
{"id":1528,"date":"2018-08-07T11:33:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T15:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/?page_id=1528"},"modified":"2023-04-24T11:23:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T15:23:40","slug":"course-syllabus-out-of-this-world","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/course-materials\/rels-2000-topics-courses-in-religious-studies\/rels-2000-out-of-this-world\/course-syllabus-out-of-this-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Course Syllabus: Out of This World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>RELS 2000<br \/>\nBeyond \u2018This World\u2019: Fantastic Journeys to Heaven, Hell, and the Ends of the Earth<br \/>\nMW 4:00-5:15<br \/>\nDr. John C. Reeves<br \/>\nMacy 204B<br \/>\nOffice hours: send an email to<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:jcreeves@uncc.edu\">jcreeves@uncc.edu<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/\">https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8216;This is the way of truth, this is the stairway that leads to the height, that will lead us up to the light.&#8217; &#8212; Manichaean <em>Psalm-Book<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Course Description<\/h3>\n<p>This course provides an overview of a wide range of early visionary accounts that feature ascents to and tours of heaven, descents to and tours of hell, and journeys to utopias and fabulous lands positioned in regions located at the ends of or on the other side of &#8216;our&#8217; world.\u00a0 All of the materials studied in this course stem from ancient and medieval Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Muslim literature.<\/p>\n<h3>Textbooks<\/h3>\n<p>Web links to some of the primary texts we will read are available on <a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/course-materials\/rels-2000-topics-courses-in-religious-studies\/rels-2000-out-of-this-world\/\">the course website<\/a>.\u00a0 Other texts and course materials will be distributed by the instructor electronically on Canvas as needed.\u00a0 You do not need to purchase any textbooks for this course from the campus bookstore.<\/p>\n<h3>Course Requirements<\/h3>\n<p>a. <em>Readings<\/em>.\u00a0 The nature of this course entails a significant amount of close reading and reflection both within and outside of class.\u00a0 Students are responsible for completing the reading assignments (outlined below or assigned in class) in a timely manner.\u00a0 Every student must read and critically engage substantial portions of Bible, other scriptural and parascriptural works, commentaries, testimonia, folktales, myths, legends, and travel narratives which have been englished from texts originally written in Akkadian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Mandaic, Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic, Persian, Ethiopic, and various medieval European vernaculars.\u00a0 Critical engagement with a select set of secondary readings authored by modern theorists, analysts, and historians is also required.<\/p>\n<p>b. <em>Take-home written exercises<\/em>.\u00a0 An indeterminate number of written exercises (usually one per week; optimally one per class) will be prepared and submitted for in-class discussion and out-of-class evaluation.\u00a0 These exercises vary in length from less than one (1) to a maximum of five (5) typewritten or electronically printed pages.\u00a0 All of these exercises will be announced and explained by the instructor during the course of or at the conclusion of a class meeting.\u00a0 The instructor\u2019s evaluation of the student\u2019s collective written exercise performance (using a scale \u221a+ = A-; \u221a = C+; \u221a- = D) will comprise 75% of the course grade.<\/p>\n<p>c. <em>Final take-home essay<\/em>.\u00a0 Instead of an in-class three-hour final examination, you will prepare a final essay wherein you will be expected to synthesize many of the major issues and themes discussed in class and in the required readings, as well as to demonstrate your knowledge of the specific source materials and facts which pertain to those issues and themes.\u00a0 Once its topic is assigned (on the final class meeting day), this essay will be delivered to the instructor before the date and time officially mandated for the final examination of this course by the UNC Charlotte administration.\u00a0 The final essay is worth 15% of the course grade.<\/p>\n<p>d. <em>Individual involvement<\/em>.\u00a0 Almost perfect attendance (see below) is an essential requirement for this course.\u00a0 Each class meeting builds upon the knowledge gained during previous meetings.\u00a0 Moreover, in-class discussion and analysis comprises a significant portion of every class meeting.\u00a0 Preparation for every class usually involves the completion of a series of assigned readings and\/or written assignment(s).