How do you become an archeologist?

Question

im 12 years old and my dream is to be an archeologist in egypt..everyone i know tells me its too difficult.

Answer 1

The previous responder was essentially correct - there are very few Egyptology programs in the US and they are very competitive.  You will need to learn BOTH French and German for graduate school, not just one or the other.  As an undergraduate, it isn't that important where you go, but it is important that you do extremely well in your courses and get to know your professors so that they can write good recommendations for you to get into graduate school.

You will wind up spending about 4 years getting an undergraduate degree in Anthropology (specializing in Archaeology), History, Classics, or something similar.  Then you will need to go on to graduate school.  To work as an Egyptologist (and jobs are very few and far between) you will need a Ph.D., which will involve around 4 more years of coursework plus several years of work on a dissertation.  Most people take around 8-10 years to complete graduate studies.

To add to the list of schools in the US:

Brown University has an Egyptology department, though they are a bit weak on Egyptian archaeology.  That appears to be changing as the department has been reorganized in the past few years to compete with the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.

Johns Hopkins has an Egyptology program with an on-going dig in Thebes

The University of Memphis has a program that goes only as far as a Masters Degree.

UC Berkeley has an Egyptology program

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor has a very limited Egyptology program

NYU has an Egyptology program through the Institute of Fine Arts.

Though not in the US, the University of Toronto has a very good program.

Answer 2

The answers you've already received are great.

I received a similar response when I decided to study Caribbean archaeology (fortunately I decided that long before the Pirates movies came out!  Imagine the response I would get now!)  Now I am working on my Masters, my family is very proud of me, and my field is way cooler than any of my friends'!  :-)  

Just keep working hard.  If you continue to work hard and do well in school, independently study the areas you are interested in, and try to learn about participating in university or museum programs in your area that can help introduce you to the field, then maybe you will show all those nay-sayers that you are serious about pursuing Egyptology and they will begin to support you.  But don't let them discourage you, if this is really something you want to do!

Good luck!

Answer 3

Becoming an Egyptologist is a very long and involved process.  In the United States, only three or four universities offer post graduate degrees in Egyptology, or Egyptian archaeology.

Good undergraduate majors include anthropology, archaeology, history, or the classics.  You will need to learn either French or German, as these languages are essential to completing your Master's degree and phD, as much of the source literature is in these languages.  You will also need to learn and become fluent in reading and writing, Egyptian hieroglyphic and Egyptian hieratic writings.

Count on studying for 11 years to get the full Egyptology degree (4 years undergraduate study and 5-9 years for master's and phD doctorae degree).

I am an archaeologist, and got interested also at age 11 in Egyptology.  It is very involved and difficult to specialize in this field, and there is a lot of competition.  It is good to be prepared to go all the way for the highest degree, only to find there are no jobs available in Egyptology.

American Universities that offer Egyptology:

University of Chicago

University of California at Berkeley

University of Pennsylvania

UCLA

Answer 4

The answers that you have received a very good.  I can't expand on them, except to say don't listen to what other people say.  If this is your dream, go after it.  You may find during your studies that another area of archeology becomes just as fascinating as Egyptology to you.