Religions of the Ancient World NEAR E 302/502
Prof. S. Noegel
https://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/index.html
Course Description:
A comparative exploration into ancient religious customs, rituals, and beliefs (ca. 3000-500 BCE). Foci will be on the peoples of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, and Israel. Topics covered include conceptions of worship and divinity, sacred space and time, and the types and roles of priesthoods, divination, prayers, and afterlife beliefs.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to 1) Be familiar with the many diverse ways in which people of the ancient world conceived of, and worshiped the divine; 2) understand the different roles that religion played at the State level versus the domestic sphere; 3) understand the roles or non-roles that religions played in ancient warfare; 4) articulate the differences between various polytheistic religious systems; 5) know the relevant texts and artifacts that informs us about ancient religions; and 6) understand the many historical, economic, and social factors that transform religious beliefs and practices.
Readings:
All readings are available either online through the UW library system or via pdf in the Canvas site (under Files > Readings). Many (but not all of the) readings belong to one of the following sources:
Frayne, Douglas, and Johanna H. Stuckey, A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam (University Park, PN: Eisenbrauns, 2021). E-Book through UW Library. Consult as you like.
Amanda H. Podany, The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). E-Book through UW Library.
Jack M. Sasson, ed., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Vols. 1-4 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1995), hereafter = CANE.
Ian Shaw, Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021). E-Book through UW Library.
Grades:
Undergraduates: quiz (10%), discussion (10%), midterm exam (35%), final exam (45%)
Graduate students: quiz (10%), midterm exam (30%), final exam (20%), research paper (40%)
Note: there are no make-up quizzes or exams.
Research Paper (Graduate Students Only):
Each graduate student will be expected to complete a research essay (approx. 20 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. font, not including bibliography). At the head of your article you must include an Abstract of no longer than 150 words (also not counted among the pages), and a separate line the offers 7 key words that one might conceivably use to search for your article electronically. The bibliography should be substantial and directly relevant to your paper, and wherever possible, it should incorporate foreign language resources that reflect your chosen research language(s).
The themes of the seminar should provide broad focal points for your research. We shall agree on the topic by no later than the start of the third week of classes. The topics should be typed and should clearly state the problem you are investigating (and not just a title or vague description of your research). A first draft of this essay will be due on the last day of the course. You should think of this draft as a completed essay, and one that contains no gaps, or lack of citation, etc. I will provide you with some additional time to rework the draft after I have read it. Together we will schedule a date for submitting the final version (only as a pdf via email). No late papers will be accepted. For a detailed explanation of what I expect in a research paper see my “Writing Tips” online at:
https://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/writing-tips-ANE.pdf
I will expect that you have read this Writing Tips document closely and have applied its tips systematically to your research papers before handing them in. Be sure also to make use of the resource bibliography at:
https://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/hebrew.html
Note: Each module below does not correlate to a particular period of time, as some will take a day or two to cover, while others will extend over several class times. I intend to cover each module by looking to comparative case studies based on evidence from the various peoples and regions that comprise the course. This will enable me to draw broad comparisons, while also underscore the meaningful differences that distinguish one religion from another. Some modules after the first one will be followed by a discussion that also will incorporate materials from your assigned readings. I will let you know ahead of time when those will occur. Module Two will be followed with a quiz taken on the next day of class.
I will make the slides available to the entire class the day of the class. You can download the slides in pdf form under Files > Lecture Slides.
Module One: Introduction and Context. This module entails an introduction to the syllabus and course, its approach and pedagogy, and a survey of bigger picture topics: timelines, regions, peoples, and languages. These include Mesopotamia (Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria), Egypt (Memphis, Thebes), Syria (Alalakh, Ebla, Emar, Phoenicia, Qatna, Ugarit, Zinçirli), and Israel (Jerusalem, Samaria, Dan). To establish the broader context, we also will highlight the peripheral regions, including Anatolia, Iran, Mycenaea, Cyprus, and Crete, though these will not be the main focus of the course. The introduction also includes a definition of important terms, like cult, mythology, and religion, and a brief discussion of what is meant by the academic study of religions. This also will entail a discussion of bias and polemic in the history of the discipline.
