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Anatolian Studies
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course aims to introduce students to the study of pre-Classical Anatolian civilizations, providing a general historical and geographical framework, a historical-political overview, and a survey of documentary and archaeological sources, along with methods for their critical analysis. Students will acquire a basic knowledge of the geography and political history of pre-Classical Anatolia, the sources on which historical reconstruction is based, and the main methodological issues involved.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Students will be able to navigate secondary literature and handle the fundamental methodological issues involved in the critical analysis of sources. They will also be able to apply the knowledge acquired in this course in connection with that gained in other courses with related content or methodological approaches.
FURTHER EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Independent judgement:
Students are expected to demonstrate independent judgement in contextualising sources related to the civilizations of pre-Classical Anatolia and in engaging with secondary literature.
Communication skills:
Students are expected to master basic specialist terminology and to present themes and issues related to the history of pre-Classical Anatolia clearly and coherently.
Learning skills:
Students should have developed the skills necessary to continue their studies with a good degree of autonomy.
Course Prerequisites
Ability to read texts in English.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and class discussions led by the instructor, supported by handouts and visual materials, will be complemented by a bibliographic exercise, as well as group exercises (during specific class sessions) and individual assignments (a student presentation on a relevant document or topic, to be agreed upon with the instructor).
Assessment Methods
The exam is oral, conducted in Italian (or, upon the student’s request, in English), and consists of the presentation and discussion of topics covered in the syllabus and during the course. Students may also be asked to identify or contextualise an object or document.
Assessment criteria: clarity of presentation in correct Italian (or English), coherence, completeness of information, proper use of terminology, and the ability to apply the methodology learned.
Texts
Reference materials for attending students:
- - Handouts, worksheets, and bibliographic materials provided during the course
- - Catherine Kuzucuoğlu, The Physical Geography of Turkey: An Outline, in: C. Kuzucuoğlu et al. (eds), Landscapes and Landforms of Turkey, 2019, 7–15
- - L. Milano (ed.), Il Vicino Oriente Antico dalle origini ad Alessandro Magno, 2012/2022 (Ch. 1.1–1.3; 2.1, 4.3, 5.2–5.4)
- - Sh. Steadman & G. McMahon (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia, 2011 (Ch. 26, 27, 42, 43, 45)
- - J. Seeher, Hattusa Guide: A Day in the Hittite Capital, 2020
- - M. Liverani, Antico oriente : Storia società economia, Roma/Bari, 1988: Ch. XII (Lo Stato e i commerci paleo-assiri)
- - Ch. Zinko, The documentation of Anatolian, in: J. Klein et al. (eds), Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics, 2017, 239–249
- - G. Beckman, Hittite Religion, in The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World, 2015, 84–101
- - V. Blanchard (ed.), Royaumes oubliés: de l'empire hittite aux Araméens, 2019, 58–63 (with cat. nos. 1–5)
Specific exam programmes for non-attending students will be arranged during office hours.
Contents
From Göbekli Tepe to Gordion: discovering pre-classical Anatolia.
Anatolia, roughly corresponding to today's Turkey, has always been a bridge between Europe and Asia, a place of passage, encounter and contamination due to its location and geographical conformation. Anatolia saw around 10,000 B.C. the first domestication of cereals and the invention of agriculture; between 1700 and 1200 B.C., in the Bronze Age, it was the heart of the Hittite civilisation, one of the 'great kingdoms' of the Ancient Near East. The course offers a cultural-historical profile of the civilisations of pre-classical Anatolia, with a focus on physical geography and its repercussions on long-term socio-economic phenomena, the different types of sources available and their methods of investigation.
List of topics:
- Anatolia: original characters and their transformation;
- Neolithic and Chalcolithic: from cereal domestication to urban administration (key sites: Göbekli Tepe, Çatal Höyük, Arslantepe);
- The Early and Middle Bronze Age: the Hattic civilisation, the 'Indo-European question', the Palaeo-Assyrian trade colonies (key sites: Alaca Höyük, Kültepe);
- The Late Bronze Age: the Hittite civilisation (key sites: Boğazköy);
- The Iron Age: Neo-Hittite kingdoms in Syria; the Urartians; Phrygian, Lydian and Lycian civilisations.
Course Language
Italian
More information
For more information on the subject and course activities: https://sites.google.com/view/ductulivesuviani/anatolistica-unior