MWF 10:00-10:50 (The so-called C-hour) Sayles 204
Instructor: Ömür Harmansah (Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology)
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 11-12 am. (Or by appointment) Office: Joukowsky Institute (70 Waterman St.) Room 202 E-mail: Omur_Harmansah@brown.edu Tel: 401-863-6411

Course description

Writing, urbanism, agriculture, imperialism: the ancient Near East is known as the place where earliest agriculture flourished, cities were developed and writing was invented. In the recent decades, the Middle East has largely been a place of political instability and unrest, while the archaeological field research in the region has been overwhelmingly impacted by the current socio-political climate. In this course we will explore the archaeological history and current archaeological practice in the Middle East, in connection with Western colonialism, the formation of nation states and ongoing military conflicts. The social and cultural history of the Near East from prehistory to the end of Iron age (300 BC) will be covered as well. Studying the material remains of the ancient past is never entirely about discovering and recovering ancient societies from the deep corners of antiquity: it is more about our modern concerns of self-definition, cultural identity, ideals and ideologies of the present. Throughout the semester therefore, we will also investigate some of interpretive approaches and concepts used within Near Eastern archaeology. The main goal of the course is to develop a critical understanding of ancient societies and their material culture from an interdisciplinary, post-colonial perspective.... Read the full description...

Course Preview Page ~ Weekly Schedule ~ Course Readings ~ Requirements ~ Assignments ~ Discussion

Books at the Bookstore

The following books are ordered by Brown Bookstore. You are recommended (but not required) to buy them. There are also copies of these books on reserve at the Rock.

• Matthews, Roger; 2003. The archaeology of Mesopotamia: theories and approaches. London and New York: Routledge (strongly recommended).

• Van de Mieroop, Marc; 2004. A history of the ancient Near East. ca 3000-323 BC. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (strongly recommended).

• Postgate, J. Nicholas; 1992. Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the dawn of history. Routledge: London and New York (strongly recommended).

• Akkermans, Peter M.M.G. and Glenn M. Schwartz; 2003. The archaeology of Syria: from complex hunter-gatherers to early urban societies (ca. 16,000-300 BC). Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (suggested).

Announcements, updates, links

• Talk: "Shaping Space into Place and Idea: Community Identity at Qubbet el-Hawa" by Deborah Vischak (Columbia University). Mencoff Hall (The Cabinet), 68 Waterman Street on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

• Talk: "Picnicking with the Buddhas in Colonial India" by Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar (Brown University). Wednesday, February 13, 5:30pm at Nightingale-Brown House, 357 Benefit Street. Cultural? Heritage? Tourism? Series. The talk will focus on the 'famous ruins of Takht-e-Bahi' - one of the most popular picnic spots for Europeans in northwestern British India. Professor Zamindar will examine why these Buddhist ruins were so popular with Nineteenth century Europeans in India and the larger politics of the site.

• Opinion Editorial Piece "The endangered future of the past" by Ömür Harmansah and Christopher Witmore. International Herald Tribune, 21 December 2007.

• Archaeology of Mesopotamia course I taught in Fall 2006.