\u00a0 Students are expected to contribute <u>in an informed manner<\/u>\u00a0to the public analysis and discussion of any assigned topic, and the instructor reserves the right to administer occasional unannounced oral \u2018pop-quizzes\u2019 should he deem the situation so warrants (grades for such quizzes are averaged with those of the take-home exercises).\u00a0 The instructor\u2019s assessment of one\u2019s attendance, class preparation, and informed oral contributions will constitute 10% of the final course grade.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>e. <em>Zakhor<\/em> (Remember!): Mastery of the assigned readings and diligent class attendance are necessary prerequisites for the successful completion of this course.\u00a0 Each student is responsible for all lectures, class discussions, assignments, and announcements, whether or not s\/he is present when they occur.<\/p>\n<p>f. While the state of emergency procedures regarding COVID-19 have been lifted, I have decided to continue to wear my face mask when leading class and meeting with you individually in my office.\u00a0 I will leave it up to you to monitor your own health and to act responsibly should you happen to fall ill during the course of the semester.<\/p>\n<h3>Miscellaneous information<\/h3>\n<p>a. The grading scale used in this course is as follows:<\/p>\n<p>91-100\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A<br \/>\n81-90\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 B<br \/>\n71-80\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 C<br \/>\n61-70\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 D<br \/>\n0-60\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F<\/p>\n<p>b. One of the requirements of this course is to complete the work of the course on time.\u00a0 Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for late work\u2014an illness or other emergency.\u00a0 \u2018Emergency,\u2019 however, does not include your social involvements, travel plans, job schedule, disk, wi-fi, and\/or printer failures, the state of your love life, your obligations to other courses, or general malaise over the state of the world.\u00a0 The world has been in a mess as long as anyone can remember, and most of the world\u2019s work is done by people whose lives are a mass of futility and discontent.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t learned yet, you had better learn now to work under the conditions of the world as it is.\u00a0 <strong>Therefore:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">1) There is no such thing as a \u2018make-up pop quiz.\u2019\u00a0 No exceptions will be considered or granted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">2) Homework exercises fall due on the date announced by the instructor in class. <u>They must be typed and submitted by email to me in either Microsoft Word or Adobe format prior to the start of the class for which they have been assigned.\u00a0 No physical copies of homework will be accepted or returned<\/u>.\u00a0 Since we will normally discuss these exercises together in class on that date, it would clearly be unfair to those who submitted their work on time for me to accept \u2018late\u2019 work from those who were privy to our in-class discussion.\u00a0 Hence I will not accept \u2018late\u2019 homework submissions (even from those of you who may be physically absent during our discussion); however, \u2018early\u2019 submissions (i.e., before the start of class) are always welcome and will receive full credit.\u00a0 These exercises are graded using a scale \u221a+ = A-; \u221a = C+; \u221a- = D; failure to submit = 0.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">3) For accounting purposes, letter grades bear the following values: A=95; A-=92; B=85; C+=78; C=75; D=65; F=30.\u00a0 A paper or written exercise that is not typed automatically receives the grade F, as do any typed papers which violate the required formatting parameters or which the instructor deems physically unacceptable and\/or grammatically incomprehensible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">4) Since your diligent physical participation is critical for the success of this course, attendance at class meetings will be monitored by the instructor.\u00a0 One or two absences are regrettable; three absences are the limit of tolerability.\u00a0 <u>Each successive absence lowers this portion of your course assessment by one letter grade; <\/u><u>seven (7) or more results in an automatic F <\/u><u>for the course<\/u>.\u00a0 Please note that\u2014with the exception of religious holidays\u2014the instructor does not distinguish \u2018excused\u2019 from \u2018unexcused\u2019 absences.\u00a0 Unsanctioned late arrivals and early departures will be tallied as absences.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">5)\u00a0<u>Policy regarding Audits<\/u>: the instructor expects auditors (whether formally enrolled as such or not) to meet the same attendance, preparation, and oral participation standards as those students who are taking the course for credit.\u00a0 The instructor does not expect auditors to prepare and submit any written assignments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">6) I do not post grades on Canvas or use it for grading.