In this course, we will discuss premodern modes of economic exchange and their systemic societal effects in light of their institutional embedding, with emphasis on trade and markets in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East.
Afghanistan is the quintessential “crossroads of cultures” where the civilizations of the Near East, Central Asia, South Asia and China interacted over the millennia in a constantly shifting mixture of trade, emulation, migration, imperial formations, and periodic conflict. This complex history of contacts gave rise to some of the most important archaeological, artistic, architectural, and textual treasures in world cultural heritage – encompassing cultures as diverse as the Bronze Age cities of Bactria, the Persian Empire, the easternmost colonies founded by Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors, the Kushan empire astride the Silk Road, and the monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan. Although the first excavations began in the 1920’s, there has been only limited fieldwork in Afghanistan, and even this was truncated by the Soviet invasion in 1979 and the subsequent 35 years of continuous war in that country.
This course presents an introduction to the archaeology of Afghanistan from the Neolithic through the Medieval Islamic periods, focusing on sites in Afghanistan and the region’s cultural linkages to neighboring areas such as Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia. The final portion of the course will discuss the threats to Afghan cultural heritage, and current effort to preserve this patrimony. The course is intended for Undergraduate;Graduate who have had at least one introductory course in archaeology.
any introductory course in archaeology is desirable but not required
This course is intended to present the dominant typologies of Islamic ceramics, most of which have been studied from an art historical approach. Specific archaeological typologies will be assembled from published reports and presented in seminar meetings. Half of the course will consist of analysis of sherd collections, observatory analysis of typological criteria, and training in drawing these artifacts.
Continue acquisition of basic Classical Hebrew; continue acquisition of basic notions of historical grammar; acquire the rudiments of analysis of Biblical Hebrew poetry.
Intermediate Classical Hebrew II or erquivalent
Introduction to reading and analysis of Phoenician inscriptions
Hebrew Letters and Inscriptions
The beginner’s course is the first of three sequential courses offered to students at the university. The course aims to introduce students to reading, writing and speaking Modern Hebrew. Toward that end all four-language skills are emphasized: comprehension of written and oral materials; reading of non-diacritical text; writing of directed sentences, paragraphs, and compositions; speaking. Students will learn the Hebrew root pattern system, and by the end of the year will have mastered the five (active) basic verb conjugations in both the past and present tenses (as well as simple future). This grammatical knowledge is complemented by an 800+ word vocabulary, which is presented with an eye toward the major syntactic structures, including the proper use of prepositions. At the end of the year, students will conduct short conversations in Hebrew; read materials designed to this level and write short compositions.
The purpose of this three-quarter sequence is to enable the student to acquire a knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar of Classical Hebrew sufficient to read prose texts with the occasional assistance of a dictionary. The second quarter focuses on verb inflection and verbal sequences and includes translation to and from Hebrew, oral exercises, and grammatical analysis.
HEBR 10101 or equivalent
Please refer to previously existing course description
Introduction to Classical Ethiopic I
This course provides a basic introduction to the grammar, vocabulary, and orthographic styles of the administrative and literary stage of the Egyptian language and script used in the Late Period (into the Roman Empire).
This course introduces the cursive literary and administrative script of Middle Egyptian (corresponding to the Middle Kingdom period in Egypt) and is intended to provide familiarity with a variety of texts written in hieratic (e.g., literary tales, religious compositions, wisdom literature, letters, accounts, graffiti).
