportion (as children still are today) by poor old “Ginger”, a pre-dynastic Egyptian burial, and turning through sheet after sheet of papyri displayed at that time in suspended frames. My academic studies began at the University of Birmingham: B.A. Hons. in Ancient History and Archaeology and an M.A. in archaeological publication. I subsequently worked for a number of years with the Northampton Development Corporation archaeological unit – invaluable experience in practical archaeology, excavating and seeing through to publication a wide date range of sites and dealing with complex deep urban stratification. Research and lecturing in Egyptology, however, continued and I was very pleased to be given the opportunity (when arriving in Kent) by Dr. Anthony Ward to lecture initially on the Certificate in Combined Studies and later in the growing range of courses in the part-time studies Certificate and Diploma in Archaeology programmes. I have been running courses for the University now for over 16 years, enjoying creating new courses on an almost annual basis (cf. below Portfolio of lecture and course topics) for the part-time programmes and in the academic year 2007-8 teaching my “Egypt and East Mediterranean“ Diploma module on the full-time undergraduate programme for the first time. It has been an enormous pleasure also to take study tours to Egypt, again on an almost annual basis, across the last ten years.”

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Research

Understanding the development of the sacred landscape of Luxor, with particular reference to the functions and inter-relationships of sites (e.g. the Temple of Amun at Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings) during the reign of Tuthmosis III

New Kingdom funerary texts (e.g. Book of the Dead, Am Duat)

International relations between Egypt and other areas of the east Mediterranean world in the Late Bronze Age

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Projects

Producing an introductory book on hieroglyphs and Egyptian art/symbolism in a user-friendly style – suitable for anyone wanting to get more out of their museum visits or trip to Egypt

Developing independent Egyptology courses for the public at a range of locations – e.g. currently at the Falstaff Hotel in Canterbury and the Langley Hotel in Tonbridge.

Planning future study tours to Egypt

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Publications

Hinchcliffe, J. and Williams, J. H. Roman Warrington – Excavations at Wilderspool. Brigantia Monograph Series No. 2, Manchester, 1991. (General editorial work)

Williams, F. Excavations at Pleshey Castle. British Archaeological Reports 42, 1977

Williams, F. Excavations at Marefair, Northampton, 1977, Northamptonshire Archaeology 14 (1979), 38–79

Williams, F., Williams, J. H. and Eames, E. The Tiles and Bricks in Williams, J. H., St. Peter’s Street, Northampton, Excavations 1973–6, 322–26. Northampton Development Corporation Archaeological Monograph Series No. 1, 1979

Williams, J.H. Excavations on a Roman Site at Overstone, near Northampton. Northamptonshire Archaeology 11, (1976), 100–33. (General assistant in preparation of report; some publication drawings)

Williams, J.H. Excavations at Greyfriars, Northampton 1972. Northamptonshire Archaeology 13 (1978), 96–160. (General assistant in preparation of report).

Williams, J.H. and Williams, F. Description of Excavations: Houses 1 – 3, in St. Peter’s Street, Northampton, Excavations 1973–6, 12–46.(Northampton Development Corporation Archaeological Monograph no.1, 1979)

Williams, J. H. and Shaw, I. Excavations in Chalk Lane, Northampton, 1975–8. Northamptonshire Archaeology 16 (1981), 87–135. (Finds administration through to publication).

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Teaching

Portfolio of Lecture and Course Topics

Certificate Level

• Introduction to Egyptology
• Time Travellers: the History of Egyptology
• Egypt - Land of the Pyramids (Old Kingdom and northern Egyptian pyramid sites)
• Egyptology site study: the archaeology of Luxor (New Kingdom Luxor)
• Ancient Egypt in the Middle Kingdom Period
• Egypt and Africa: the archaeology of Nubia
• Ancient Egyptian Art and Symbolism
• Karnak: a site study of an ancient Egyptian Temple
• Life and Death in ancient Egypt - the Nobles' Tombs of Luxor.

Diploma / Degree level

• Egypt and the East Mediterranean: the relationship between Egypt and its East Mediterranean neighbours - focusing on the Late Bronze Age (CL596)
• Contribution to teaching of: 'Egypt and the Classical World’ and ‘Graeco-Roman Egypt' running on the full-time programme (CL585; CL586)
• Supervision of extended assignments in Egyptology on part and full-time programmes (CL504; CL592)

Some of the above plus a range of other topics have been presented independently in a variety of formats and course lengths

• The funerary text programmes in the Valley of the Kings
• Abydos
• El Amarna
• Learning to read hieroglyphs
• Before Giza
• State Formation in Early Egypt: the archaeology of the Pre-dynastic and Early Dynastic Periods
• Early Egypt: Dynasties 3 and 4

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