Dr. Miriam Müller, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World ARCH 1605 Holy Spirits: Ancestor Worship in the Ancient Near East and Beyond

Dias de los Muertos/Days of the Dead at the British Museum, London 10/30-11/2/2015

TV programs “Meet the Ancestors” and “Finding your roots”

Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act Signed in 1990

Ancestor veneration in the ancient world

Ancestor veneration in America, Africa and Asia

Archaeology of Death and Burial History of the Study of Religion

Totemism, animism, and apotheosis

The big questions  Do patterns in death directly reflect patterns in the life of a society?  Does ancestor veneration always revolve around deceased kinsmen and does a member of a certain lineage thus only pray to the ancestors of that lineage?  Does a universality of reactions to death and the rites of passage surrounding death exist?  Do we need to divorce ancestral beliefs from other concepts such as sacrificial practices, totemism and animism?  What led to changes in funerary and mortuary customs and eventually ancestor veneration?  Does the recent focus on the archaeology of death and burial reflect a changed understanding and approach to death in present day?  Is there really no form of ancestor veneration in the contemporary Western World?

First paper due (3/8) Long Weekend Holiday (2/23) Final paper proposal and bibliography due (4/5) Final exam (4/28) Final paper due (5/13) Course structure and deadlines

Assignments 1) leading two discussions prepare readings and have a critical opinion on the respective topic In order to stimulate a lively discussion in class 2) first short paper ( words) engagement and discussion with ancestor veneration in contemporary cultures and where evidence for the veneration of ancestors can be found in our personal life and everyday environment 3) final exam IDs and essay questions as well as the identification of specific sites or topographical features on maps 4) presentation 20 min presentation in class including discussion 5) final paper (15-20 pages including bibliography) in-depth assessment of the respective topic using additional literature not provided in the class’ bibliography, proposal and preliminary bibliography before the final paper is due

Course website and readings

Rimmer-Herrmann and Schloen (eds.), In Remembrance of Me: Feasting with the Dead in the Ancient Middle East, 2014 Textbook (available at the bookstore and PDF on course website)