M104: History of Ancient Mesopotamia and Syria

Transcription

1 M104: History of Ancient Mesopotamia and Syria (ANE), (HIST) Spring 2016 Instructor: Robert K. Englund Lectures: Mo We 2:00-3:15 PM, Rm Bunche 2160 Office hours: Mo 4:00-5:00 PM Humanities Building 396, or appointment or Course Description: Political and cultural development of the Fertile Crescent, from early state formation to the Persian period. See < Requirements, grading: Two exams: May 2 mid-term 25%, June 8 final 50%. Term paper will be in the form of five (5) separate file packages, each to consist of one image and one text file (using text editor or writing txt file in Word etc., UTF-8 characters are okay, and note that the text file accepts html tags), compatible with pages in the ipad app cdli tablet < ucla.edu/?q=cdli-tablet>; model files: < submissions are due, per attachment, on or before the end of May 11, 25% Provisional list of lectures / class meetings date topics readings (to be completed prior to the respective lecture dates) Mo March 28 Introduction to course: objectives, methods, requirements We March 30 Sketch of Near Eastern geography, vdmieroop 2004: 1-16; Oppenheim 1977: Mesopotamian history and society Mo April 4 Documentary: Michael Wood, Iraq: The Cradle of Civilisation We April 6 Consideration of historical sources; Postgate 1992: Mesopotamian city-states Mo April 11 A History of Writing Postgate 1992: We April 13 The Early Dynastic period Postgate 1992: (review) Mo April 18 Syrian Ebla; Sargonic period Milano in Sasson 1995: We April 20 The Ur III period Hallo and Simpson 1998: Mo April 25 3rd millennium economies Postgate 1992: ; Diakonoff 1969: ; Gelb 1969: ; Englund 1991: We April 27 Discussion, mid-term prep Mo May 2 MID-TERM EXAM We May 4 Old Assyrian government and trade Veenhof in Sasson 1995: Mo May 9 Hammurapi s Babylon We May 11 Old Babylonian law codes, Postgate 1992: ; Kamp and Yoffee 1980: ; administration of justice Yoffee 1988a: cdi tablet submissions due! Mo May 16 Religion in Mesopotamia Lambert in Sasson 1995: ; Bottero 2001: Introduction We May 18 Movie: People of the Wind Mo May 23 Late Assyria and Babylonia; ; Israel Hallo and Simpson 1998: ; Machinist 1992: and Mesopotamia We May 25 Mesopotamian art, literature, science Winter in Sasson 1995: ; Pittman in Sasson 1995: ; ; Powell in Sasson 1995: Mo May 30 Memorial Day We June 1 Collapse of Mesopotamian civilization; Yoffee 1988b: Discussion, final exam prep We June 8 FINAL EXAM Bunche : PM (should take no longer than 90 minutes to complete)

2 Required readings (PDFs can be downloaded from the class web site [password: m104]): Please purchase the class textbook at the UCLA store, or online: 1) J. Nicholas Postgate, Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History (London 1992) Other required readings: J. Bottero, Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia (Chicago 2001) introduction I. M. Diakonoff, The Rise of the Despotic State in Ancient Mesopotamia, in I. Diakonoff, ed., Ancient Mesopotamia (Moscow 1969) R. K. Englund Hard Work: Where will it get you?, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 50 (1991) I. J. Gelb, On the Alleged Temple and State Economies in Ancient Mesopotamia, in Studi in Onore di E. Volterra, vol. 6 (1969) W. W. Hallo and W. K. Simpson, The Ancient Near East: A History (New York 1998) 72-87, K. Kamp and N. Yoffee, Ethnicity in Ancient Western Asia During the Early Second Millennium, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 237 (1980) P. Machinist, Palestine, Administration of (Assyrian-Babylonian), Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5 (1992) M. van de Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East ca BC (Oxford 2004) A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia (Chicago 1977) J. Sasson et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (4 vols) (New York 1995) (contributions for class: Grayson, A. Kirk, Assyrian rule of conquered territory in ancient western Asia ; Lambert, W. G., Myth and mythmaking in Sumer Akkad ; Milano, Lucio, Ebla : a third-millennium city-state in ancient Syria ; Pittman, Holly, Cylinder seals and scarabs in the ancient near East ; Powell, Marvin A., Metrology and mathematics in ancient Mesopotamia ; Veenhof, Klaas R., Kanesh: an Assyrian colony in Anatolia ; Winter, Irene J., Aesthetics in ancient Mesopotamian art ) N. Yoffee, Context and Authority in Early Mesopotamian Law, in R. Cohen and J. Toland, eds., State Formation and Political Legitimacy (New Brunswick 1988) id., The Collapse of Ancient Mesopotamian States and Civilization, in N. Yoffee and G. L. Cowgill, eds., The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations (Tucson 1988) Recommended: Nemet-Nejat, K., Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (2002) H. Nissen, P. Damerow and R. Englund, Archaic Bookkeeping (Chicago 1993) H. Nissen, Early History of the Ancient Near East, B.C. (Chicago 1990) J. Oates, Babylon (London 1986) H. W. F. Saggs, Babylonians (London 1995) James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near East in Text and Pictures (2 vols.; Princeton 1965 etc.) J. Sasson et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (4 vols) (New York 1995) E. Cassin, Die Altorientalischen Reiche (=Die Fischer Weltgeschichte vols. 2-4; Frankfurt-Hamburg ) The Cambridge Ancient History, vols. I, II, III (later parts more current) Various essays can be found in: Reallexikon der Assyriologie; Anchor Bible Dictionary Bibliographies of Mesopotamian history and culture can be found in the journals Orientalia and Archiv für Orientforschung.

