ID:
511720
Duration (hours):
36
CFU:
6
SSD:
STORIA DEL VICINO ORIENTE ANTICO
Year:
2025
Overview
Date/time interval
Secondo Semestre (23/02/2026 - 22/05/2026)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course aims to explore the interplay between written sources and material culture in the Ancient Near East, emphasizing how inscriptions and written artefacts contribute to the construction of social, political, and religious identities.
Students will:
• understand the variety of writing systems used in the region and their cultural functions;
• analyze the contexts and media of writing (monuments, seals, objects, reliefs);
• acquire tools for interpreting inscriptions as visual, material, and linguistic artefacts;
• gain direct experience with Anatolian Hieroglyphic texts from the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, learning to read, describe, and contextualize them;
• develop a critical approach to writing as cultural practice in ancient societies.
Students will:
• understand the variety of writing systems used in the region and their cultural functions;
• analyze the contexts and media of writing (monuments, seals, objects, reliefs);
• acquire tools for interpreting inscriptions as visual, material, and linguistic artefacts;
• gain direct experience with Anatolian Hieroglyphic texts from the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, learning to read, describe, and contextualize them;
• develop a critical approach to writing as cultural practice in ancient societies.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of the history and archaeology of Ancient Western Asia, including the main political and cultural developments of the 3rd–1st millennia BCE.
Teaching Methods
The course combines lectures, guided readings, and hands-on analysis of epigraphic material. Selected inscriptions will be presented through images, transliterations, and translations, fostering close engagement with primary sources.
Active participation and discussion are encouraged. Students will be asked to present short reports or commentaries on specific inscriptions or monuments.
Active participation and discussion are encouraged. Students will be asked to present short reports or commentaries on specific inscriptions or monuments.
Assessment Methods
Active participation (30%).
Final oral exam (70%): discussion of key topics, texts, and readings covered during the course.
The exam will assess both general understanding and ability to connect specific case studies with broader theoretical issues.
Final oral exam (70%): discussion of key topics, texts, and readings covered during the course.
The exam will assess both general understanding and ability to connect specific case studies with broader theoretical issues.
Texts
A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course.
For the oral examination, students are expected to prepare:
1. The lecture slides (provided on the course platform)
2. One required reading (for all students):
Maurice Pope, The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script, London, Thames & Hudson, 1999 (only the chapters devoted to the cuneiform script)
3. One additional reading, to be chosen from the following:
– Christopher B. F. Walker, Cuneiform, London, British Museum Press, 1987
or
– Clelia Mora, “Anatolian Hieroglyphic Documentation”, in S. de Martino (ed.), Handbook of the Hittite Empire, Berlin–Boston, De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 327–336
For the oral examination, students are expected to prepare:
1. The lecture slides (provided on the course platform)
2. One required reading (for all students):
Maurice Pope, The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script, London, Thames & Hudson, 1999 (only the chapters devoted to the cuneiform script)
3. One additional reading, to be chosen from the following:
– Christopher B. F. Walker, Cuneiform, London, British Museum Press, 1987
or
– Clelia Mora, “Anatolian Hieroglyphic Documentation”, in S. de Martino (ed.), Handbook of the Hittite Empire, Berlin–Boston, De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 327–336
Contents
The course combines thematic and regional perspectives. It begins with an overview of writing and materiality in the ancient Near East and progresses toward a detailed case study on Anatolian Hieroglyphic writing, contextualized within the broader landscape of inscribed monuments and official visual communication.
Part I – Writing and Material Culture in Ancient Western Asia
This part introduces writing as a material and social practice in the ancient Near East. It explores the relationship between writing, media, and historical knowledge, with particular attention to the physical form of written artefacts and their role in making authority visible.
Topics include:
• Writing and the making of history: sources, media, and visibility
• Monumentality and inscription: the written artefact as object and message
• Scripts and identities: writing systems and cultural boundaries
• Epigraphy in context: writing on clay, stone, seals, and architectural surfaces
• Royal and administrative inscriptions as historical evidence
• Writing as a practice of organisation, communication, and memory in ancient Western Asia
Part II – Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing: Form, Use, and Historical Context
This part focuses on Anatolian Hieroglyphic writing as a distinctive visual and communicative system in Late Bronze and Iron Age Anatolia. Rather than providing a purely technical introduction to the script, the course examines hieroglyphic writing in its historical and cultural contexts, with attention to its material supports, visual organisation, and political functions.
Topics include:
• The emergence of Anatolian Hieroglyphic writing and its historical setting
• The structure of the writing system: signs, layout, and principles of composition
• Writing in context: seals, monuments, and visual communication
• Hieroglyphic inscriptions as expressions of authority, identity, and historical memory
Part III – Guest Lectures by Prof. Jonathan Valk
Guest lectures will address the development and spread of alphabetic writing in the ancient Near East, with particular attention to the emergence of Aramaic and its transformation into an imperial language in the first millennium BCE.
Topics include:
• The rise of alphabetic writing in ancient Western Asia
• The early history of Aramaic writing
• From the margins of empire to imperial language: the expansion of Aramaic in the first millennium BCE
Part I – Writing and Material Culture in Ancient Western Asia
This part introduces writing as a material and social practice in the ancient Near East. It explores the relationship between writing, media, and historical knowledge, with particular attention to the physical form of written artefacts and their role in making authority visible.
Topics include:
• Writing and the making of history: sources, media, and visibility
• Monumentality and inscription: the written artefact as object and message
• Scripts and identities: writing systems and cultural boundaries
• Epigraphy in context: writing on clay, stone, seals, and architectural surfaces
• Royal and administrative inscriptions as historical evidence
• Writing as a practice of organisation, communication, and memory in ancient Western Asia
Part II – Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing: Form, Use, and Historical Context
This part focuses on Anatolian Hieroglyphic writing as a distinctive visual and communicative system in Late Bronze and Iron Age Anatolia. Rather than providing a purely technical introduction to the script, the course examines hieroglyphic writing in its historical and cultural contexts, with attention to its material supports, visual organisation, and political functions.
Topics include:
• The emergence of Anatolian Hieroglyphic writing and its historical setting
• The structure of the writing system: signs, layout, and principles of composition
• Writing in context: seals, monuments, and visual communication
• Hieroglyphic inscriptions as expressions of authority, identity, and historical memory
Part III – Guest Lectures by Prof. Jonathan Valk
Guest lectures will address the development and spread of alphabetic writing in the ancient Near East, with particular attention to the emergence of Aramaic and its transformation into an imperial language in the first millennium BCE.
Topics include:
• The rise of alphabetic writing in ancient Western Asia
• The early history of Aramaic writing
• From the margins of empire to imperial language: the expansion of Aramaic in the first millennium BCE
Course Language
English
Degrees
Degrees (2)
THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN WORLD. HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART
Master’s Degree
2 years
THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN WORLD. HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART
Master’s Degree
2 years
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People
People (2)
Teaching staff
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