Death and Afterlife in the Ancient World

Catalog description

The world of antiquity seen through a cultural history of ideas and practices relating to death and the afterlife in the ancient world. Mortuary practices and beliefs promulgated by populations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient Israel, Greece, Rome, Syria, North Africa and Asia Minor from the second millennium B.C.E. through the sixth century C.E. Covers: (1) the ancient context out of which notions about the afterlife emerged (2) cross-cultural developments, which resulted in ideas about death and the afterlife more familiar from Judaism and Christianity. Direct engagement with primary source materials through visits to local cemeteries, museums, and through individual research. This course is the same as Religion 3035 and Classics 3244.