Anthropology 197 (118TS) Syllabus Fall 1999

Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

Archaeological and historical evidence is used to trace the development of various ancient Near Eastern cultures. The rise of the first civilizations in the Fertile Crescent provides the focus of the first half of the course. The second half covers development of the great empires of Egypt, the Hittites, Assyria, Babylon and Persia, ending with the Hellenistic era brought about by the conquest of Alexander the Great in c. 300 bce. The emphasis throughout is on the political, social, religious and economic systems that allowed these great civilizations to flourish, along with the institutions and values that made up the fabric of daily life. The relationships and interaction between the various cultures are stressed, and the similarities, differences and possible influences between Near Eastern civilizations and the rise of western civilization in Greece explored.

Instructor: Stuart Tyson Smith Office & Contact: 1016 HSSB, 893-7887, stsmith@sscf.ucsb.edu Office Hours: Wednesday 10-11, Thursday 2:30-3:30.

Time & Place: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 12:30-1:45, Broida 1640.

Course Requirements

The course will have a midterm counting for 1/4 of the grade, a comprehensive final exam counting for 1/2 of the grade, and a short project paper counting for 1/4 of the grade. The mid-term will consist of a map section (20%), short description identifications (40%), and essay questions (40%). The final will consist of an image section (20%), short description identifications (40%), and essay questions (40%). For each section there will be some choice of what to answer (e.g., identify 10 of 15 place names listed, one of two essay questions, etc.). Exam questions will be drawn from both the readings and lectures. The Final Exam will focus on the second half of class, but will include a comprehensive essay question. Study questions and lists for the identification and map sections will be handed out before each exam. Make up exams can be scheduled if it is not possible to attend on an exam day. This should be arranged before the exam is given, otherwise a penalty may be assessed (a valid excuse such as illness or a family emergency will never be penalized). In the 10 page (double spaced, not larger than 12 pt. font) project, students will interpret an archaeological data set from the Near East. This project will be discussed in detail during the second half of the course in class and in handouts.

Readings will be assigned from the following (see Course Schedule for specific assignments):

Michael Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia, Facts on File, New York, 1990.

Daniel C. Snell, Life in the Ancient Near East, 3100-332 B.C.E. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1997.

Available on reserve:

James B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East. An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, Vol. 1 Princeton University Press, 1975 (ISBN: 0691002002). Should you want your own copy it’s available at textbooks.com for $17.

James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern texts relating to the Old Testament, Princeton University Press, 1975. This is an older edition with the same readings that will also be placed on reserve.

Anthro 197 (118TS) Course Schedule

Week 1 September 30

D Introduction. Sources & Geography.

Readings: Roaf pp. 10-23, 152-153; Snell, pp. 1-10.

Week 2 October 4, 7

D What made it all possible: the Agricultural “Revolution” in Syria-Palestine and the beginnings of settled life at Jericho, Jarmo, Çatal Hüyük and Ain Ghazal.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 24-48.

D The Road to “Civilization” – The Urban Revolution: The Halafian, Ubaid and Uruk Cultures, the Egyptian Predynastic and Nubian A-Group.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 48-68.

Project begins: Survey.

Week 3 October 12, 14

D The First Civlizations: Cuneiform and city states, Jemdet Nasr and the Sumerians in Southern Mesopotamia.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 68-95; Snell, pp. 11-29.

D Crossroads of Civilization: Trade and Interaction in Early Bronze Age Syria-Palestine. Pharaohs and Pyramids in Egypt.

Readings: Pritchard, pp. 1-2, 234-6.

Week 4 October 19, 21

D The Rise of Babylon and Assyria. Hammurapi and the unification of Mesopotamia, Hammurapi, the early Assyrians and their trading colonies in Anatolia.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 96-130; Snell, pp. 30-47; 145-158.

Pritchard, Hammurapi’s code, etc.

D Center and Periphery: Middle Kingdom Egypt; Trade and interaction in Middle Bronze Age Syro-Palestine, the city states of Ugarit, Byblos, Ebla and Mari. The Amorites/Hyksos.

Readings: Snell, pp. 48-65; Pritchard, pp. 234-6.

Week 5 October 26, 28

D Africa, the Near East and the Aegean - It’s a Small World After All! Trade and Interaction from the Nubian Kingdom of Kush to the Aegean Minoans and Indian Sub-continent.

D Halloween Special: Mummies, Demons & Gilgamesh.

Readings: Pritchard, pp. 40-74, the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Week 6 November 2, 4

D Mid-Term Exam, November 2.

D Age of Empires. Imperial Pharaoh – New Kingdom Egypt, Nubia and Late Bronze Age Syria-Palestine.

Readings: Pritchard, pp. 173-84, 226-231, 237-44, 252-59.

Project Begins.

Week 7 November 9, 11

D Imperial Babylon under the Kassites and Mesopotamian Civilization.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 139-42; Snell, pp. 66-77.

Pritchard, pp. 138-167, 250-52, 231-233

D Contested Peripheries and Shifting Empires: The Mittanni in Syria and Hittites in Anatolia.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 132-139, 142-146.

Pritchard, pp. 87-91

Project Phase II

Week 8 November 16, 18

D Merchants and Seafarers: Trade and interaction in Late Bronze Age Syro-Palestine in an International Age. Invaders from the West: The invasion of the Sea Peoples, the fall of the Hittites and the Kassites, Egypt stems the tide.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 146-148, 156-7.

Pritchard, pp. 209-224.

Project Phase III

D The Resurgence of Empires in the Iron Age: The Assyrian domination of Babylonia and Nubian domination of Egypt.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 148-51, 154-5, 158-195; Snell, pp. 78-98.

Pritchard, pp. 16-24, 188-202.

Week 9 November 22, Thanksgiving Holiday

D In Time for Thanksgiving – Origin Myths and the Legitimization of the State in the ancient Near East and good ol’ USA.

Prepare Papers (and/or eat Turkey).

Week 10 November 29, December 2

D Regional Empires: The fall of Assyria and the rise of the Neo-Babylonians and Persians.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 196-221; Snell, pp. 99-118.

Pritchard, pp. 202-208.

Prepare Papers.

D By the Waters of Babylon: Archaeology and the Bible: The Archaeology of Syro-Palestine in the Iron Age. The Bible as history, myth or reality? The Exodus and the conquest of Canaan, the Babylonian Captivity and its influence on the historicity of the Bible.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 222-223.

Week 11 December 7, 9

Papers due Monday, December 7

D East meets West: The historicity of Homer and influence of the early Greeks by Egypt and the Near East in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. The Conquest of Alexander the Great, the Romans, and the Hellenization of the Near East.

Readings: Roaf, pp. 214-15; Snell pp. 119-143

D Black Athena? Egypt, the Near East and the origins of Western Civilization.