\u00a0 You can easily determine your own course progress (or lack thereof) by paying attention to the number and quality of the grades you earn over the course of the semester and performing the simple arithmetic required (using the equivalency tables listed above) to generate a \u2018rough\u2019 grade average.<\/p>\n<p>c. There will be no class meetings on the following days:<br \/>\nMonday, January 16 (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)<br \/>\nMonday, February 27 (Spring Recess)<br \/>\nWednesday, March 1 (Spring Recess)<br \/>\nWednesday, April 5 (Erev Pesa\u1e25)<\/p>\n<p>d. Assistance and solicitation of criticism is your right as a member of the class. It is not a privilege to be granted or withheld. Do not hesitate to request it nor wait too late in the course for it to be of help.<\/p>\n<p>e. The standards, requirements, and procedures set forth in this syllabus are subject to modification at any time by the course instructor.\u00a0 Notice of such changes will be by announcement in class, or by email, or by changes to this syllabus posted on the course website at <a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/course-materials\/\">https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/course-materials\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Rough Course Outline<\/h3>\n<p>1. Very brief introduction to ancient cosmologies<\/p>\n<p>2. Touring \u2018Heaven\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Adapa<\/em> (Dalley, 182-88)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>1 En<\/em>. 14:1-16:4 (Sparks, <em>AOT<\/em>, 200-205)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>2 En<\/em>. 3:1-10:7 (short version); cf. 13:27 (Sparks, <em>AOT<\/em>, 330-38, 345)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Apoc. Peter<\/em> 4-20 (Akhmim fragment)\/\/Ethiopic version (James, <em>ANT<\/em>, 518-19)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Apoc. Paul<\/em> 19-31a (James, <em>ANT<\/em>, 535-42)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">\u2018Kerd\u012br\u2019s Vision\u2019 (Skj\u00e6rv\u00f8, 181-85)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Ard\u0101 Wir\u0101z Namag<\/em> 2-15 (Boyce, 84-87)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Ibn Hish\u0101m, <em>S\u012brat al-nab\u012b<\/em> (Guillaume, 184-87)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Ma\u2018aseh R. Joshua b. Levi<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Wahb b. Munabbih <em>apud<\/em> Tha\u2018lab\u012b, <em>\u2018Ar\u0101\u2019is<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Kis\u0101\u2019\u012b, <em>Qi\u1e63a\u1e63 al-anbiy\u0101\u2019<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Excursus: avoiding customs officials and guards while traveling to Heaven<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Ma\u2018ayan \u1e24okmah<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p>3. Touring \u2018Hell\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Gilgamesh<\/em> Tablet XII (Dalley, 120-25)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Descent of Inanna\/Isis<\/em> (Dalley, 154-62)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">\u2018Underworld Vision of an Assyrian Crown Prince\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>1 En<\/em>. 22:1-14 (Sparks, <em>AOT<\/em>, 210-12)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>2 En<\/em>. 13:23-26 (short version) (Sparks, <em>AOT<\/em>, 344-45)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Apoc. Peter<\/em> 21-34 (Akhmim fragment)\/\/Ethiopic version (James, <em>ANT<\/em>, 514-18)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Apoc. Paul<\/em> 31b-42 (James, <em>ANT<\/em>, 542-47)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Ibn Hish\u0101m, <em>S\u012brat al-nab\u012b<\/em> (Guillaume, 184-87)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Ma\u2018aseh R. Joshua b. Levi<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Wahb b. Munabbih <em>apud<\/em> Tha\u2018lab\u012b, <em>\u2018Ar\u0101\u2019is<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Kis\u0101\u2019\u012b, <em>Qi\u1e63a\u1e63 al-anbiy\u0101\u2019<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Isaiah\u2019s vision(s) of hell (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Ard\u0101 Wir\u0101z Namag<\/em> 53-101 (Boyce, 87-89)<\/p>\n<p>4. Bridging \u2018Tours\u2019 and Formal Cosmologies<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Asclepius<\/em> (<em>Corpus Hermeticum<\/em>) \u00a728 (Copenhaver, 84)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Re\u2019uyyot Ye\u1e25ezq\u2019el<\/em> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Midrash Konen<\/em> (selections) (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Seder Rabbah de-Bereshit<\/em> (selections) (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p>5. Utopian dreams<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Essenes (Philo and Josephus in Dupont-Sommer, 21-37)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">The \u2018naked philosophers\u2019 (Stoneman, 131-33)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/research-projects\/trajectories-in-near-eastern-apocalyptic\/eldad-ha-dani-beney-mosheh-texts\/\">\u2018Sons of Moses\u2019 and Eldad ha-Dani<\/a> (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jewishchristianlit.com\/Texts\/OT\/Rechabites.htm\">History of the Rechabites<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Prester John (Mandeville, 106-24)<\/p>\n<p>6. Quest leading to the Ends of the Earth<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>Gilgamesh<\/em> Tablet XI (Dalley, 109-20)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>1 En<\/em>. 