OVERVIEW

The course of Archaeology and Art History of the Ancient Near East, intended for students of Languages and modern cultures, includes one module of 6  CFU for a total of 36 teaching hours.  This module will be held in the first semester: lectures will start on Wednesday,  2 October 2024, from 11am to 2pm  in room M at the Polo Didattico; and they will be delivered every Wednesday at the same time. The module is accessible to everybody. Owing to the special features of the discipline, the relevance of images, videos and 3d reproductions of objects, attendance is highly recommended.

Please note: I'll organise a guided tour of the Egypt Museum in Turin, which this year on the occasion of the bicentenary of its foundation presents a new exhibition and a new gallery of hieroglyphic writing.

 It may also be possible for those students interested to partecipate in the excavations under my direction at some Assyrian sites in northern Iraq and in the Iraqi Kurdistan.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at stimulating students to gain a better understanding on the dynamics of preservation and development of the artistic and archaeological heritage in the ancient Near East after the destructions and threats by ISIS terrorists; achieving a fundamental knowledge of the most important Near Eastern collections from the top museums in the world. As well as outlining the main features of the historic, archaeological and linguistic development of the most relevant civilisations from the ancient Near East, with a special focus on Mesopotamia.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course aims at stimulating students to gain a better understanding on the dynamics of preservation and development of the artistic and archaeological heritage in the ancient Near East after the destructions and threats by ISIS terrorists; achieving a fundamental knowledge of the most important Near Eastern collections from the top museums in the world. As well as outlining the features of the historic, archaeological and linguistic development of the most relevant civilisations from the ancient Near East, with a special focus on Mesopotamia and to a lesser extent ancient Egypt.

At the end of course, the  students must achieve  the following learning results:

- to focus and comprehend the dynamics of cultural heritage preservation in the Near East;

- to know the main museum collection of Near Eastern antiquities worldwide,

- as well as the main features of historical, artistic and linguistic development of Mesopotamian civilization from Prehistory to the great empire of the I millennium BC.  

PREREQUISITES

No specific prerequisites are required. 

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lectures supported by Powerpoint presentations, videos and 3D reproductions of architecture, artefacts and works of art. The didactic material will be published on a weekly base on the Aulaweb platform.

The visit to the Egypt Museum in Turin will be scheduled during the course for November/December 2024 or January 2025 at the latest.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Issues of destruction and recostruction of Near Eastern cultural heritage in the aftermath of wars and Islamic terrorism. From Mosul to Nineveh, from Nimrud to Palmyra: recent developments on the preservation of the archaeological and artistic heritage in the Near East, with a special focus on Iraq and Syria.

2. The birth of the discipline and the formation of the main collections of  antiquities from the ancient Near East in museums worldwide. 

3. Archaeology and art history  of the ancient Near East, with a special emphasis on Mesopotamia from the agricultural revolution to the Assyrian and Babylonian empires in the Second and First Millennium BC.

4. Introduction to ancient  Akkadian language, with translations of some brief sections of the law code of Hammurapi, and passages of the Epic of Gilgamesh. 

5. I'll organise a guided tour of the Egypt Museum in Turin: students are expected to know the main collections illustrated in the tour. 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Program for attending students:

As a complement to the lectures’ notes and images:

1. A. Invernizzi, "Dal Tigri all'Eufrate - Volume I, Sumeri e Accadi". Le Lettere, Firenze,1992/2007: only images and topics dealt with in lectures;
   2. A. Invernizzi, "Dal Tigri all'Eufrate - volume II, Babilonesi e Assiri", Le Lettere, Firenze,1992/2007: only images and topics dealt with in lectures;
   3. Paolo Brusasco, "La Mesopotamia prima dell'Islam", Bruno Mondadori, 2008.

