NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART HISTORY

Thanks to the study of ancient Near Eastern societies, a student can better understand ancient classical civilizations. Thus, this course aims at developing a better knowledge of how to interpret ancient material culture for the students interested in following an academic path in the field of archaeology. Moreover, the subjects investigated during the course will be useful for a collaborating with national and international companies devoted to excavate, manage, and promote the ancient cultural heritage.

Classes will be performed through the use of traditional lectures and by the use of interactive methods such as group discussions.

Archeology and Art History of the Near East will be dedicated to the study of the material culture of the ancient societies that have inhabited a large geographical area limited by the Mediterranean basin, to the west, and by the Indus valley, to the east, dating from prehistoric periods until the arrival of Alexander the Great in the region (330 BC). Some of the topics investigated during the course are as follows: the evolution of social organization (from hunters- gatherers societies to the Mesopotamian Empires); the transformation of administrative techniques (from stamp seals and tokens of the Neolithic period to the cylinder seals and the cuneiform clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia), the changes in religious practices and beliefs (from the first ceremonial architecture of the aceramic Neolithic period at Gobekli Tepe to the Mesopotamian temples of the fourth-to-first millennia BC). In particular, the latest part of the course will be dedicated to investigating the funerary customs of ancient near eastern societies between the third and first millennia BC.

Modulo A

Invernizzi A. (2007) Dal Tigri all'Eufrate Vol. I. Sumeri e Accadi. Le Lettere, Firenze. Pp. 1-424

Modulo B

Invernizzi A. (2007) Dal Tigri all'Eufrate Vol. II. Babilonesi e Assiri. Le Lettere, Firenze. Pp. 1-386

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.