From the Great Pyramids to the Colosseum, from Mount Olympus to Jerusalem, the Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (AMNE) offers a unique opportunity to link past, present, and future.

We critically engage with the study of the languages, literature, history, religion, law, and material culture of the lands and peoples centred around the Mediterranean and the Tigris-Euphrates river system—including Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and their neighbours—as well as the reception and representation of these cultures to the modern day.

Our diverse, interdisciplinary faculty includes world experts who teach and research every aspect of the cultures we study, including their influence on modern religion, literature, and art. We are an interdisciplinary unit committed to furthering new and emerging methodologies and interrogating older frameworks of inquiry.

Our programs are student-centred and responsive to individual interests, designed to develop relevant skill sets to prepare our students for future employment and study. Collaborating within the diverse research areas, AMNE supports, and with other faculties across the university, we connect students to various subjects and faculty while providing a welcoming and supportive home for their time at UBC.

Located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people, the Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies is a community of faculty members, practitioners, students, research and support staff, all working together to advance the study and practice of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East.