This course will introduce the student to a number of basic problems inherent in the advent and nature of complex society which resonate in all world cultures, and for which Egypt can be used as the most revealing case study. The themes to be addressed include: the appearance of monarchy and civil service, the invention of writing and the needs it fulfilled, the concept of the nation state, the technological advancement of ancient river valley civilizations, civic religion, systems collapse, the concept of empire, and the relationship of Egypt to the surrounding Mediterranean world.