Archaeology and Art History of ancient near East
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher:
NICOLA GIOVANNI LANERI
Expected Learning Outcomes
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.
The
course will focus in particular on the analysis, through lectures and group
work, of Mesopotamian societies from the protohistoric eras up to the first
millennium BC. In particular, group work will be characterized by debates that
will provide students with useful tools to stimulate their critical thinking,
but also a more conscious learning capacity as well as communication skills
that go beyond traditional notionism-based approaches. Course Structure
Classes will be performed through the use of traditional lectures and by
the use of interactive methods such as group discussions.
Required Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Attendance of Lessons
Attendance is not compulsory.
Detailed Course Content
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). The
main subject of the course will be the analysis of ancient Mesopotamian
societies. 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).
Textbook Information
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.
