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Cultural Heritage

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Archaeology and Art History of ancient near East

Academic Year 2026/2027 - 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

The class will take place with a mixes system between theory and practice on the filed and lectures accompanied by PPT presentations. For some specific topics covered in the class it will also be possible to carry out exercises with the involvement of the student, individually or in groups. There are also guided visits to museums and archaeological sites. In addition, during the course of the lessons, highly qualified experts in the field will be invited to offer short seminars (face-to-face or online) who will illustrate their specific study experiences in order to increase the student's educational background.

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).

The teachers undertake, within the limits of the financial resources, to ensure as far as possible that a copy of the adopted texts is available in the departmental library or (in the case of hard-to-find texts, articles and essays) to make them available on Studium, in accordance with the applicable copyright laws.

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