106:1-107:3\/\/1QapGen 2 (Sparks, <em>AOT<\/em>, 314-17\/\/Reeves)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Syriac <em>Cave of Treasures<\/em> \u00a727 (Reeves)<\/p>\n<p>7. Touring the Ends of the Earth<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>1 En<\/em>. 17-36 (Sparks, <em>AOT<\/em>, 205-21)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Greek <em>Alexander Romance<\/em> (Stoneman, 115-25; 142-43)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Syriac <em>Alexander Legend<\/em> (Budge, 144-58)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Ethiopic Alexander Legend (Budge, 154-59; 477-81)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Monstrous races (Mandeville)<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Supplemental Bibliography for RELS 2000<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In response to student requests for recommendations regarding useful and enlightening discussions of certain topics, themes, and personalities that are presented in class and\/or readings, I offer the following suggestions for further study at the student\u2019s leisure.\u00a0 I confine myself to materials which I myself have used with profit.\u00a0 Not all of these may be currently available at Atkins Library.<\/p>\n<p>It is often helpful for the student to begin with appropriate articles in the standard Bible dictionaries.\u00a0 The most up to date are <em>The New Interpreter\u2019s Dictionary of the Bible<\/em> (5 vols.; ed. Katherine Doob Sakenfeld; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006-09) and <em>The Anchor Bible Dictionary<\/em> (6 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1992).\u00a0 Dated but still reliable are <em>The Interpreters\u2019 Dictionary of the Bible<\/em> (4 vols.) and its <em>Supplementary Volume<\/em> (ed. George A. Buttrick; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962 &amp; 1976), and the <em>Harper\u2019s Bible Dictionary<\/em> (ed. Paul J. Achtemeier; San Francisco: Harper &amp; Row, 1985).\u00a0 Highly recommended are the relevant articles in the new <em>Encyclopaedia Judaica<\/em> (22 vols.; Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA\/Thomson Gale, 2007), the <em>Encyclopaedia of Islam<\/em> (2d ed.; 11 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1954-2002), the <em>Encyclopaedia of the Qur\u2019\u0101n<\/em> (6 vols.; ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe; Leiden: Brill, 2001-06), and <em>The Qur\u2019\u0101n: An Encyclopedia<\/em> (ed. Oliver Leaman; London and New York: Routledge, 2006).<\/p>\n<p>In addition, you can consult the following more specialized studies:<\/p>\n<p>Richard Bauckham, \u201cEarly Jewish Visions of Hell,\u201d <em>Journal of Theological Studies<\/em> 41 (1990): 355-85.<\/p>\n<p>Ernest J. Becker, <em>A Contribution to the Comparative Study of the Medieval Visions of Heaven and Hell<\/em> (Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1899).<\/p>\n<p>Mary Boyce, ed., <em>Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism<\/em> (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1984).<\/p>\n<p>Jan N. Bremmer, \u201cChristian Hell: From the <em>Apocalypse of Peter<\/em> to the <em>Apocalypse of Paul<\/em>,\u201d <em>Numen<\/em> 56 (2009): 298-325.<\/p>\n<p>Scott G. Bruce, ed., <em>The Penguin Book of Hell<\/em> (New York: Penguin, 2018).<\/p>\n<p>Ernest A. Wallis Budge, <em>The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes<\/em> (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1889).<\/p>\n<p>John J. Collins and Michael Fishbane, eds., <em>Death, Ecstasy, and Other Worldly Journeys<\/em> (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995).<\/p>\n<p>Brian P. Copenhaver, <em>Hermetica<\/em> (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).<\/p>\n<p>Jean Delumeau, <em>History of Paradise: The Garden of Eden in Myth and Tradition<\/em> (trans. Matthew O\u2019Connell; New York, 1995; repr., Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000).<\/p>\n<p>Marcus Dods, <em>Forerunners of Dante:<\/em> <em>An Account of Some of the More Important Visions of the Unseen World, From the Earliest Times<\/em> (Edinburgh: T. &amp; T. Clark, 1903).<\/p>\n<p>Andr\u00e9 Dupont-Sommer, <em>The Essene Writings from Qumran<\/em> (trans. G. Vermes; Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1961).