NMC362H1: The World of the Last Pharaohs: History, Culture, and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt

24L/12T

Graeco-Roman Egypt is one of the best-documented ancient societies, affording us unparalleled opportunities to reconstruct the lives and thoughts of the people living along the two banks of the Nile at the time. The course provides a holistic view of Egypt from the conquest of Alexander in the 4th century BCE, until the 3rd century CE. In addition to a chronological overview of the region’s political history, topics include religion and religious change, multiculturalism, intellectual, social and economic history, and the impact of foreign domination on everyday life. The course also examines how Egypt’s incorporation into ancient Mediterranean empires affected these realms. Both written sources in Greek and Egyptian (in translation) and material culture – archaeology, art, and architecture – are studied to understand Egyptian society in the Graeco-Roman period. One of the goals of the course is to provide students with a foundational understanding of historiographical practices. This includes how combining critical thinking and different approaches to writing history with various sources can yield a more nuanced and balanced view of one of the most significant and richly recorded regions of the ancient world.

2.0 credits at the 200+ level in BR 1 or BR 2 or BR 3 or a combination of BR 1, BR 2, and BR 3.
Society and its Institutions (3)