(same as AMS 4240; cross-leveled with AMS 7240). For scholars of the ancient Mediterranean world, the terms “cult” and “religion” comprise a dizzying array of beliefs and practices, sanctuaries and spaces, objects, gods, and humans. This diversity challenges contemporary definitions of religion, which tend to follow the model of Protestant Christianity, privileging belief, texts, and rationality. This course takes a different approach to cult and religion in the ancient Mediterranean, focusing instead on the importance of archaeology and material culture in reconstructing ancient religious experience. The course will examine case studies that illustrate the challenges and rewards of thinking about religion materially, from Classical Greece through the beginning of late antiquity.