Egyptomania

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

D.C. lives under the shadow of an “Egyptian” obelisk made in America. Why? What did ancient Egypt signify to nineteenth-century Americans? What social, historical, and political factors shaped their cultural taste? To understand D.C.’s Egyptomania, we will first examine the long history of Greeks and Romans exploring, representing, conquering, and appropriating Egypt, from Archaic Greece to Ptolemaic Egypt to the Roman empire. The literary and material culture we investigate will then inform our study of local sites including the Washington Monument, Library of Congress, House of the Temple, and Freer-Sackler Gallery. Class visits will take place, health guidance permitting.