Middle Eastern Archaeology: Early developmental dynamics and theoretical concepts

Pre-requisites: To have majored in archaeology

Course objectives: Expanding the knowledge regarding early cultural dynamism in Middle East viewed through archaeological finds, theory, hypotheses and models. Review of the potential for total interpretation; comparative analysis; critical and synthetic review of archaeological material.

Course description: Archaeology of society, political chronology and early cultural dynamism in southeastern Levant and its surrounding; factors and processes of social development; applicability of theoretical concepts and creating models; human interaction with the surrounding environment; the possibility of connecting with other disciplines.

Learning Outcomes: Essay and written examination

Literature/Reading:

• Daniel, G. E., 1976, Hundred and Fifty Years of Archaeology. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
• Pollock, S., and Bernbeck, R. (eds.), 2005, Archaeologies of the Middle East. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
• Levy, T. E., (ed.) 1998, The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, ed. London and Washington: Leicester University Press.
• Richard, S., and Dever, W. G. (eds.) 2003 Near Eastern Archaeology. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
• Levy, T. E., and van den Brink, E. C. M. (eds.) 2002 Egypt and the Levant: Interrelations from the 4th through the Early 3rd Millennium B. C. E. London and New York: Leicester University Press.
• Herzog, Z., 1997, Archaeology of the City: Urban Planning in Ancient Israel and Its Social Implications. Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Archaeology Press.
• Bard, K. A., 1994, From Farmers to Pharaohs: Mortuary Evidence for the Rise of Complex Society in Egypt. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
• Hassan, F. A., 2000, Environmental Perception and Human Responses in History and Prehistory. Pp. 121-140 in The Way the Wind Blows: Climate, History, and Human Action, eds. R. J. McIntosh, J. A. Taint
• Frankfort, H., 1978, Kingship and the Gods: A Study of Ancient Near East Religion as the Integration of Society and Nature. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.