B028253 - ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

Italian

SOUTH MESOPOTAMIA AND IRAN FROM THE 4TH MILLENNIUM TO THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE. This course is a cultural rather than an historical class. After a general introduction on chronology, iconography and main sites of both regions, we will focus on the western and southern Iran as a crossroad between central Asia, Indian peninsula and Mesopotamia, in order to show western (Mesopotamian) or eastern (Indian and Afghan) features in the archaeological evidence.

Álvarez-Mon, Javier, Gian Pietro Basello & Yasmina Wicks (eds.). 2018. The Elamite World (Routledge Worlds). London: Routledge. Chapters
7: Metals and Mining, 11: Old elamite, 12: Middle elamite
13. Neoelamite, 14: Elam and the east, 15. Elam and Babylonia, 16. Elam and Assyria, 24. Elamite Administration, 25. Elamite Architecture, 26. Elamite ceramics, 29. Monumental sculpture (origins), 30. Sculptural arts of Elam, 31 Seals (4-2), 35 Religion and Ritual, 36. Funerary Practices

PDf on moodle

1. Knowledge and understanding: provide the student first with the necessary knowledge concerning the region close to Mesopotamia. 2. Applying Knowledge and understanding: recognizing archaeological objects and contextualize them.
3. Making judgements: to improve critical analysis skills on archaeological materials and third to emphasize the relationship between Mesopotamian plan and the Zagros mountains.

This course is open to all students interested in archaeology, ancient Persia/Iran, or the ancient or modern Middle East. No prior knowledge of these areas or ancient or modern languages is necessary. All instruction will be in Italian and all readings will be in English or French.

Lectures by the instructor will cover 65% of the course and are used to provide theoretical knowledge through models.
Individual exercise sessions will strengthen and settle knowledge transferred during lectures. It will also train the students to apply theory to realty with problem solving tasks. Individual exercise sessions will take place twice during the term.
Individual presentations are scheduled at the end of the course (25%): each student will analyse a specific topic and present it with a 10 minute talk, which will undergo a peer evaluation

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The exam consists of a general discussion on themes and features discussed during the course. It is required: 1. to present a specific topic chosen by the candidate. 2. to recognize and contextualize an archaeological object or topographic plan chosen among those presented in class. 3. to have critical knowledge to contextualize material culture

SOUTH MESOPOTAMIA AND IRAN FROM THE 4TH MILLENNIUM TO THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE. This course is a cultural rather than an historical class. After a general introduction on chronology, iconography and main sites of both regions, we will focus on the western and southern Iran as a crossroad between central Asia, Indian peninsula and Mesopotamia, in order to show western (Mesopotamian) or eastern (Indian and Afghan) features in the archaeological evidence.
The course is split into three sections:
Section 1: Introductory lectures on (I) The Pre-Urban World, (II) The Establishment of Urbanism and Empire, and (III) Persia in the Global Context. This section is historical and will follow a chronological order.
Section 2: Communicating power, social belonging, economic status, and social practices (funerary, feeding, religious practices) throughout iconography, writing systems, architecture, pottery and artefacts. This section will develop using case studies and it is a cultural rather than a historical section.
Section 3: Workshop simulation with individual 10 minutes presentations on following topic: Indian peninsula, Central Asia, Arab Peninsula and Eastern Mediterranean meet in Mesopotamia and Persia.