Fiona Kidd

This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to the material culture of the ancient Near East, from the rise of agriculture to the destruction of the Persian Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great—from the Neolithic to the Late Iron Age. Geographically the course covers the territory from the Levantine coast of Syria and Lebanon, through Iraq, to Iran. The course surveys major archaeological sites and monuments from the perspectives of archaeology, anthropology and art history; it covers wide-ranging topics in a chronological framework, including the development of complex societies, urbanism, state formation, technology, landscapes and settlements, and art and architecture.

Taking the arrival of Alexander the Great in Central Asia as its pivot point, this course explores relations between the various steppe and oasis cultures in Central Asia and the Mediterranean world from the Achaemenid period up to the early Middle Ages. These relations are characterized by a broad spectrum of different forms of contact and exchange. Direct contacts were established, for example, by military campaigns, diplomatic exchanges, migrations or colonization. Less direct forms of cultural transmission resulted from complex transcontinental trade flows. The course will focus on the consequences different forms of communication with the Mediterranean had on Central Asian art and material culture. Students will consider topics such as urbanism, architecture, iconography, and historiography as well as specific aspects of material culture including ceramics, arms and costume.

Archaeologists 'read' information from artifacts, architecture, and the environment to understand people's lives in the past. Archaeology can tell us about the development of the world's first cities and empires, the beginnings of farming, ancient exchange networks, and other important changes across human (pre)history. This course offers a rich introduction to the ways archaeologists study the past and what these analyses reveal about pre-Islamic Western Asia. Students will be introduced to new ways of seeing the past through a series of hands-on laboratory sessions and activities. The material records of ancient Western Asia, especially Southern Arabia and Central Asia, will serve as case studies for exploring how scientific methods like high-powered microscopy and neutron activation analysis can answer fundamental questions about the past. The semester's coursework culminates in the completion of an individual research project and paper.

This course asks how objects from the past obtain meaning long after they were made, and how they have come to express the identity of communities, nations, and religions. We will consider fundamental questions of identity by assessing how objects become imbued with meaning. Who ascribes these objects meaning and why? How do we relate to objects designated to represent us? We will explore object biographies from a range of periods, regions and traditions. We will discuss objects representing contested national and global identities, such as the Cyrus Cylinder from Iraq and the Koh-i-noor diamond from India, as well as material that facilitates discussion of socially and culturally defined identities. In all of these examples politics plays a constant role. Through case studies of iconic objects from around the world, students will compare significance in the originating society with place and function today to better understand how, why, and by whom identity is constructed.

The "Ancient World" is a powerful category of social thought and cultural analysis that appears to designate a period of time - albeit, millennia - in a neutral, self-evident manner. In fact, it distinguishes between remote and current forms of human experience, while simultaneously defining a relationship between the two. For some, the Ancient World is an origin of civilization; for others, its ways of life exemplify what we have left behind; for many it still designates a "Classical World' of Greece and Rome, privileged for study because of its presumed exceptional status. However defined, the "Ancient World" helps create a sense of who we are today and so is constantly remade and reinvented. Thinking Big about the Ancient World means looking for new answers to questions presumed to have special relevance to modern history, including the promise and perils of globalization (Are pandemics inevitable?); social inequality (Do states make or eradicate poverty?); and environmental crisis (Was there an Early Anthropocene?). What can we learn from studying the collapse of ancient civilizations, as we contemplate the possibility of the collapse of our own?

(Formerly HIST-AD 132)
This course will explore the ancient and pre-modern exchange routes, better known as the Silk Routes, that traditionally joined China with the Mediterranean. The area covered by these overland and sea routes witnessed a dynamic exchange of information, ideas, knowledge and technologies, which impacted not only aspects of daily life, but also artistic expression. Ranging from the Bronze Age until the 16th century, and employing an inter-disciplinary approach, we will use archaeological, textual, and art historical sources from across this vast region to illuminate the effects of this history of contact, and to understand how this network facilitated a rich array of cultural encounters that served as a precursor to early globalism.