Anotace
ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE HELLENISTIC WORLD
Lecturer doc. PhDr. Filip Coppens, Ph.D. (Czech Institute of Egyptology; filip.coppens@ff.cuni.cz)
Guest lecturers doc. PhDr. Ladislav Stančo, Ph.D. (Institute of Classical Archaeology)
Mgr. Jakub Havlík (Institute of Classical Archaeology)
Mgr. Vratislav Kozák (International Relations Office, and Faculty of Humanities, Charles University)
LECTURE ROOM C426 (CELETNÁ) — FRIDAY, 09.10–10.45
Until further notice the course will take place online (via Zoom)
Type of attestation: credit (zápočet)
Language of instruction: English
CONDITIONS FOR ACQUIRING THE CREDIT:
A 15 to 20-minute presentation on an assigned topic in English, French or German (May 7 or 14)
COURSE SUMMARY
The course covers a number of case studies from various regions of the Hellenistic world, both from the core, such as Ptolemaic Egypt and the Syrian Tetrapolis, as well as from farther afield, whether the Hellenistic Far East (Bactria) or Armenia. On the basis of settlements and city-planning, funerary and religious architecture, as well as developments in sculpture, the course will focus on the underlying themes of cultural integration, regionalism local traditions, and religious and economic landscape of the Hellenistic world.
COURSE PROGRAM
February 19 and 26 – Historical overview, introduction to the topics, assignment of tasks for presentations
March 5, 12, 19 and 26 – Settlement patterns and cities in Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid kingdom
April 2 – National holiday
April 9 and 16 – Hellenistic Armenia (guest lectures by Vratislav Kozák)
April 23 – Hellenistic Bactria: archaeological perspective (guest lecture by Ladislav Stančo)
April 30 – Bactria in the Hellenistic period - settlement patterns (guest lecture by Jakub Havlík)
May 7 and 14 – Presentation of seminar work
GUEST LECTURES 1) HELLENISTIC ARMENIA (V. KOZÁK) – April 9 and 16
Armenia is one of the oldest states in the contemporary world. Armenians have played a role in the background of all the world's leading events throughout human history. We find them in Xerxes's army during the Greco-Persian wars, we find them in the fight for the Holy Land during the Crusades or in the Ottoman army during the First World War. But how did the campaign of Alexander the Great affect Armenia? Has Hellenic culture left its traces on Armenia, which were evident in many other cultures in Central Asia? The lecture series will focus on Armenia and Armenian culture during the two great dynasties, where the area, where the powerful kingdom of Urartu used to be, sought to find its place in the world between the rival powers of ancient Persia, the Seleucid Empire and ever expanding Rome.
Recommended literature:
- Blockley, R.C. East Roman Foreign Policy. Leeds: Francis Cairns, 1992.
- Bornoutian, George., A History of the Armenian People. Costa Meza, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1993.
- Hovannisian, Richard G., ed. The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times. 2 vols. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997.
- Manandyan, Hakob A., The Trade and Cities of Armenia in Relation to the Ancient World. 2nd rev. ed.. Trans. Nina G. Garsoian. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1965.
- Payaslian Simon, History of Armenia. New York: Palgrave USA, 2008. 2) HELLENISTIC BACTRIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE (L. STANČO) – April 23
The lecture focuses on the process of formation and development of a Greek-governed state in Bactria, Central Asia. Starting from the Alexander the Great campaign, we shall discuss briefly principal economic and military aspects of the “Hellenistic Far East”, taking into account peculiarities of the Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian periods. Having at hand only scarce written sources on the area in question, almost all evidence comes from the archaeological research, recent one including that of the Czech-Uzbek team.
- Bernard, P. 1994: The Greek Kingdoms of Central Asia. In: Harmatta, J. (ed.): History of Civilization of Central Asia II: The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. Paris, 97–127.
- Holt, F. L. 1999: Thundering Zeus. The Making of Hellenistic Bactria. Berkeley – Los Angeles – London.
- Mairs, R. 2014: The Hellenistic Far East: Archaeology, Language, and Identity in Greek Central Asia. University of California Press
- Mairs, R. (ed.) 2020: The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World. Routledge.
- Masson 1985 = Массон, В. М., Се верная Бактрия. In. Кошеленко, Г. А. (ed.), Древнейшие гозударства Кавказа и Средней Азии. Москва, 250–271.
- Stančo, L. 2012: Greek gods in the East. Hellenistic iconographic schemes in Central Asia. Prague. 3) BACTRIA IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD - SETTLEMENT PATTERNS (J. HAVLÍK) – April 30
The lecture will outline a settlement transformation that occurred in Bactria (Upper Amu Darya basin) as a consequence of the Greek conquest of the area. Based on excavations and surveys from different parts of Bactria, general settlement trends will be defined on both regional and site level. Several settlement sites of different character will be described in order to present large (urban) sites as well as minor ones. Special attention will be paid to site of Ai Khanoum including its rural hinterland.
- Allchin, R. – Ball, W. – Hammond, N. (eds.) 2019: The Archaeology of Afghanistan from Earliest Times to the Timurid period. Edinburgh. Ch. 5: The Iron Age, Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods.
- Gardin, J.-C. 1998: Prospections archéologiques en Bactriane orientale (1974–1978). Volume 3: Description des sites et notes de synthése. Paris.
- Lecuyot, G. (ed.) 2013: Fouilles d’Aï Khanoum IX. L’Habitat. Paris. (See also preceding eight volumes.)
- Leriche, P. 2007: Bactria, Land of Thousand Cities. In: Cribb, J. – Herrmann, G. (eds.): After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam. Oxford, 121–153.
- Martinez-Sève, L. 2015: Ai Khanoum and the Greek Dominance of Central Asia. Electrum 22, 17–46.
- Пичикян, И. Р. 1991: Культура Бактрии. Ахеменидский и эллинистический периоды. Москва.
INTRODUCTORY LITERATURE (GENERAL)
- M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest. A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation, Cambridge 2006 (second augmented edition).
- P. Ballet (ed.), Grecs et Romains en Égypte: territoires, espaces de la vie de la mort, objets de prestige et du quotidien, Cairo 2012. [A 1648]
- G. R. Bugh, The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World, Cambridge 2006.
- A. Erskine (ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World, (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World), Oxford 2005. [H 1425]
- A. Erskine – Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (eds.), Creating a Hellenistic world, Swansea 2011 [H 1389].
- P. Green, Alexander to Actium. The Hellenistic Age, London 1990.
- G. Shipley, The Greek World After Alexander, 323–30 BC, London – New York 2000. [H 1419]
- A. Stewart, Art in the Hellenistic World, Cambridge 2014. [U 445]