Admission requirements
World Archaeology 1.2 obtained.
This is a seminar with a limited number of participants (20 students), for Archaeology students exclusively.
Description
This course provides an overview of the archaeology and cultural history of the eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age (LBA). The LBA is a period of increased connectivity in the eastern Mediterranean, with large empires, influential city states, and large kingdoms co-existing in a complex system of cultural and economic interactions.
In this seminar we will examine this truly connected world and the fragile power balance between the different polities. We will explore each different polity independently, but also in relation with its close and distant neighbours, and we will review the theories and arguments behind the so-called LBA Collapse.
There will be dedicated classes on: the Mycenaean world; Cyprus; Egypt; The Hittites; Western Asia Minor; the Levant and Assyria.
Course objectives
To gain an overview of the archaeology and cultural history of the LBA in the Eastern Mediterranean;
To gain insights into the past and present academic discourse and debates around the LBA Eastern Mediterranean;
Develop a critical analytical framework for the assessment of key issues in the archaeology of the LBA Eastern Mediterranean;
Develop teamwork skills for academic output;
Develop a creative mindset for the assessment of archaeological evidence.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button.
Mode of instruction
Lectures – 1 hour every week
Workgroups – 2 hours of a small group assignment every week
Group discussions – 1 hour of group discussion every week based on the group assignment
Assessment method
The assessment method for the course will be based on the following four components:
Participation in the class (10%)
Participation in the group discussion (10%)
Group activities during class (20%)
Course project (60%)
During the first class, a number of grading schemes (individual and/or group grading; self evaluation; peer review) will be discussed and co-developed between the lecturer and the students. As such, part of the grading will be finalized in the first two week of the course. These grading schemes will be available in the syllabus 1 week prior to the course.
The re-take for the course revolves around the course project. Group activities cannot be retaken.
Reading list
All articles are either fully open access, openly available when you are connected to the University network, or if you log in to the online catalogue of the University, unless noted otherwise.
Introduction
Beckman, G., 2003. International law in the second millennium: Late Bronze Age. In R. Westbrook (ed.) A history of Ancient Near Eastern Law, Brill, pp. 753-774.
Feldman, M.H. 2018. The Ancient Near East and the Bronze Age Aegean. In A.C. Gunter (ed.) A companion to ancient Near Eastern art Wiley Blackwell, pp. 565-583. [this article can be found in the physical copy of the book at the UB and/or the NINO library].
Knapp, A.B., 1993. Thalassocracies in Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean trade: making and breaking a myth. World Archaeology, 24(3), pp.332-347. [note that this is a bit of an older article but offers a good overview; see the 2016 publication ‘Beyond Thalassocracies’ for a more recent overview of the debate on Thalassocracies].
Murray, S.C., 2022. Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age Trade in Archaeological Perspective: A Review of Interpretative and Empirical Developments. Journal of Archaeological Research, pp.1-53.
Anatolia – Hittites
Genz, H. and Mielke, D.P. eds., 2011. Insights into Hittite history and archaeology. Peeters. [suggested chapters from this volume are Chapter 2 History of the Hittites; Chapter 4 Hittite State and Society; Chapter 7 Hittite Cities: Looking for a concept].
Matthews, R. and Glatz, C., 2009. The historical geography of north-central Anatolia in the Hittite period: texts and archaeology in concert. Anatolian Studies, 59, pp.51-72.
Greece - Minoans
Cunningham, T. and Driessen, J., 2004. Site by site: Combining survey and excavation data to chart patterns of socio-political change in Bronze Age Crete. In S.E. Alcock and J.F. Cherry (eds.), Side-by-Side Survey: Comparative Regional Studies in the Mediterranean World, Oxbow Books, pp.101-113.
Davis, J.L. 2008. Minoan Crete and the Aegean Islands. In Shelmerdine, C. W. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, Cambridge University Press, pp. 186-208.
Driessen, J., 2019. The Santorini eruption. An archaeological investigation of its distal impacts on Minoan Crete. Quaternary International 499, pp.195-204.
Greece – Myceneans
Dickinson, O.T.P.K., 2019. What conclusions might be drawn from the archaeology of Mycenaean civilisation about political structure in the Aegean.
In J.M. Kelder and W.J.I. Waal (eds.), From ‘Lugal.Gal’ to ‘Wanax’. Kingship and political Organisation in the Late Bronze Age Aegean, Sidestone Press, pp.31-48.
Pullen, D.J. 2013. Crafts, Specialists, and Markets in Mycenaean Greece. Exchanging the Mycenaean economy. American Journal of Archaeology 117(3), pp. 437-445.
Shelton, K. 2012. Mainland Greece. In E.H. Cline (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean, Oxford University Press, pp. 139-148.
Cyprus and the Levant
Georgiou, A. (2015). Cyprus During the “Crisis Years” Revisited. In A. Babbi, F. Bubenheimer-Erhart, B. Marin-Aguilera & S. Mühl (Eds.), The Mediterranean Mirror. Cultural Contacts in the Mediterranean Sea Between 1200 and 750 B.C. (pp. 129-148). Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums.
Peltenburg, E. & Iacovou, M. (2012), Crete and Cyprus: contrasting political configurations. In C. Cadogan, M. Iacovou & J. Whitley (Eds.), Parallel Lives. Ancient Island Societies in Crete and Cyprus (pp. 345-363). British School at Athens Studies.
Greenberg, R. (2019). The Late Bronze Age: Under Egypt’s Heel. In Greenberg, R. The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant (pp. 272-353). Cambridge University Press (Cambridge World Archaeology).
Steel, L. (2013). Cyprus During the Late Bronze Age. In A.E. Killebrew & M. Steiner (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000-332 BCE (pp. 577-591). Oxford University Press (Oxford Handbooks).
Egypt
Cohen, R. (ed.), 2000. Amarna diplomacy: the beginnings of international relations. JHU Press.
Kelder, J.M., 2009. Royal Gift Exchange between Mycenae and Egypt: Olives as" Greeting Gifts" in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. American Journal of Archaeology, 113(3), pp.339-352.
Phillips, J. 2012. Egypt. In E.H. Cline (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean, Oxford University Press, pp. 820-831.
Late Bronze Age Collapse
Cline, E.H., 2022. Revisiting 1177 BCE and the Late Bronze Age Collapse. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, 10(2), pp.181-186.
Drake, B.L., 2012. The influence of climatic change on the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Greek Dark Ages. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39(6), pp.1862-1870.
Knapp, A.B. and Manning, S.W., 2016. Crisis in context: The end of the Late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean. American Journal of Archaeology, 120(1), pp.99-149.
Registration
Registration start dates for the BA2 seminars differ from the registration dates of the regular courses.
Registration will take place with the use of forms. These will be e-mailed by the Administration Office to all BA2 students at the beginning of October.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact A. Politopoulos Ph.D.
Remarks
Attendance is compulsory.