The past century has witnessed a fascination with all things ancient Egyptian. From the earliest version of the film, "The Mummy" to the traveling art exhibit of the treasures of Tutankhamen's tomb (twice!) to the millennium party at the pyramids, the previous hundred years was marked by an obsession with ancient Egyptian religion and culture. This course will examine the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Egyptians and the portrayal of ancient Egypt in popular culture. Specific topics to be studied include: Egyptian royal and social history; Egyptian language and literature; mythology and cosmology; death and the afterlife; temple rituals and architecture; pyramids, tombs and other burial architecture; the intersection of religion with ethnicity, gender, social class, and political power; narratives of the Hebrew Exodus; colonialism and the modern "discovery" of ancient Egypt; and ancient Egypt in film and popular culture.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. identify and explain the significance of the most prominent elements, concepts, and figures in ancient Egyptian religion, history and culture

2. read and interpret basic ancient Egyptian primary sources in translation

3. articulate their analysis and interpretation of ancient sources about ancient Egyptian religion through in writing and orally

4. articulate, in both written and oral forms, their understanding of the intersection of religion with notions of difference (including ethnicity, gender, social class, and political power) in ancient Egypt as well as their own developing understanding of social difference and its impact on the disciplines of Egyptology and Religious Studies

5. demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of how ancient Egyptian social institutions and individuals responded to difference and diversity (with respect to religion, ethnicity, gender, national identity) as well as social inequality (with respect to social status, gender, national identity), and whether those issues are relevant for contemporary American society

6. analyze and explain some of the ways in which popular vehicles of modern culture use (or misuse) conceptions of ancient religion to work through contemporary social and cultural issues

Fulfills General Education Requirement I-C Global Studies AND the University Diversity Requirement