Spring 2007
New College of Florida
Professor Uzi Baram
Class meets: Tuesdays and Thursday from 10:30-11:50 in the Anthropology Lab
Office Hours: Tuesday 12:30-2:30 and by appointment
Office Telephone Number: 487-4217
Email: Baram@ncf.edu
Web page: http://faculty.ncf.edu/baram/MideastArchaeology.htm
Catalogue Description
The course offers a survey of archaeology in the Middle East, focused primarily on research in the State of Israel. It is divided into three components: 1. the political history of archaeology in the Middle East; 2. basic approaches to the region's archaeological record, including historical and religious goals for uncovering the past; and 3. a survey of the archaeological chronology. The focus on the major transitions in human societies including the expansion out of Africa and the Neolithic, the questions on the Biblical narratives and the impacts of great empires, and the developments of modernity during the Islamic centuries will bring out significant anthropological concerns regarding social identities, histories, and social change. The central anthropological question for the course: how does a land become holy?
Introduction
In this course, we will attempt to outline the major anthropological issues for archaeology in the area at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe and we will survey the archaeological time periods for a place known as the Holy Land.
The course is titled the Archaeology of the Holy Land, partly in reference to a popular term for the place, but also to center a concern: how does a land become holy? There are many holy lands around the world, but the Holy Land is usually understood to be the land promised to Abraham and his descendants, the land shown to Moses as written in the Torah. It is holy for the places involved in the life and teachings of Jesus, as related in the New Testament. And Jerusalem is al-quds, the holy, in the Muslim tradition. Archaeologists working in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, between Sinai and Mount Lebanon, encourage, critique, and wrestle with notions of the holy, as will this course.
Each summer, scores of major archaeological excavations, salvage operations, and looters dig up the State of Israel. After over a century of stratigraphic archaeology, a wealth of materials has come forward from the ground. Many people have attempted to synthesize the past of the land. Much is known; much is debated, usually intensely. Many individuals and peoples compete for the past of this land. For instance, the State of Israel has supported archaeology since its inception. Today, the Palestinian Autonomy is attempting to construct its cultural heritage from the archaeology of its lands. Many of the debates and interpretations have global repercussions due to their implications for three monotheist religions.
This course will critically introduce the major archaeological sites in Israel, present theories for different eras and across time, and allow discussion of the research into the past in this region. The orientation is anthropological, combining both historical and archaeological sources on the past. We will be concerned both with the histories of the peoples and broad problems of socio-cultural evolution.
While the primary purpose of an archaeological area course is to investigate the development of a culture in a particular geographic location, we will be including several major cultural shifts in the Middle East. The course will focus as much on diachronic change as on archaeological cultures. Much attention in Middle Eastern archaeology focuses on the Biblical periods (during the Bronze and Iron Ages). We will cover that epoch, but you need to know at the start that the course places the Biblical period within the long sweep of history in the region. The prehistoric periods and the Islamic periods will receive equal treatment with the Biblical periods, which necessitates a less than robust examination of the periods of archaeological glory (tutorials are possible for in-depth examination of those periods). This course focuses on the broad processes of change rather than great depth in any particular period.
This course situates archaeology firmly within anthropology. A central theme will be ideology, cult, religion in order to consider the issue of a land called holy but more systematically the Middle Eastern past will be considered in terms of such general anthropological questions as:
1. Why do things change? Why do societies change or fail to change through time? How might we account for similarities and differences between the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean and other places around the globe?
2. Where does social inequality come from? What sustains political complexity and social inequality? How does material culture intersect with social complexity?
3. Does history repeat itself? What can we learn from the study of archaeological past? What can the past tell us about the present and the future? Why is history contested? Who benefits from certain tellings of history?
Course Format
The course is set up to run as a seminar: the instructor provides direction and facilitates discussion. I will introduce key concepts and terms; together we will discuss the major points from the readings. Covering centuries and even thousands of years during a single week means a great deal of preparation for each class. Preparation includes reading the assigned chapters, striving to find the key points among the readings, and being ready with questions and issues that will keep us directed toward an anthropological understanding of archaeology and the archaeological history for the Middle East.
