Near East - PROSEMINAR

proseminaria

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The course will introduce students to different problems of the archaeology of the Ancient

Near East. It focuses on the exploration of topics in greater depth through supplemental

readings and papers. The course covers a period in the Near Eastern archaeology from the

Neolithic revolution to the Classical period. Students have an opportunity to survey diversity

of the Near Eastern cultures as well as its main features. The course includes a study of

architecture, sculpture, painting and minor art. Some selected issues will be discussed in more

details. It is also designed to learn principles of BA thesis writing.

1.Near East - melting pot of languages and peoples

2.Ancient economies

3. Reading material culture

4. Death and beyond – burial customs

5. Script – beginnings of writing, writing systems, archives

6. Religion and mythology in Mesopotamia (pantheon, iconography of deities, centres of

worship, main myths)

7. Cylinder seals – function, iconography, style

8. Main cities – their history and architecture

9. Architecture – main types of temples and palaces, their characteristic features and fittings

10. Kings and history – representation in art

11. Iconography – tracing motifs in art

12. Study of sculpture, painting and minor art

P.M.M.G. Akkermans, G.M. Schwartz, The Archaeology of Syria. From Complex Hunter-

Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (ca. 16 000 – 300 BC), Cambridge 2003.

A. Akurgal, The Hattian and Hittite Civilizations, Ankara 2001.

P. Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire, Winona Lake,

Indiana2002.

T. Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford 2005.

T. Bryce, Life and Society in the Hittite World, Oxford, 2002.

D. Collon, First Impressions. Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East, London 1987

H. Crawford, Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge 2004

W.B. Fisher, The Middle East: A Physical, Social and Regional Geography, London 1966

H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient, Yale 1996.

E. Heinrich, Die Tempel und Heiligtümer im Alten Mesopotamien, Berlin 1982.

E. Heinrich, Die Paläste im Alten Mesopotamien, Berlin 1984.

H. Klengel, Syria 3000 to 300 B.C., Berlin 1992.

J. C.H. Laughlin, Archaeology and the Bible, London 2000.

G. Leick, Dictionary of Ancient Near East Architecture, London, New York 2003.

G. Leick, Who’s Who in the Ancient Near East, London, New York 2002.

A. Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10.000-586 B.C.E., 5 vols., New York 1990

E.M. Meyers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, New York-

Oxford 1997

S. Moscati (ed.), The Phoenicians, London, New York, 2001.

M. van de Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC, 2004

H.J. Nissen, Archaic Bookkeeping. Writing and Techniques of Economic Administration in

the Ancient Near East, Chicago-London 1993

J. Oates, Babylon, London 2000

W. Orthmann, Der Alte Orient, Berlin 1975.

A. Parrot, Sumer, 1960

S. Pollock, R. Bernbeck, Archaeologies of the Middle East, Oxford, 2005.

J.N. Postgate, Early Mesopotamia. Society and Economy of the Dawn of History, London-

New York 1992

D.T. Potts, The Archaeology of Elam. Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian

State, Cambridge 1999

J. Reade, Assyrian Sculpture, London 1998

Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Berlin 1932-

M. Roaf, Mezopotamia (= Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East),

Warszawa 1998.

A. Sagona, P. Zimansky, Ancient Turkey, New York 2009

J.M. Sasson (ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 4 vols., New York 1995.

U. Seidl, Bronzekunst Urartus, Mainz am Rhein 2004.

R. Wartke, Urartu. Das Reich am Ararat, Mainz am Rhein 1993.

J. Wiesenhöfer, Ancient Persia from 550 BC to 650 AD, London, New York 2001.

State, Cambridge 2004.

Students have in-depth knowledge concerning topics of the archaeology of the Ancient Near

East. They have a skill to identify and define main aspects of Near Eastern architecture, art

and cultures. Familiarity with main terms and problems of the archaeology of the Ancient

Near East. Skill of discussion and critical thinking.

Several criteria are considered: presentation of papers and/or talks, participation in class

discussion