History, Anthropology, Religions

“Egyptian Religion. Myths, rites and cults from the "birth of the State" to the Ptolemies” Egyptian Religion is extremely complex, above all if compared with other contemporary cultures. It did not have neither canonical books or a systematic mythological narrative. It is probably for these reasons that already in ancient times Egyptian religious traditions had a great reputation in whole the Mediterranean area. Plato, Herodotus, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus and Strabo widely testify the peculiarities of Egyptian cults. Herodotus, in particular, qualified the Egyptians as “the most religious among all the other people”. The course - with the help of literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources - will focus on the rites and the myths of Egyptian religion starting from the “birth of the State”, through to the Old, Middle and New Kingdom, and till the Hellenistic period.

No prerequisites are necessary.

Programme 1) E. Hornung, Gli dèi dell’Antico Egitto, Salerno 1992 2) N. Grimal, Storia dell'Egitto antico, Bari 1998 (or older editions) OR H.A. Schögl, L'antico Egitto, Bologna 2005. 3) Handhouts provided during the course

Non mandatory, but please see the "Valutazione" section for more information.

The exam, which lasts approximately 20 minutes, consists of an oral interview, the purpose of which is to assess the candidate's understanding of the main points of the course. It will always begin with a question on a topic chosen by the candidate. During the exam, those who declare themselves to be attending the course will be asked questions relating to what has actually been explained in class. It is therefore STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you attend regularly or, in cases of overlapping lessons, obtain recordings or organise yourself with notes taken by other students. Of course, it is also possible to prepare for the exam as a non-attending student, but please be aware of the possible difficulty in navigating a religious system so different from that of classical cultures. Students on international mobility programmes may use another language (English, French, German, Spanish).

- F. Dunand - Ch. Zivie-Coche, "Dei e uomini nell'Egitto antico (3000 a.C.-395 d.C.)", Parigi 2002. - H. Schlögl, "Antico Egitto", Milano 2005.

Frontal lessons + audio-video resources