Storytelling in the Ancient Middle East: Introduction to Egyptian and Mesopotamian Literature

Catalog description

Literary forms were developed millennia ago in Egypt and Mesopotamia to teach, inspire admiration, produce consent, generate awe or pity, and move people to action. Students will read in English translation how such writing communicated with the living, the dead and the divine. Course readings include epics (such as those of Gilgamesh and Sinuhe), wisdom/proverbial literature, Hammurabi’s law code, propaganda, magic spells, correspondence, philosophical musings, and love poetry. Reading and discussing these works will enrich students in terms of cultural and historical awareness, but also reveal common rhetorical devices that have remained useful, entertaining and inspiring to this day. The instructor assumes no familiarity with the history or languages of the ancient world. The only prerequisites are openness and curiosity.