ECTS - University of Pisa
The purpose of this class is to make the student proficient in Near Eastern archaeology in general, with a more profound knowledge of some selected cultural sequences, emphasizing the development of local societies, their peculiarities and interactions with neighboring regions as well as the methodologies and the issues of the Archeology of the Near East.
Evaluation of the active participation in class activities and discussions.
The student will be able to recognize and contextualize material evidence; develop critical reading skills of the interpretative models proposed and theories on the main cultural processes; compare and evaluate different research methods and investigation tools used by the near eastern archaeologists.
Evaluation criteria of skills: participation to discussions and activities proposed by the teacher
Students will acquire and develop an awareness of issues concerning the archaeology of ancient Near East
Evaluation of the active participation in class activities and discussions
No specific pre-requisites, basic knowledge on the archaeology of the Mediterranean basin. The course is also open to students that never have attended a class of Near Eastern Archaeology previously. The course will be organised in two sessions: the first one will be devoted to general issues of the archaeology in the Near East, whereas the second will focus on topics for in-depth study.
Taugth lessons with visual aids (powerpoint presentations).
The course is divided in two parts: the first part focused on Mesopotamia and the second part on the Arabian Pensinsula.
The part of the course on Mesopotamia provides an overview of the settlement, architecture, urban planning, main monuments, repertoires of daily used objects of the Near Eastern region, studying illustrative cases of different periods (from prehistory through the age of empires in the 1st millennium BC), with particular attention to issues at the centre of current debate. Analysis of the documents coming from both excavations and surveys will allow to examine the development of complex and centralised societies, the settlement patterns, the rise of the urban life, the ‘core-periphery’ relationship, the archeology of territorial states and early empires. In particular, the course deals with the shape of the ancient near-eastern ‘cities’, with the analysis and contextualization of a selection of early settlements characterised by special buildings, temples, and palaces and some of the main sites and capital cities of the Mesopotamian world.
The part of the course on Arabian Peninsula will provide an deep in-sight of the archaeology of ancient Magan (south-eastern Arabia) from Neolithic to Iron Age period. Settlement, architecture, urban planning, main monuments and material culture will be analyzed, highlighting their long-term development, the specificity, the relation between sedentary and nomadic groups, as well as the regional and inter-regional interactions. Particular attention will also be given to the interactions between Magan, southern Mesopotamia and the Indus valley, highlighting the role of southern Arabia as a crossroads of cultures and raw materials (copper and incense).
Books:
- selected chapters from M. Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Facts on File, 1990;
- Z. Bahrani, Mesopotamia. Ancient art and architecture, Thames&Hudson 2017 (for those who have never taken an exam in ancient Near Eastern archaeology; for others selection of articles to be agreed upon at the beginning of the course).
- S. Cleziou - M. Tosi, In the Shadow of the Ancestors. The Prehistoric Foundations of the Early Arabian Civiization in Oman, Ministry of Heritage and Culture Sultanate of Oman 2018 (2nd edition).
Readings (to review):
R. Matthews, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia. Theories and Approaches, Routledge 2002.
Alternative readings in English may be indicated upon request. Notes on the subjects covered in class and slides available on the Moodle web repository
Special programmes for exams can be arranged with the teacher.
Oral examination on class contents and suggested readings. Students will write a research paper on a topic approved by the teacher based on material covered by the books of M. Roaf and R. Matthews (in-depth analysis and contextualization of a topic of choice) and will give a formal presentation of their research essays in class.
Class start date: February 20th
Examination board:
Chairperson (Mesopotamia): Anacleto D'Agostino
Members: Sara Pizzimenti, Gianluca Miniaci
Deputy chairperson: Sara Pizzimenti
Alternate members: Gianluca Miniaci, Jesper Eidem
Chairperson (Arabia): Sara Pizzimenti
Members: Anacleto D'Agostino, Gianluca Miniaci
Deputy chairperson: Anacleto D'Agostino
Alternate members: Gianluca Miniaci, Jesper Eidem
