The Many Paths Leading Toward the Creation of the Ancient City

3 units

The purpose of this class is to examine the emergence of the Ancient City across the globe. We want to begin with the concepts of urbanism, city, and metropolis. These are words whose derivation are to be found in the classical languages of the Mediterranean. Is there any means to reach an understanding of how other civilizations and societies characterized these special places on the landscape? In the past many scholars have argued that market economies and state level societies are essential to their existence. Such arguments reflect issues of sustainability in terms of the economy and the effective control of large populations through state level institutions. While we want to understand the role of the economy and the level(s) of political integration involved in the process of urbanism, are there other cultural institutions such as religion that play a much larger and more significant role? Do these places reflect the citizens perception of the cosmos?