Readings for Modules 1-2:
Amanda H. Podany, The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), Chapters 3-5, 7-9. Available online through the UW library.
Ian Shaw, Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), Chapters 3 and 8. Available online through the UW library.
Michael B. Hundley, “Divine Presence in Ancient Near Eastern Temples,” Religion Compass 9 (2015), pp. 203-215. Download from Cavnas site.
Module Two: Divine Beings. Here we will look at ancient Near Eastern terms for “deity,” and the various ways these cultures depicted them in artistic remains (anthropmorphic, zoomporphic, etc.). We also will examine the process of Imitatio Dei (“imitation of the divine”), as well as the roles that cosmology, gender, and family/tribal structures play in representing the divine. From here we will move to the traditional and textual associations that deities hold in antiquity (e.g., atmospheric, botanical, celestial, etc.). This naturally will lead us to look at the onomastic evidence for religion and to consider ancient Near Eastern conceptions of the divine (polytheisms, monolatries, monotheisms). Also discussed will be the difficulty in defining pantheons, and problem of syncretism, and the ancient preoccupation with order over chaos.
This module will conclude with a close look at the most significant deities (and demons) in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, and an inquiry into what we can known about domestic religions in these regions. An important part of our discussion will involve the recognition that the ancients never express a belief in something, as practitioners of some religions might do today, and that the divine world was populated by demiuges, demons, and other entities that today would be categorized as belonging to the “paranormal.”
Before we begin Module Three we will have a quiz in class that will focus on deity identies and their attributes as learned in class. This will enable you to follow future assigned readings with greater facility.
Module Three: Sacred Space. In this portion of the class we will look at the various terms for “sacred” in the cultures of our focus, and look at them through the lens of more contemporary theories of ritual. Our exploration of sacred space will begin with those found in nature (mountains, rivers, trees, grottos, deserts, etc.). From here we will move to constructed sacred spaces (i.e., temples), by looking at the cosmological beliefs concerning the materials used to build them. We will examine temple foundation rituals in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, and consider the common Near Eastern strategies for temple construction, as well as the way the ancient enhanced the sacredness of temples. Also considered will be the orientation, alignment, and measurement of these structures, as well as the shared structural needs. Afterwards, we will widen the lens and survey the various needs that any temple building project must meet. This will lead us to see ancient temples as economic systems.
The second half of this module focuses on the various types of temples in the ancient Near East, their designs, and their functions. Special attention will be given to the performative aspects of temple architecture. We will start with the mortuary and cult temples of Egypt, and their historical developments. Afterwards we will move to Mesopotamia, where there were only cult temples. Here again we will look at the various types, designs, and functions, and their development from Sumer to Babylonia to Assyria, and pay attention to each of the culture’s distinctive aspects. This will require a brief look at the mortuary cult in Mesopotamia. Our examination of the Levant will be naturally more diverse and include a look at the region’s seven major temple types, city gates as sacred spaces, and Levantine mortuary cults. We will conclude this portion of the module by turning to the Israelite tabernacle and later temple, its performative aspects, and ties to the mythological tradition of the Garden of Eden, and Israelite historical narratives involving the ecodus from Egypt.
Readings for Module 3 (all on canvas site):
Michael Roaf, “Palaces and Temples in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in CANE, pp. 423-441.
John Baines, “Palaces and Temples in Ancient Egypt,” in CANE, pp. 303-317.
William G. Dever, “Palaces and Temples in Canaan and Ancient Israel,” in CANE, pp. 605-614.
Ewa Wasilewska, “Sacred Space in the Ancient Near East,” Religion Compass 8 (2014), pp. 395-416.
