NES 2599

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  • Schedule of Classes - September 10, 2024 10:17AM EDT
  • Course Catalog - September 10, 2024 9:19AM EDT
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NES 2599
Medicine, Magic and Science in the Ancient Near East

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

This course explores the history of medicine and other sciences in the ancient Near East, broadly defined. In addition to medicine, the other scientific disciplines covered in this course include mathematics, astrology, astronomy, alchemy, zoology, among others. Geographically, the course traces the transmission of scientific knowledge in ancient Babylonia, Iran, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and beyond. As such, the course offers students a tour of different ancient civilizations and corpora. Students read selections from cuneiform Akkadian tablets, Egyptian Christian Coptic spellbooks, rabbinic sources such as the Talmud, among many other works. At the same time, students will be required to critically engage recent scholarship in the history of science and medicine as a way to help frame their analyses of the ancient materials. The course interrogates how ancient civilizations transmitted and received scientific knowledge, as well as the relationship between what we today tend to call science, medicine, magic, and religion. This course is intended not only for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences, but also for those majoring in science or medicine.

When Offered Spring.

Breadth Requirement (GHB)
Distribution Category (HA-AS, HST-AS)
Course Attribute (CU-ITL)

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: BSOC 2599, JWST 2599, RELST 2599

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7065 NES 2599   LEC 001

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