Further readings:

 Two chapters of one of the following books:

- Paolo Brusasco, "Dentro la devastazione. L'ISIS contro l'arte di Siria e Iraq". La Nave di Teseo 2018.
- Paolo  Brusasco, “Tesori rubati. Il saccheggio del patrimonio artistico nel Medio Oriente”, Bruno Mondadori 2013.
- Paolo Brusasco, “Babilonia. All'origine del mito”. Cortina, Milano, 2012.
- Paolo Brusasco, "Looting the past. Syria's cultural heritage under attack: another Iraq?", Libreria Universitaria 2012: only Section 1.

- Mario Liverani, “Assiria. La preistoria dell’imperialismo”. Laterza, Bari, 2017.

- Mario Liverani, "Uruk la prima città", Laterza, Bari, 2017.

-  Zainab Bahrani, "Mesopotamia: Ancient Art and Architecture", Thames & Hudson, London, 2017.

- V. Cortese, M.C. Guidotti, "Antico Egitto. Arte, storia e civiltà", Giunti, Firenze, 2017.

The bibliography on the Akkadian language  - only a few sections - will be dealt with in the course.

Overseas students can agree with the lecturer a bibliography in English or in another language.

Program for non-attending students:
A. Invernizzi, "Dal Tigri all'Eufrate - Volume I, Sumeri e Accadi". Le Lettere, Firenze, 1992/2007: the whole volume;
2. A. Invernizzi, "Dal Tigri all'Eufrate - volume II, Babilonesi e Assiri", Le Lettere, Firenze, 1992/2007: the whole volume;
3. Paolo Brusasco, "La Mesopotamia prima dell'Islam", Bruno Mondadori (2008).

Further readings:
Three chapters of one of the following books:

- Paolo Brusasco, "Dentro la devastazione. L'ISIS contro l'arte di Siria e Iraq". La Nave di Teseo 2018.
-Paolo Brusasco, “Tesori rubati. Il saccheggio del patrimonio artistico nel Medio Oriente”, Bruno Mondadori 2013.
- Paolo Brusasco, “Babilonia. All'origine del mito”. Cortina, Milano, 2012.
-Paolo Brusasco, "Looting the past. Syria's cultural heritage under attack: another Iraq?", Libreria Universitaria 2012: only Section 1.

-Mario Liverani, “Assiria. La preistoria dell’imperialismo”. Laterza, Bari, 2017.

- Mario Liverani, "Uruk la prima città", Laterza, Bari, 2017.

-  Zainab Bahrani, "Mesopotamia: Ancient Art and Architecture", Thames & Hudson, London, 2017

- V. Cortese, M.C. Guidotti, "Antico Egitto. Arte, storia e civiltà", Giunti, Firenze, 2017.

The bibliography on the Akkadian language  - only a few sections - will be dealt with in the course and published in Aulaweb.

Overseas students can agree with the lecturer a bibliography in English or in another language.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

PAOLO BRUSASCO (President)

CHIARA BENATI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lessons will start on Wednesday, 2 October 2024, from 11am to 2pm in room M at the Polo Didattico. 
They will be held every Wednesday from 11am to 2pm in room M at the Polo Didattico. 

Class schedule

ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EST

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of an oral assessment on the syllabus contents. Candidates will be asked at least one question for each of the topics dealt with in the module, with a special focus on cultural heritage preservation after terrorist attacks, museum collection of Near Eastern antiquities worldwide, as well as the  development of the archaeology, history,  art history and languages of ancient Mesopotamia from Prehistory to the Assyrian and Babylonian empires of the I millennium BC.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The achievement of the learning objectivs and targets through oral examination allow to verify the understanding skill level of the dynamics of cultural heritage preservation in the Near East; the knowledge of the main museum collection of Near Eastern antiquities worldwide, as well as the main features of archaeological, historic, artistic and linguistic development  of Mesopotamian civilizations from Prehistory to the great empires of I millennium BC. To this end, the following parameters will be examined: language skills, familiarity with specialistic lexicon, capacity of critical reasoning about the historic, artistic and linguistic developments of the cultures studied in the module.     

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department's disability liaison.

Owing to the special features of the discipline, the relevance of images, videos and 3d reproductions of objects, attendance is highly recommended.