75950 - Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide a complete picture of the civilizations flourished in the Ancient Near East between the mid-fourth millennium and the sixth century BC. At the end of the course the student

- reaches a thorough knowledge of cultural expressions arising from the geographical area between the eastern Mediterranean (west boundary), the Black Sea (north-west boundary), the Caucasus (northern limit), the Iranian Plateau/Persian Gulf (east boundary) and the Arabian desert (south boundary);

- acquires the methodological and critical tools to properly assess and contextualize the archaeological evidence that distinguishes the various Near Eastern civilizations, from Mesopotamia to the Syro-Palestinian coast.

Course contents

1. Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology: from rediscovery of the pre-classical Near East to modern research of Oriental Archaeology (about 6 hours of lesson).

2. Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine between the fourth and the first millennium BC: features of architecture, urbanism and material culture (about 50 hours of lesson).

3. Relative and absolute chronology of the Levant in the Late Bronze and Iron Age (about 4 hours of lesson).

Readings/Bibliography

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

1.

- P. Matthiae, Prima lezione di archeologia orientale, Roma-Bari 2015 (4th edition), pp. 3-103.

2.

- D. Nadali, A. Polcaro (edd.), Archeologia della Mesopotamia antica, Roma 2015.

- F. Pinnock, Lineamenti di archeologia e storia dell'arte del Vicino Oriente antico, ca. 3500-330 a.C. Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Siria, Iran, Palestina, Parma 2004, pp. 221-307, 361-415.

3.

- M.B. Toffolo, E. Arie, M.A.S. Martin, E. Boaretto, I. Finkelstein, Absolute chronology of Megiddo, Israel, in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: high-resolution radiocarbon dating, in Radiocarbon 56.1 (2014), pp. 221-244.

 

On the historical context it is recommended the reading of:

M. Liverani, Antico Oriente. Storia, società, economia, Roma-Bari 2013 (second edition); alternatively:

M.L. Uberti, Introduzione alla storia del Vicino Oriente antico, Bologna 2005.

 

Non-attending students will have to replace the texts indicated in paragraphs 1-3 with the following ones:

A. Invernizzi, Dal Tigri all'Eufrate I. Sumeri e Accadi, Firenze 1992 (starting from page 125);

A. Invernizzi, Dal Tigri all'Eufrate II. Babilonesi e Assiri, Firenze 1992;

P. Matthiae, La storia dell'arte dell'Oriente Antico. II. Gli stati territoriali, 2100-1600 a.C., Milano 2000;

P. Matthiae, La storia dell'arte dell'Oriente Antico. III. I primi imperi e i principati del Ferro, 1600-700 a.C., Milano 1997.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons.

Assessment methods

Oral examination. The student will have to demonstrate an adequate knowledge of the artistic development of Near Eastern civilizations and the ability of grasping connections, differences and comparisons between the different kinds of documentation, properly framing the iconographic material discussed in the classes with an appropriate terminology. 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 is a written test in itinere (not obligatory), focused on points 1 and 2 (limited to Mesopotamia) of the program. 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 (point 2, limited to Syria and Palestine and point 3). In case of passing of 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, video projector, photocopies, web resources.

Office hours

See the website of Raimondo Secci