Schedule of Readings and Assignments
Readings listed with the book icon () are from the assigned textbook, Johnston, Ancient Religions.
Everything listed under each meeting, including the textbook readings and the ancient excerpts, is fair game for the weekly online quizzes.
August 2022 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Week 1: Introduction and Evidence
In-person meeting: Tuesday, August 30
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Introduction” (pp. vii–xii)
- “Maps” (pp. xvi–xvii)
- After the class meeting:
- Say hello online (and make sure you can post okay)
- Sign up for your excerpt write-up for the semester
Week 2: Sumerians
In-person meeting: Tuesday, September 6
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “What Is Ancient Mediterranean Religion?” (pp. 3–16)
- “Sumer” (pp. 165–78)
- “Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- (No quiz this week.)
Week 3: Assyrians and Babylonians
In-person meeting: Tuesday, September 13
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “What Is Polytheism?” (pp. 17–24)
- “Babylon and Assyria” (pp. 168–72)
- “Poem of the Righteous Sufferer”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 4: Hittites and proto-Indo-Europeans
In-person meeting: Tuesday, September 20
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Religions in Contact” (pp. 112–26)
- “Anatolia: Hittites” (pp. 189–96)
- “Divination Among the Hittites”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
No Meeting
Tuesday, September 27
No Meeting
Tuesday, October 4
Week 5: Zoroastrians
In-person meeting: Tuesday, October 11
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Magic” (pp. 139–52)
- “Iran” (pp. 197–205)
- “The First Civilized Man”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 6: Syrians and Canaanites
In-person meeting: Tuesday, October 18
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Pollution, Sin, Atonement, Salvation” (pp. 71–83)
- “Syria and Canaan” (pp. 173–80)
- “The Syrian Goddess”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- (No quiz this week.)
Week 7: Israelites and Judeans
In-person meeting: Tuesday, October 25
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “What Is Monotheism?” (pp. 24–31)
- “Israel” (pp. 181–88)
- “Abraham and Isaac”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 8: Egyptians
In-person meeting: Tuesday, November 1
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Cosmology: Time and History” (pp. 59–70)
- “Egypt” (pp. 155–64)
- “The Papyrus of Ani”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 9: Minoans
In-person meeting: Tuesday, November 8
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Ritual” (pp. 32–44)
- “Minoans” (pp. 206–08)
- “Minoan Religious Imagery”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 10: Mycenaeans
In-person meeting: Tuesday, November 15
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Myth” (pp. 45–58)
- “Mycenaeans” (pp. 208–09)
- After the class meeting:
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 11: Hellenes
In-person meeting: Tuesday, November 22
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Mysteries” (pp. 98–111)
- “Greece” (pp. 210–19)
- “The Death of Patroclos”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 12: Etruscans
In-person meeting: Tuesday, November 29
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Writing and Religion” (pp. 127–138)
- “Etruria” (pp. 220–24)
- “The Etruscan Discipline”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- Take the online quiz on this week’s topic by Sunday
Week 13: Romans
In-person meeting: Tuesday, December 6
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Law and Ethics” (pp. 84–97)
- “Rome” (pp. 225–232)
- “Driving the Nail”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- (No quiz this week.)
Week 14: Early Christians
In-person meeting: Tuesday, November 13
- Before the class meeting, read:
- “Epilogue” (pp. 241–52)
- “Early Christianity” (pp. 233–39)
- “The Pre-Markian Passion Narrative”
- After the class meeting:
- Respond to this week’s ancient excerpt by Thursday
- Respond to the discussion of this week’s ancient excerpt by Sunday
- (No quiz this week.)
Final Exam
In-person: Thursday, December 15, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.