CNRC3206
CNRC 3206 - Sex, Murder, and Bodily Discharges: Purity and Pollution in the Ancient World (3 Cr.) Historical Perspectives
Classical and Near Eastern Religions and Cultures (10956)
TCLA - College of Liberal Arts
CNRC 3206 - Sex, Murder, and Bodily Discharges: Purity and Pollution in the Ancient World (3 Cr.) Historical Perspectives
Course description
"Dirt is dangerous," Mary Douglas declared more than 50 years ago in her groundbreaking study, "Purity and Danger." Douglas's ideas have been influential in ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern studies and provide a framework for us to analyze how people in antiquity conceptualized ideas of purity, pollution, ritual sacrifice, sacred spaces, bodily leakages, and the liminal stages of life and death. We'll delve into Douglas's theory in light of ancient examples with a special focus on ancient Israelite texts (the Tanakh or Old Testament) as well as ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern building inscriptions, specialist manuals, and rituals. Through this evidence, we'll gain profound insight into the ancient notions of "sacred/clean" (purity) and the "unclean/profane" (pollution).
Minimum credits
3
Maximum credits
3
Is this course repeatable?
No
Grading basis
OPT - Student Option
Discussion
Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for:
02920
This course fulfills the following Liberal Education requirement(s)
Historical Perspectives
Fulfills the writing intensive requirement?
No
Typically offered term(s)
Every Spring