Prospectus

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Elective: Georgisch, The Prehistory and History of Georgia and the Transcaucasus

Course
2013-2014

Admission requirements

Description

The course of lectures The Prehistory and History of Georgia and Transcaucasia includes information about all cultures which were explored in the territory of Transcaucasia from the Stone Age to the medieval period. The following cultures will be discussed in detail: Early Bonze Age Kuro-Arax (3rd mill. BC), Middle Bronze Age Trialeti (beginning of 2nd mill. BC) and Late Bronze Age (15-13 cc. BC), Early Iron Age (late 2nd – beginning of 1st mill. BC). After the beginning of Greek colonization in the Black Sea area, the culture of the coastal part of Western Transcaucasus (mentioned in Greek and Roman literary sources as “Colchian Kingdom”) was changed, but in the other territories of the region Achaemenid Persian culture was dominant. After Alexander the Great’s military activities to the East different states were established, including Caucasian Iberia, Armenia, Albania, Atropatena. The medieval period in Transcaucasia was marked by different political and economic relations with countries outside of Transcaucasia.

Course Objectives

The main goal of the course in The Prehistory and History of Georgia and Transcaucasia is the formation of correct knowledge and understanding of different political, economic and cultural events, as well as the chronology and character of archaeological cultures of Transcaucasia from the Stone Age up to the medieval period.
After successful completion of this course, the student will have knowledge of the ancient history and archaeological cultures that existed on the territory of Transcaucasia, also of artifacts that are typical for this area, characters of the common signs, their dates, and links to other archaeological cultures, as well as information about the archaeological research which has taken place in this area.

Timetable

November-December 2013
Timetable

Mode of instruction

Lecture / Seminar

Assessment method

Exams, writing

Teaching materials / reading list:

  • Babaev, I., Gagoshidze, I., Knauss, F. 2007. An achaemenid ,,Palace” at Qarajamirli (Azerbaijan). Preliminary report on the excavations in 2006. In Ivantchik, A., Licheli, V. (eds.). 2007. Achaemenid culture and local traditions in Anatolia, South Caucasus and Iran. New discoveries. Leiden – New York. Brill academic publishers.

  • Braund, D. 1994. Georgia in Antiquity. A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia 550 B.C. – 562 A.D. Achaemenids and Seleucids in Georgia. Oxford. Clarendon Press.

  • Licheli, V. 1999a. The Black Sea-Vani-Samtskhe: the spreading route of Black-glazed Pottery. La Mer Noire zone de contacts. Actes du VIIe Symposium de Vani-1994. Paris.

  • Licheli, V. 1999. St. Andrew in Samtskhe. Archaeological proof. In: Early Christianity in Caucasus, London.

  • Licheli, V. 2010. Glimpse to the Archaeology of Georgia,

  • Lordkipanidze, O. 2002. Down of the Georgian Civilization, Tbilisi.

  • Lordkipanidze, O. 2001. The Golden Fleece: myth, euhemeristic explanation and archaeology. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 20.

  • Mikeladze, T. 1995. Grosse kollektive Grabgruben der frühen Eisenzeit in Kolchis. Archäologischer Anzeiger, I.

  • The Royal palace Institution in the First Millennium B.C. Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens, vol. 4,Kopenhagen, 2001.

  • New archaeological publications in Georgia. In:Ancient Civilizations from Scythia and Siberia. An international Journal of Comparative Studies in History and Archaeology. Vol. 12. # 3-4. Brill., 2006

  • Licheli, V. 2008. A Middle Bronze Age Burial at Atskuri. Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Suppl. 19. Archaeology in Southern Caucasus: Perspectives from Georgia. PEETERS, LEUVEN-PARIS-DUDLEY.MA.2008

  • Licheli, V. 2008. The statue of colchian knight on th Samos island – accidental or reasonable. In: Pontika 2008, Recent research on the Northern and Eastern Black sea in Ancient Times. International colloquium, Cracow.

  • Licheli, V. 2011, Urban development in Central Transacucasia-Anatoian context. In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia and Siberia. An international Journal of Comparative Studies in History and Archaeology. Vol. 17. # Brill.

Blackboard

Yes: Blackboard.

Registration

Via uSis

Contact information

Coordinator of Studies Titia Bouma

Remarks

Power Point will be used during all lectures