3 Possible topics for cdli tablet submissions Decipherment of cuneiform The early development of writing Egypt and Mesopotamia; contacts in the Uruk period Ebla Mesopotamian royal inscriptions Who s who in Mesopotamian studies Sargon Naram-Sin The obelisk of Manishtushu Trade and traders in the Ur III period Slavery Old Assyrian caravan The law codes Women s rights Assyrian reliefs The library of Assurbanipal, Kuyunjik Nimrud the Northwest Palace of Assurnasirpal II The battle of Lachish ISIS and ancient artifacts The trade in ANE antiquities Protecting cultural heritage collections IT and ANE The Gilgamesh Epic The Flood Story Religion: Pantheon, Cult, Afterlife, etc. Architecture Agriculture Use of animals Food and drink in Mesopotamia Hunting Seals and sealing British Museum collection of ANE artifacts Louvre collection of ANE artifacts Metropolitan collection of ANE artifacts LACMA collection of ANE artifacts

4 Englund, History M104 S2016 Mesopotamian Chronology Bronze Age Designations Period Writing Phase Historical Developments EBA I EBA II EBA III EBA IV MBA I MBA IIA MBA IIB MBA IIC LBA I LBA IIA LBA IIB Late Uruk Jemdet Nasr Early Dynastic I Early Dynastic II Early Dynastic IIIa Early Dynastic IIIb Dynasty of Akkad Gudea of Lagash Ur III Old Assyrian Old Babylonian Middle Assyrian / Kassite Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Seleucid Clay bullae and numerical tablets Archaic texts from Uruk: Writing Phase Uruk IV, Writing Phase Uruk III Archaic texts from Ur Texts from Fara Old Sumerian texts Old Akkadian texts Neo-Sumerian texts Old Assyrian texts Old Babylonian texts Dark Age Middle-Assyrian / Baylonian- texts Neo-Assyrian texts first Aramaic texts Neo-Babylonian texts Revival of cuneiform under the Seleucids Beginning of large-scale settlement of Babylonia First urban centers Age of early civilization Formation of large irrigation networks Rival city-states First empire Centralized state of the 3 rd Dynasty of Ur Hammurapi of Babylon Hittite incursion Amarna correspondence Assyrian empire Babylonian empire (Nebuchadnezzar II) Occupation of Babylon by Cyrus in 539

5 Habuba Kabira Tell Halaf Mari Tell Brak Upper Zab ISRAEL Haifa Jerusalem Beirut Ugarit LEBANON Damascus JORDAN TURKEY Terqa SYRIA SAUDI ARABIA Lake Van Nineveh Nimrud Assur Babylon Nuzi Baghdad Jemdet Nasr Uqair Kish Nippur Asmar Abu Salabikh Isin Drehem Adab IRAQ Lake Urnia Agade? BABYLONIA Umma Fara Uruk Ur Eridu Girsu Lagash km Basra KUWAIT Englund, M104 S2015 Map of Mesopotamia IRAN Choga Mish Susa ELAM Z A G R O S R A N G E Kerkha Karun Tigris Diyala Lower Zab Tigris Khabur