South of Mesopotamia. Archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula during the Bronze and Iron Ages

elective courses
general courses

Archaeology of the Ancient Near East in the Bronze Age 3101-PO-BWB
Archaeology of the ancient Near East in the Iron Age 2800-PO-BWZ

Basic knowledge of ancient Near Eastern archaeology in the Bronze and Iron Ages is welcome. The study of the subject would be facilitated thanks to prior attendance in the Near East Archaeology block course.

Blended learning

The Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf region are irresistibly associated with the cradle of Islam, endless deserts, oil production, and recently also modern cities on the Gulf, which are attractive tourist destinations. The knowledge that civilization flourished there during the Pre-Islamic era rarely reaches the public. This is also because Southern Arabia has remained on the margins of Near Eastern Archaeology for many years. For various reasons, this situation has changed recently, so the lecture aims to bring the audience with the current archaeological issues of the region during the Bronze and Iron era.

This lecture is designed to introduce students to the archaeology of the Gulf Basin areas from the 3rd to 1st millennium BC. The course will focus on the ancient Magan and Dilmun civilizations that developed in the northeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula in the Bronze Age and played a role as centres and crucial partners in trade between Mesopotamia, Iran and the Indus Valley. The course will also cover nearby regions or those in contact with the lands of Magan and Dilmun. Participants in the lecture will learn about the diversity of cultural landscapes (coast and islands, mountainous inland zone, desert oases), key archaeological sites, built works and objects of material culture, the specificity of funerary rites (often different from those known from other parts of the Middle East) and the economic basis of communities living in different geographical zones. A presentation of the results of current excavations in the region, including those carried out recently by Polish archaeological missions (Al-Subbiya in Kuwait, Saruq al-Hadid in the United Arab Emirates, Qumayrah in Oman), will be a substantial part of the course.

Cleuziou, S., & Tosi, M. (2007). In the shadow of the ancestors: The prehistoric foundations of the early Arabian civilization in Oman. Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Sultanate of Oman.

Crawford, H., Rice, M. (2000), Traces of Paradise: The Archaeology of Bahrain 2500 BC-300 AD. Dilmun Committee, 2000.

Laursen, S., & Steinkeller, P. (2017). Babylonia, the Gulf Region and the Indus: Archaeological and Textual Evidence for Contact in the Third and Early Second Millennia BC (Mesopotamian Civilizations). Pennsylvania State University Press.

Potts, D. T. (1990). The Arabian Gulf in Antiquity. Vol 1: From Prehistory to the Fall of the Achaemenid Empire. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Upon completion of the lecture, the student defines the concepts, terms, and principal issues related to the archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula within the chronological and geographical scope of the course. The trainee identifies historical lands, key archaeological sites and recognizes elements of material culture typical of the region. He/she also distinguishes local units of periodization. The student analyzes the specificity of the presented cultures/lands and their significance in contacts with neighbouring areas.

Graded credit.

Final written credit test (100% participation in the final grade);

final oral credit (in the case of resit).

Attendance check (two absences possible).