This course aims to present a methodological framework of the discipline, to introduce students to the history of archaeological studies and research in the Near East. The course aims to provide the students with cognitive and interpretive tools on the main cultural processes developed by pre-classical civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia from the second half of the 3rd to the 1st millennium BC. The course will allow students to acquire knowledge on material culture and will provide them with the ability to orientate and critically analyse archaeological artifacts through the contexts of discovery.
teacher profile teaching materials
The course begins with an examination of selected settlement case studies in the Near East, spanning from the Early Bronze Age (second half of the 3rd millennium BCE) to the emergence of regional powers in the Middle Bronze Age (first half of the 2nd millennium BCE), the cultural and commercial interactions of the Late Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BCE), and the formation of territorial states during the subsequent Iron Age (1st millennium BCE).
The program includes in-depth analyses of cultural transformations in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine during the early empires and principalities of the Iron Age. Architectural complexes are presented, and the main artistic expressions, such as statuary, relief sculpture, toreutics, coroplastic art, and glyptics, are examined to deepen the understanding of the archaeological record.
Programme
The discipline of Archaeology and Art History of the Ancient Near East focuses on the study and understanding of the cultures, civilisations, and artistic productions of the Ancient Near East, encompassing the geographical areas corresponding to present-day Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and other neighbouring regions.The course begins with an examination of selected settlement case studies in the Near East, spanning from the Early Bronze Age (second half of the 3rd millennium BCE) to the emergence of regional powers in the Middle Bronze Age (first half of the 2nd millennium BCE), the cultural and commercial interactions of the Late Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BCE), and the formation of territorial states during the subsequent Iron Age (1st millennium BCE).
The program includes in-depth analyses of cultural transformations in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine during the early empires and principalities of the Iron Age. Architectural complexes are presented, and the main artistic expressions, such as statuary, relief sculpture, toreutics, coroplastic art, and glyptics, are examined to deepen the understanding of the archaeological record.