ENG 273: World Literature

 3000 Years of Relative Peace and Prosperity  Intermittent Periods of Uncertainty  Agriculture  Nile River  Irrigation  Fertilization  Economic Prosperity  Successful Military Campaigns  Few Outside Threats

 Strong Central Government  Pharoah = godlike  Wielded Immense Power  Gain and then keep power  Strategy = appointed by the gods  Display Wealth

 Tombs for Pharoahs  Massive Architectural Projects  Very Expensive

 Religious Ceremony  Preserve the Dead In as Lifelike a State as Possible  Remove Moisture to Prevent Decay  Entombed  Included Everything Necessary to Enjoy the Afterlife  Expensive Process  Pharoahs, Nobility

 One of the Earliest Written Languages  Complex Writing System  Translation was Impossible Until the Discovery and Study of the Rosetta Stone in the Nineteenth Century

 Joseph  Sold Into Slavery in Egypt  Becomes a Powerful Official  Moses  Adopted By Pharoah’s Daughter  Pleads with Pharoah to Release Israel from Slavery  Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus  Flee to Egypt to Escape Herod

 Egyptology: Study of Ancient Egyptian Civilization  Egyptian Museum in Cairo Holds Largest Collection of Artifacts  At Risk During Recent Turmoil  Looted, Damaged, and Burned  British Museum Has Over 100,000 Egyptian Artifacts  Controversy: Should the Artifacts Be Returned to Egypt?  Touring Exhibits  King Tut

 Anyone Who Disturbs a Pharoah’s Tomb Will Be Cursed  King Tutankhamun  Tomb Opened by Howard Carter’s Team in 1922  “Mysterious” Deaths  Lord Carnarvon  Died of Blood Poisoning After A Mosquito Bite Became Aggravated During Shaving  Most of the Team Survived Into Old Age

The Bangles “Walk Like an Egyptian” 6tuzHUuuk Steve Martin “King Tut” Saturday Night Live (1979) html

The Mummy (1999) /watch?v=cLnDT6uCr_I The Mummy (1932) ScZRP4 Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) m/watch?v=EPmeEMW PMvI

 Mix of Influences  History  Legend  Folklore  Popular Culture  Current Events  Leads To:  Preconceived Ideas  Misconceptions

 Take a Step Back  Acknowledge Our Assumptions  Put Aside Preconceptions  Identify Differences  Morality  Divinity  Society  Look for Commonalities  Awe of Nature  Fear  Death  Search for Meaning in Life  Recognize That Some Concepts May Never Be Clear  Missing/Broken Sources  Lost in Translation  Different, Ancient Culture

 Compare/Contrast Concepts  Divinity  Worship  Royalty  Power  Glory  Beauty  Relationship to Nature  Identify “Timeless” Ideas  Where did we come from?  Why are we here?

 Divinity vs. Humanity  Worship  Role of the “god/gods” in People’s Lives  Active? Passive?  Process of Worship  Celebration? Sacrifice?  Relationship Between Ruler and Ruled  “god king”  Experience of the Natural World