Evaluation
Your evaluation is based on regular attendance and participation in class and four papers. See the last page of the syllabus for more information on the written work for the course. Participation includes attendance, discussion in class regarding analysis and interpretations of key points, and presentation of the readings. You are expected to attend each and every class. Quality, not quantity is the key for in-class discussions. I expect you to use your background in anthropology, and other relevant disciplines, to expand upon analyses and interpretations of the archaeological record and to raise questions on the implications of archaeological results. If you need to miss a class, inform the professor before class via email, voice message, or note in the division mailbox. All college-approved excuses will be honored.
Prerequisites
The prerequisite for this course is previous coursework in archaeology. You are not expected to have background in the history of the region but it will help. If you need a refresher for general archaeology, I can suggest introductory textbooks. Students with excavation experience in, or visits to, the Middle East are expected to share their experiences with the class.
Required Texts
The articles and chapters on reserve provide information on archaeological sites and on archaeology in the Middle East, arguments that support and critique the course’s central argument, and illustrate various issues for archaeology in the Middle East.
Please note that the readings are not equally distributed. There are some units with a minor amount of pages and other weeks with entire books assigned. You are expected to plan ahead; the unevenness is an artifact of the scholarship.
Resources
The Cook Library has The New Encyclopedia of Excavations in the Holy Land and The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East; I expect you to use these excellent resources for detailed information on archaeological sites. Many more journals and texts are found at the University of South Florida main campus library in Tampa; the Cook Library has a small but growing collection of publications on the archaeology of the Middle East. In terms of artifacts, the Ringling Museum of Art has a small collection of Cypriot artifacts, dating from the Early Bronze through Roman periods. More importantly: the Middle Eastern archaeological community has been using the World Wide Web for the past decade. The internet has countless avenues for reading, viewing, and even "excavating" archaeological sites. You should familiarize yourself with these resources. Please see the course web page for some suggested links.
Mini-Class: 2/1 The Power and the Passion of the Past in the Middle East
I. Introduction
Week 1: 2/6 & 2/8 Whose Past?: general remarks on the Middle Eastern past, basic geography, and an introduction to the course and to Annales
Readings: 1. NEA Geography of the Levant, Text Sources for Levantine Archaeology
2. Eric Cline 2000 "History Repeats Itself" Chapter 1 The Wars of Armageddon
3. H.D. Schmidt 1951 “Palestine's Trends of Power: A Survey of Three Thousand Years” Journal of Near Eastern Studies
Week 2: 2/13 & 2/15 Uncovering the Archaeological Record: Pilgrims, Travelers, and Archaeologists in Search of Past Societies and Peoples and the Origins of Us
Readings: 1. Neil Silberman 1998 “Power, Politics, and the Past” In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land
2. Amos Elon 1997 “Politics and Archaeology” The Archaeology of Israel
3. Jennifer Wallace 2004 “Holy Ground: Archaeology and the Sacred” In Digging the Dirt: The Archaeological Imagination
4. NEA Chronology of the Southern Levant
II. The Prehistoric Background
Week 3: 2/20 & 2/22 The Prehistory of the Region: the Old Stone Age
Readings: 1. James Shreeve 1996 “Mystery on Mount Carmel” The Neandertal Enigma
2. NEA Paleoenvironments of the Levant, Paleolithic in Syria-Palestine
Week 4: 2/27 & 3/1 The Neolithic Revolution: subsistence and community
Readings: 1. Hodder – entire book
2. Theya Molleson 1994 “The Eloquent Bones of Abu Hureyra” Scientific American. 271(2):70-76.
3. NEA Agriculture, Neolithic, Prehistoric Chipped-Stone Technology
III. The Rise of Complex Societies
Week 5: 3/6 & 3/8 The Advent of Metals and Chiefs: the Chalcolithic of the Negev
Readings: 1. Thomas Levy 1998 “Cult, Metallurgy, and Rank Societies – Chalcolithic Period.” In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land
2. Denise Schmandt-Besserat 1999 “Tokens: The Cognitive Significance” Documenta Praehistorica 36:21-28.
3. NEA The Chalcolithic of the Southern Levant, The Nahal Mishmar Hoard from the Judean Desert, Negev
Week 6: 3/13 & 3/15 Egypt and Egyptian influences in Canaan
Readings: 1. Lynn Meskell 1998 "An Archaeology of Social Relations in an Egyptian Village" Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 5(3):209-243.