Module Four: Sacred Time. Our comparative study will consider the manifold ways that the peoples of antiquity sacralized time. We will adopt and apply the language of theorists of religion in order to understand ancient conceptions of primordial time as recreated in cult centers. Necessarily this will require is to look at ancient hemerologies, the practice of divination by way of extispicy/hepatscopy, conceptions of “mythic” time, and foundation deposits as “time capsules.” We also will examine cycles of time (celestial, agricultural, calendric, etc.). This module also will detail the most important festivals in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, and examine their daily rituals. The latter will occupy the lion’s share of the module. Afterwards, we will ask what happens to sacred time when sacred space is destroyed, in particular, by ay of godnapping, iconoclasm, and the destruction of temples. We will conclude by considering when and how the gods began to enter human history, as recorded by ancient authors.
Readings for Module 4 (on canvas site):
Christiane Barth, “‘In illo tempore, at the Center of the World’: Mircea Eliade and Religious Studies’ Concepts of Sacred Time and Space,” Historical Social Research 38 (2013), pp. 59-75.
Midterm Exam (possibly after Module Four, TBA)
Module Five: Sacred People. Ritual professionals will occupy us during this portion of the class. We will begin by discussing why the term “priest” is too problematic to be useful when looking at the diverse ritual professionals in the Near East. Next we will move to Sumer and its many ritual experts, their ranks and functions, and their relationship to the rise of the first kings. Babylon will be our next focus, its cultic professionals, complete absence of royal involvement, the prebend system, and the many ritual experts who worked independently of the cult (exorcists, diviners, incantation experts, prophets, etc.). Then we move to Assyria, where the king was the primary ritual professional and only agent of the state god. Here too we will look at the independent experts who worked for king and community.
Our focus on Egypt will move in a similar direction and include a survey of the many cultic experts and their functions, as well as the evidence for ritual professionals working independently of the temple.
The Levantine portion of this model will look first at the Canaanite site of Ugarit, the only place in the Near East where ritual texts were stored in the private archives of ritual experts—this despite the fact, that the king is the only actor in all rituals. We will survey the various temple functionaries, lack of women in the cult, and evidence for ritual experts outside the cult. We then will move to Israel and study the history of divine access according to narrative traditions, the institution of a priestly tribe, the problem of temple rituals during the kingship of David, and the various ritual experts independent of the temple. We will conclude this module by asking whether there is convincing evidence for the institution of prophecy in Egypt and Ugarit.
Readings for Modules 5-6 (all on canvas site):
F. A. M. Wiggermann, “Theologies, Priests, and Worship in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in CANE, pp. 1857-1870.
Herman te Velde, “Theology, Priests, and Worship in Ancient Egypt,” in CANE, pp. 1731-1749.
Karl van der Toorn, “Theologies, Priests, and Worship in Canaan and Ancient Israel,” in CANE, pp. 2043-2058.
Module Six: Sacred Rituals. In this portion of the class, our largest in the course, we will examine numerous ritual practices from the perspective of agency, gesture, and performance. Starting in Mesopotamia, our first ritual of focus will be the “Washing of the Mouth” rite performed over a newly created cult image to enliven it (lit. “give birth” to it). We then will move to the daily feeding and maintenance rituals of divine images. In Egypt, the intricate aspects of the “Opening of the Mouth and Eyes” ritual will occupy us. This is the sacred rite that enlivened a newly made cultic image. Afterward, we will look at Egyptian’s daily feeding and maintenance rituals. The Levantine portion of this module will examine the diverse kinds of temple offerings (food, drink, textiles, precious objects, weapons, etc.) and the function of offerings. This will lead us to a discussion of why the term “sacrifice” is too problematic to be useful for the study of ancient Near Eastern religions. We will conclude this portion of the module with three different temple rituals. The first, will require us to enter the debate concerning whether or not a “sacred marriage” ritual existed in Mesopotamia. The second temple ritual will be the Egyptian Tekh-festival of drunkenness and public nudity. The third, will be the ritual for “Overthrowing Apep,” the serpent of chaos.
