NES 6610 - Archaeology of Iraq and Its Neighbors

(crosslisted) ANTHR 6610, ARKEO 6610
(HA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. S-U grades only.

Co-meets with ANTHR 2010, ARKEO 2010, NES 2610.

L. Khatchadourian

The Near East is a land often defined by “firsts”: the first cities, first writing, first empires. As a result, archaeology has long looked to the region for explanations of origins, particularly the origins of states and civilization. This introductory course offers an analytical survey of approximately 10,000 years of human history in the Near East, from the appearance of farming villages to the dawn of imperialism, in order to come to terms with the region’s distinctive historical trajectory and legacies. Covering modern day Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, and neighboring lands, the focus of this course is on past material worlds, from built spaces and landscapes, to objects and visual media. How has the study of the Near East shaped global archaeology’s methods and theories?