Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology

Description

Through knowledge and understanding, students will be able to: • Have a broad overview of the archaeology of the Near East, with a focus on specific themes that shaped the region and beyond. • Appreciate the significance of the archaeology of the Ancient Near East within the broad context of the development of human society. • Appreciate the importance of critical approaches to archaeological and textual sources. • Contextualize our modern world with relevance to the ancient societies the Near East. • Realize chronological progress of the Ancient Near East in comparison with Ancient Egypt Through intellectual skills, students will be able to: • Express ideas in writing and orally • Appreciate the cultural diversity of the Ancient Near East • Synthesize primary and secondary sources in a research paper Through professional and practical skills, students will be able to: • Write well-researched entries for Wikipedia • Give a 10-minute presentation on a topic of choice in Egyptian Archaeology • Observe and write down observations in a reflective journal Through general and transferable skills, students will be able to: • Give correct information on the subject matter • Work with colleagues on a presentation and understand team work dynamics • Compare and contrast different historical periods and geographic regions

Program

Egyptian Archaeology

Objectives

• This course is involved with studying the Ancient Near East through the geography, history, material culture and textual sources of the Ancient Near East. This course gives students a brief account of the Ancient Near East from the prehistoric period (12,000 BCE) until the conquest of Alexander the Great. The course will focus on the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Neolithic Period to the rise of the complex urban societies in Iraq (4000 BCE). The course will further discuss the emergence and development of writing, religion, art, architecture, culture and politics in the Near East. The course will focus on the rise and fall of the different empires: Mesopotamia, Akkadian Empire, Assyria, Babylonia, Sumer, Persia, Achaemenid Empire, Elam, Medes, Anatolia, Hittites, Hurrians, the Levant, and Phoenicia. Considerable analysis will be placed on the analysis of the primary sources in terms of material culture, archaeological and historical data as well as the use of secondary sources for research.