This course is not currently offered, please contact the school or faculty of your program.

Course description

This course is designed to explore the role which seafaring played in ancient Mediterranean religions and cultures. From before the Bronze Age into the later Roman empire, Mediterranean people took to the sea for fishing, transport and trade with their neighbours. Few aspects of the technology, economy, literature, religion or culture of the ancient Phoenicians, Greeks or Romans were thus separate from the sea. Historians have largely characterized the Mediterranean either as a divider or as a unifier; in this class we will focus on its specific connections to each major religious tradition and culture which shared its shores in Antiquity.