75669 - History of Ancient Near Eastern Art (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Students will get a basic knowledge of the methodologies and of the perspectives of near eastern art history. They will be able to recognize and critically examine visual materials,fine tuning the critical tools needed for interpreting ancient visual communication.

Course contents

Sculptural complexes of the Iron Age in Syria and South-East Anatolia: Visual communication and architectural settings. Several contexts will be analyzed according to a critical approach which will be discussed together with the students also through the main scientific references.

Readings/Bibliography

P. Matthiae, La storia dell'arte dell'Oriente Antico III. I primi imperi e i principati del Ferro, 1600-700 a.C., Milano 1997 (an alternative reading in English may be agreed upon request)

A. Gilibert, Syro-Hittite monumental art and the archaeology of performance: the stone reliefs at Carchemish and Zincirli in the earlier first millennium BCE, Berlin 2011.

A choice of two articles (for non attending students four articles) from: I. J. Winter, On Art in the Ancient Near East. 1: Of the First Millennium B.C.E., Leiden - Boston 2010.

A choice of two articles (for non attending students five articles) from: S. Mazzoni (ed.), Nuove fondazioni nel Vicino Oriente antico: realtà e ideologia : atti del Colloquio, 4-6 dicembre 1991, Pisa 1994.

Students may consult W. Orthmann, Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn 1971.

 

NOTE: those who do not feel to possess enough previous knowledge about the course contents, may read before the beginning of classes A. Podany, The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2013.

Teaching methods

Lectures with projections

Assessment methods

Oral exam aiming at verifying the student's knowledge of the subjects and themes discussed during the classes and/or in the assigned references. The outcome will be evaluated according to the skill to analyze and synthesize themes and problems and to use a language apt for the subject.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an ability to provide a full description of the images and an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology
Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology will result in low marks or rejection.
A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

http://hittitemonuments.com

Office hours

See the website of Nicolò Marchetti