<\/p>\n<p>Eileen Gardiner, <em>Medieval Visions of Heaven and Hell: A Sourcebook<\/em> (New York: Garland, 1993).<\/p>\n<p>Moses Gaster, \u201cHebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise,\u201d <em>Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society<\/em> 23 (1893): 571-611.<\/p>\n<p>Alfred Guillaume, <em>The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Is\u1e25\u0101q\u2019s S\u012brat Ras\u016bl All\u0101h<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955).<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Gurevich, \u201cThe <em>Divine Comedy<\/em> Before Dante,\u201d in idem, <em>Medieval Popular Culture: Problems of Perception and Belief<\/em> (trans. J\u00e1nos M. Bak and Paul A. Hollingsworth; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 104-52.<\/p>\n<p>______, \u201cPerceptions of the Individual and the Hereafter in the Middle Ages,\u201d in idem, <em>Historical Anthropology of the Middle Ages<\/em> (ed. Jana Howlett; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 65-89.<\/p>\n<p>Martha Himmelfarb, <em>Tours of Hell: An Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and Christian Literature<\/em> (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983).<\/p>\n<p>Montague Rhodes James, <em>The Apocryphal New Testament<\/em> (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924).<\/p>\n<p>______, \u201cThe Recovery of the Apocalypse of Peter,\u201d <em>Church Quarterly Review<\/em> 80 (1915): 1-36.<\/p>\n<p>Christian Lange, <em>Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions<\/em> (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016).<\/p>\n<p>Jacques Le Goff, <em>The Birth of Purgatory<\/em> (trans. Arthur Goldhammer; Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1984), esp. 17-127.<\/p>\n<p>______, <em>The Medieval Imagination<\/em> (trans. Arthur Goldhammer; Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988), esp. 27-44, 67-77.<\/p>\n<p>Sir John Mandeville, <em>The Book of Marvels and Travels<\/em> (trans. Anthony Bale; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).<\/p>\n<p>Howard Rollin Patch, <em>The Other World, According to Descriptions in Medieval Literature<\/em> (Cambridge, Mass., 1950; repr., New York: Octagon Books, 1970).<\/p>\n<p>John C. Reeves, <em>Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic: A Postrabbinic Jewish Apocalypse Reader<\/em> (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005).<\/p>\n<p>John C. Reeves and Annette Yoshiko Reed, <em>Enoch from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, Volume I: Sources from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).<\/p>\n<p>Seth L. Sanders, \u201cThe First Tour of Hell: From Neo-Assyrian Propaganda to Early Jewish Revelation,\u201d <em>Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions<\/em> 9 (2009): 151-69.<\/p>\n<p>Emilie Savage-Smith and Evelyn Edson, <em>Medieval Views of the Cosmos<\/em> (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2004).<\/p>\n<p>Alessandro Scafi, ed., <em>The Cosmography of Paradise: The Other World from Ancient Mesopotamia to Medieval Europe<\/em> (Warburg Institute Colloquia 27; London: The Warburg Institute, 2016).<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Selden, \u201cText Networks,\u201d <em>Ancient Narrative<\/em> 8 (2010): 1-23.<\/p>\n<p>Prods Oktor Skj\u00e6rv\u00f8, <em>The Spirit of Zoroastrianism<\/em> (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011).<\/p>\n<p>H. F. D. Sparks, ed., <em>The Apocryphal Old Testament<\/em> (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984).<\/p>\n<p>Helen Spurling, \u201cHebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise,\u201d in Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov, eds., <em>Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, Volume One<\/em> (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 2013), 699-753.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Stoneman, <em>The Greek Alexander Romance<\/em> (London &amp; New York: Penguin Books, 1991).<\/p>\n<p>Z. David Zuwiyya, ed., <em>A Companion to Alexander Literature in the Middle Ages<\/em> (Leiden: Brill, 2011).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RELS 2000 Beyond \u2018This World\u2019: Fantastic Journeys to Heaven, Hell, and the Ends of the Earth MW 4:00-5:15 Dr. John C. Reeves Macy 204B Office hours: send an email to jcreeves@uncc.edu https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/ &#8216;This is the way of truth, this is the stairway that leads to the height, that will lead us up to the light.&#8217; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":454,"featured_media":0,"parent":1521,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1528","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3kl1F-oE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1528"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1911,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1528\/revisions\/1911"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/john-reeves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}