2025-2026 Fall/Winter
CLA395H5S 20261 - Topics in Classics: The Archaeology of Death (Instructor: M. Haase)
Explore the rich and diverse funeral traditions of the ancient Mediterranean, from the mysterious tombs of Graeco-Roman Egypt to the elaborate funeral arrangements of Greece and Rome. In this course we examine funerary contexts and explore burial and commemoration rituals. We investigate the meaning of death, memory, and the afterlife in the Mediterranean world to gain insights into ancient societies, their beliefs and values—and how their practices still resonate today. This course offers a unique window into how people in the ancient Mediterranean world grappled with life’s greatest mystery—death—and how their funerary practices reveal profound truths about their connections to the divine, providing timeless lessons about the human condition.