Temple & Palace in World History: Approaches to Religion and Politics in the Middle East

3 units

This course aims to examine the ways in which temple and palace cooperated with and competed against each other in the Middle East from ancient to the present times. As sites of spiritual and political power, temples and palaces have played a major role in human history. They have been a source of cooperation and conflict by inspiring and regulating the spiritual and social lives of people, including how they enacted laws, developed cultures, established institutions, and interacted with each other as individuals, families, and societies. The course will trace how their interactions produced various models of authority, law and social association and how they collectively and separately rationalized social hierarchy and diversity in human societies. Introductory course to the major and minor.