04447 - Phoenician and Punic Archaeology

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Ravenna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Cultural Heritage (cod. 8849)

Learning outcomes

The course provides the basic knowledge for the study of Phoenician and Punic civilization, analyzing diachronically the historical and archaeological data concerning the Levant and the other regions of the Mediterranean Basin, from the beginning of the Iron Age to the Romanization. At the end of the course the student:

- reaches a deep understanding of the different expressions of Phoenician and Punic civilization, with regard to the epigraphic, economic, numismatic, artistic and religious aspects;

- is able to correctly evaluate the outcomes of the cultural interactions between the Phoenician and the other Mediterranean cultures.

Course contents

1. Introduction to Phoenician and Punic Archaeology (about 6 hours of lesson). 1.1. From the studies of Semitic philology to the modern researches on the Phoenician and Punic civilization. 1.2. Chronological and epistemological cornerstones of the discipline.

2. Topographical, economic, artistic and social features of Phoenician civilization in the Levant and in Mediterranean and Atlantic diaspora (about 50 hours of lesson). 2.1. Settlement dynamics, city planning and architecture in the Phoenician region and central-west Mediterranean. 2.2. Archaeology of the tofet. 2.3. The craft categories.

3. The Phoenician and Punic sculpture in the round (about 4 hours of lesson).

Readings/Bibliography

The exam preparation will include the class notes and the following books and articles:

1.

- M. Gras, P. Rouillard, J. Teixidor, L'universo fenicio, Torino 2000, pp. 3-18.

- S. Moscati, La questione fenicia: venti anni dopo, in Diacronia, sincronia e cultura. Saggi linguistici in onore di Luigi Heilmann, Brescia 1984, pp. 37-44 (riedito in S. Moscati, Scritti fenici minori, Roma 1988, pp. 609-614).

- S. Moscati, Fenicio o punico o cartaginese, in Rivista di Studi Fenici, 16 (1988), pp. 3-13.

2.

- S.F. Bondì, M. Botto, G. Garbati, I. Oggiano, Fenici e Cartaginesi. Una civiltà mediterranea, Roma 2009.

3.

- G. Tore, L’Art. Sculpture en ronde-bosse, in V. Krings (éd.), La civilisation phénicienne et punique. Manuel de recherche, Leiden - New York - Köln 1995, pp. 448-470.

Further bibliography will be provided during the lessons.

 

Non-attending students will have to complete the bibliography indicated in the previous points with five papers (at the option of the student) from the following book:

- A.C. Fariselli - R. Secci (edd.), Cartagine fuori da Cartagine: mobilità nordafricana nel Mediterraneo centro-occidentale tra l'VIII e il II sec. a.C. (= Byrsa. Scritti sull'antico Oriente mediterraneo, 33-34), Lugano 2018.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons.

Assessment methods

Oral examination. The student will have to be able to outline the main historical issues about the Phoenician civilization and to frame the iconographic material discussed in classes in the cultural and historical context, demonstrating property of language and ability of grasping connections, differences and comparisons between the different kinds of documentation. Specifically, the exam will consist of questions on central topics of the discipline and tests of recognition of archaeological artefacts, plans of settlements or monuments of particular interest, selected from those examined in class or treated in the reference bibliography.

Attending and non-attending students will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

  • An in-depth knowledge of the course contents, highlighted by a high capacity to frame the archaeological and iconographic documentation in the historical-cultural context of reference, by a reasoned exposure and a good property of language, will be evaluated with the maximum grading (28-30 con Lode);
  • a non-optimal knowledge of the course contents, highlighted by an uncertain and/or mainly mnemonic exposure and combined with inadequate capacity of historical-cultural contextualization, will be assessed in a grading range from good (25-27) to satisfactory (21-24);
  • A superficial knowledge of the course contents, combined with a mainly mnemonic acquisition of course contents and inadequate language skills, will be evaluated with a sufficient grading (18-21)
  • The absence of a minimum knowledge of the course contents, combined with inadequate logical and linguistic skills, will be evaluated with an insufficient grading even in spite of a regular attendance.

For attending students there will be a written test in itinere (not obligatory), focused on points 1.1, 1.2 and 2.1 of the course. This test will last two hours and take place according to the methods indicated above. The use of a dictionary is allowed.

In case of passing the written test, the oral exam will focus exclusively on the remaining thematic nuclei of the course (points 2.2, 2.3 and 3). In case of passing the oral test, the final mark will be given by the average of the marks obtained in the two partial tests. If the student does not pass the written test, he will have to prepare the whole program for the oral exam.

Teaching tools

Slides and other audiovisual supports; photocopies and pdf articles; web resources.

Office hours

See the website of Raimondo Secci