Archaeology of the Ancient Near East - Period 2

The region of West Asia that in western scholarship is traditionally called the Near East has seen many cultural developments in antiquity that have had a global impact and continue to shape our world today. They include the earliest sedentary farming societies, metallurgy, urbanism, writing and administration, states and empires. Archaeology has played a major role in rediscovering the cultural significance of the ancient Near East, in addition to Biblical scholarship and cuneiform studies, and continues to do so. This course introduces you to the ancient Near East from an archaeological perspective, focusing on developments in the Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia. It discusses the datasets, theories and approaches that characterize the field of Near Eastern archaeology, and challenges you to think about how new research could expand and improve our knowledge about the ancient Near East.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.