2. Leslie White 1949 “Ikhnaton: The Great Man vs. the Culture Process” Science of Culture
3. NEA El-Amarna Texts, Trade and Exchange in the Levant, The Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant, Southern Sinai in the Early Bronze Age II, Theory in Archaeology: Change at the End of the Early Bronze Age
Week 7: 3/20 & 3/22 Proto-History and the Middle Bronze Age: the Place Gets a Name
Readings: 1. David Ilan 1998 “The Dawn of Internationalism – Late Bronze Age.” In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land
2. P. Kyle McCarter 1988 "The Patriarchal Age" Ancient Israel
3. NEA The Middle Bronze Age
IV. The Biblical Eras
Week 9: No class on 4/3; class resumes on 4/5 Biblical Archaeology
Readings: 1. The Bible Unearthed Parts 1 and 2
2. NEA The Iron Age in the Southern Levant
Week 10: 4/10 & 4/12 Ethnicity and Identities, Kingdoms and Histories in the Iron Age
Readings: 1. The Bible Unearthed Part 3
2. Lawrence Stager 1998 “The Impact of the Sea Peoples.” In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land
3. NEA Religion and Cult in the Levant, Goddesses, Ethnicity and Material Culture
Week 11: 4/17 & 4/19 Events and Impacts from the East
Readings: 1. Susan Pollock 1999 “Introduction” Ancient Mesopotamia: The Eden that Never Was (book is on reserve)
2. Marc van de Mieroup 2003 “Reading Babylon.” American Journal of Archaeology 107:257-275.
3. NEA Writing and Scripts, Semitic Languages, Writing, Northwest Semitic Epigraphic Sources
V. The Classic and Islamic Periods
Week 12: 4/24 & 4/26 The Classical Period: imperial domination and popular resistance
Readings: 1. James Anderson 1998 “The Impact of Rome on the Periphery: the Case of Palestina.” In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land
2. J.D. Cohen Shaye 1988 "Roman Domination" Ancient Israel
3. NEA The Hellenistic Period, Classical Text Sources in the Levant
Week 13: 5/1 & 5/3 The Islamic Age: the world made anew
Readings: 1. Adrian Boas 1998 “The Frankish Period: A Unique Medieval Society Emerges.” Near Eastern Archaeologist 61(3):138-173.
2. Rosen-Ayalon – entire book
VI. Conclusions
Week 14: 5/8 & 5/10 The future of the past in the Middle East
Readings: 1. Sharon Steadman 2005 “Reliquaries on the Landscape: Mounds as Matrices of Human Cognition.” In Archaeologies of the Middle East
2. NEA Synagogues in the Land of Israel, Early Christian Churches in Israel.
Week 15: 5/15 & 5/17 Jerusalem through the Ages
Readings: 1. Eric Cline 2004 "Introduction: A Lonely Ship on a Hostile Sea" Jerusalem Besieged
2. Sandra Scham 2004 “High Place: Symbolism and Monumentality on Mount Moria, Jerusalem” Antiquity 78:647-660
3. Yorke Rowan 2004 "Re-Packaging the Pilgrimage: Visiting the Holy Land in Orlando" Marketing Heritage: Archaeology and the Consumption of the Past
Written Assignments
Hodder explores ideology for Çatalhöyük. Ideology is a large term that incorporates religion. How does Hodder study belief at the Neolithic site? What are the material markers of belief at the site? Write a 4-8 page paper that answers those questions and that evaluates the evidence from Jericho for ideology (i.e., can we locate religion at Neolithic Jericho?). Due March 8th.
Critical response to The Bible Unearthed. Finkelstein and Silberman set out to separate history from legend. The goal is to figure out when and why the Bible was written, and why it remains so powerful today. Focus the 6-10 page paper on: Do the authors succeed in using archaeology to meet their goals? Specific examples from the book and from other course materials are necessary for your argument. Due April 19th.
III. The Islamic Periods
Rosen-Ayalon provides an art historian perspective on the artifacts of the Islamic periods. How are the materials connected to Islam? Write a 3-6 page paper that contrasts the art history from the archaeological perspective developed over the semester. What are the contributions of the art history to revealing the holiness of the Holy Land? Due May 8th.
IV. Concluding Paper:
Since the course is a survey of the entire archaeological chronology, the term paper is the opportunity to delve more deeply into a time period, place, and theme of your choice. This paper, 4-6 pages long, is to be focused on questions relating to the course. The paper needs to use the relevant course materials and several other sources (to be determined with help from the professor). Your enthusiasm for the topic is the most important aspect of the project but you need my approval for any paper topic choice. The paper is due by 1 pm Tuesday, May 22nd to my Social Sciences Building mailbox.