ANTH222

Discusses the history and archaeology of the Middle East from the rise of the Meroitic Kingdom in Sudan around 350 BCE to the founding of Baghdad in Iraq circa 750 CE. Theory of cultural transmission is used to discuss the history of states, religions, and material culture. Central to the course are the different methods of archaeology and how they have helped us to understand this region and time period. These include bio-anthropological analyses, archaeological surveys and excavations, inscriptions and written sources, ceramics and other examples of material culture. Students will have an opportunity to get acquainted with these different methods to gain a first understanding of the complex relations in the region contrasting the archaeology of Sudanese Meroitic and Christian kingdoms with the historiographical study of the Umayyad Caliphate.