HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

The course is part of the teaching activities that characterise the Master Degree in Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology. It aims at guiding the student to master sources and methodologies in the field of Ancient Near Eastern history, as well as to develop independent research.

At the end of the course, the student will be able to critically approach ancient sources, as well as to apply current methodologies in their analysis. In addition, the student will be able to develop independent research in the field of Ancient Near Eastern history. He or she will practice the newly acquired skills and knowledge by writing a short scientific paper on a topic related to the course, to be agreed upon with the teacher.

A general knowledge of the history of the Ancient Near East is recommended. This might be acquired through a series of individual readings provided by the teacher at the beginning of classes, and tailored on the student’s academic experience.

Title: “History and Society of ancient Syria: a view from Ebla”. The course aims to inquire the urban phenomenon in third millennium Syria, with special reference to the world of Ebla, which provides an interesting case-study. The rich textual sources from the big and small archives will be compared with the archaeological record, in order to achieve a better understanding of how a city-state functioned, as well as of its relationship with the surrounding areas, including other urban entities within the international scenario. Key features of this avenue of research are: royal and religious ideology, modalities for the representation of power, management of resources, as well as administrative practices.

Archi A. 2015. Ebla and Its Archives: Texts, History, and Society (Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records 7). Boston: De Gruyter.
Further references will be provided in class.
For students unable to attend classes, further texts shall be assigned.

- notes and materials from the classes
- class discussion on selected topics
- written assignment (short scientific paper)

Presentation of the subject by the teacher and discussion in class. Handouts will be distributed to the students, concerning texts to be discussed. Overview of web resources.

Italian

Students may also be interested in the following classes:
Assyriology MA
Archaeology of Caucasus
Archaeology of the Levant
Egyptology MA

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development