Gods and Demons in the Ancient Near East and Egypt

3 Units

The roots of many modern religious, literary, social, and political notions reach deep into the fertile soil of Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian cultures, which developed as early as the fourth millennium BCE and flourished until the Hellenistic period. In this course we will examine various components of the religious, divinatory and magical systems of these cultures, and reflect upon their relationship with the stories that are found in the Hebrew Bible. We will learn (through a critical analysis of a selection of ancient texts) about ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian deities, demons, myths, and magical rituals. We will also explore notions of creation, cosmic order, the human condition, death, afterlife, divine favor, and a wide variety of beliefs that, while often contradictory to modern ways of thinking, combined into unified religious systems. Offered as ANEE 320 , RLGN 320 and RLGN 420 .