Goats, Grains, and Gilgamesh: Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

Ziggurats of forgotten gods, epics in lost languages, cosmopolitan cities bustling with traders from distant lands: the ancient Near East features the world’s earliest agriculture, writing, and empires. From these developments grew diplomacy and commerce – but also inequality and conflict. This course offers an introduction to the ancient Near East through art and archaeology spanning modern Turkey, Iraq, Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and Central Asia. It also explores the influence of archaeology within modern nationalism, colonialism, Orientalism, memory, geopolitics, and the use of Near Eastern antiquity in contemporary pop culture.