CLASS 2685 - [Egyptomania: Imagining Egypt in the Greco-Roman World]

(crosslisted)
(also ANTHR 2285, ARKEO 2285, NES 2985)(GHB) (CA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits.

Next offered 2014-2015.

C. Barrett.

Throughout Greek and Roman history, the idea of Egypt inspired powerful imaginative responses ranging from fascination to fear. From the earliest Egyptian-Aegean trade to the ultimate association of Isis and Sarapis with Roman imperial cult, this course tracks the evolution of Egyptian interactions with the Greco-Roman world and the corresponding changes in Greek and Roman attitudes towards Egypt. Ultimately, these shifting representations of Egypt point to changes not only in the ways Greeks and Romans viewed the land of the Nile, but also in the ways they conceived of their own societies and cultural identities. Finally, we will also address images of Egypt in modern popular culture; how have Greco-Roman portrayals of Egypt helped shape today’s view of the Pharaonic world?