The second major portion of this module moves to royal rituals. These will include the Assyrian substitute king ritual, the Egyptian heb-sed “jubilee” ritual, and the kispu mortuary ritual at Qatna, Syria. Segueing from here, we turn to funerary rituals in Mesopotamia and Egypt (both early dynastic royal burials), the Egyptian “Opening of the Mouth and Eyes” ritual as applied to the deceased, and Levantine mourning rituals (Ugarit, Israel). A look at rituals performed independently of the temple and royals house takes us to the hermeneutics of divination and the apotropaic rituals of the incantation expert in Mesopotamia, the limited evidence for such practices in Egypt.
The third section of this module starts by examining ritual objects. For Mesopotamia, these include the tools for the “Washing of the Mouth” rite, especially as extended to other objects, the creation of a ceremonial kettledrum, Sumerian ritual aces, and the god’s bed in Babylon. For Egypt, the ritual objects include the ankh, djed-pillar, waas scepter, and uraeus. For the Levant, our examination will include incense burners and miniature shrines. This portion of the module then moves to a variety of culturally specific ritual gestures connected to Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Levantine sacred objects.
This module also will devote some time to a discussion of the relationship between ritual and mythological/religious texts.
We will conclude this module by studying rituals of violence, including Near Eastern warfare, the Assyrian lion hunt, Egyptian execration, and the practice of Damnatio Memoriae. For the Levant, our focus will be on the Israelite ḥerem “holy war,” and its ritual application in the narrative of the battle of Jericho. Also covered are the ritual destruction of texts as demonstrated by ancient monuments, Israelite destruction of Aramaic, Egyptian, and Assyrian steles, and biblical narratives that involve the ritual destruction of texts.
Module Seven: Sacred Words and Beliefs. Up to this point we will examined the textual remains of these ancient cultures to document, explain, and understand the various aspects of religion examined. In this section, we will turn to the hymns and prayers that these cultures produced. The course will conclude with a close look at the systems of belief that underly the worship of divinities in the ancient Near East, in particular as they apply to beliefs concerning the relationship between humans and gods, conceptions of the human being, and what happens to people when they die. The people of the ancient world produced many varied depictions of the afterlife; even within the same culture one can find differing portraits, thus demonstrating on-going speculation on the subject. This section also will include principles and tenets concerning morals and correct/incorrect behavior, and the social context that informs them.
Readings for Module 7 (all on canvas site):
Jo Ann Scurlock, “Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Mesopotamian Thought,” in CANE, pp. 1883-1893.
Leonard H. Lesko, “Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egyptian Thought,” in CANE, pp. 1763-1774.
Paolo Xella, “Death and the Afterlife in Canaanite and Hebrew Thought,” in CANE, pp. 2059-2070.
William W. Hallo, “Lamentations and Prayers in Sumer and Akkad,” in CANE, pp. 1871-1881.
Giorgio Buccellati, “Ethics and Piety in the Ancient Near East,” in CANE, pp. 1685-1696.
Maria Michela Luiselli, “Personal Piety in Ancient Egypt,” Religion Compass 8 (2014), pp. 105-116.
Discussion and review for exam: TBA
Final exam (last day of class, December 8, 2022)
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Other Administrative Matters
Note: Terms of Preference
In this course, intellectual curiosity and discussion are expected. This is a safe class where inclusion is the norm. I recognize that the question of gender inclusion in language instruction is vital to the creation of classrooms that are free from prejudice and exclusion. If you prefer a particular pronoun or set of pronouns, please feel free to let me know via email.
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Note: UW Grading Policy
https://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html
Note: Student Academic Responsibility (cheating, plagiarsism, etc.)
https://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf
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“Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).”
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To all students in this course: if you have any concerns about the class, try to resolve them first with your professor. If the matter is not resolved that way, you can turn to the Chair of the NELC Department (Prof. Naomi Sokoloff, naosok@uw.edu). If the matter is not resolved that way, there are other resources available to students to resolve complaints or grievances, including Humanities Academic Services https://hasc.washington.edu/, the Bias Reporting Tool, https://www.washington.edu/bias/, the Office of the Ombud, https://www.washington.edu/ombud/, the University Complaint and Resolution Office, https://www.washington.edu/compliance/uciro/, and Disability Resources, https://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/complaint-mediation/
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