Anotace
Aims: The purpose of the course is to provide students with a diachronic overview of the archaeological remains from the 2nd millennium B.C. excavated in the central areas of Mesopotamia. The course will focus on remains from the Old Babylonian, Old Assyrian, Mittanian, Kassite, and Middle Assyrian periods with the possibility of expanding the course in the future with a semester devoted to the first millennium.
The course will be structured as a series of lectures following the urban, artistic, and technological development of Mesopotamian and neighboring cities and settlements throughout the long history of the floodplain. Special attention will be paid to the analysis of palaces, temples, and works of art including statuary, ceramics, and exceptionally relevant to understanding the socio-cultural context of the relevant periods.
An approximate breakdown of classes with the topic covered is given below. lessons 1-3 - Old Babylonian period urbanization and settlement distribution; public architecture (palaces, temples, defensive structures); private architecture; art, glyptic, metal working, pottery; funerary costumes. lessons 4-6 - Old Assyrian period urbanization and settlement distribution; public architecture; private architecture; art, glyptic, metal working, pottery; funerary costumes. lessons 7-9 - Mitanni urbanization and settlement distribution; public architecture (palaces, temples, defensive structures); private architecture; art, glyptic, metal working, pottery; funerary costumes. lessons 10-12 - Kassite and Middle Assyrian period urbanization and settlement distribution; public architecture (palaces, temples, defensive structures); private architecture; art, glyptic, metal working, pottery; funerary costumes.
Bibliography:
One of the following manuals:
Crawford, H. (ed.), 2013, The Sumerian World, Routledge, London-New York.
Matthews, R., 2003, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Theories and Approaches, Routledge, London-New York.
Potts, D. T. (ed.), 2012, A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, vols. I-II, Whiley-Blackwell, Malden.
Additional options:
Nadali, D. – Polcaro, A. (eds.), 2015, Archeologia della Mesopotamia Antica, Carocci Editore, Roma. [ONLY IN ITALIAN, BUT WITH LOTS OF ILLUSTRATIONS, CHARTS, DRAWINGS, SCULPTURES, RELIEFS AND GLYPTIC, IT HAS ALSO DOWNLOADABLE ONLINE MATERIALS].
Pollock, S., 1999, Ancient Mesopotamia, Cambridge University Press [FOR GENERAL PUBLIC].