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| ha c120b
| Histart C120B |
THE ART OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA: ASSYRIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA (4 units) |
From 1000 to 330 BCE, the empires of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia dominated the ancient Near Eastern world, stretching from Greece and Egypt to Central Asia. In concert with imperial expansion came an explosion of artistic production ranging from palace wall reliefs to small-scale luxury objects. This course provides an integrated picture of the imperial arts of these three great empires, situating them within the broader social and political contexts of the first millennium BCE. In their conquest of foreign lands these powerful states came in contact with and appropriated a diversity of cultures, such as Phoenicia, Israel, Egypt, and Greece, which we will also study.
The goal of the course is to encourage a critical reading of the works of art based on approaches from art history and archaeology. Discussions and short assignments will stress interpretative approaches based on looking and analyzing the works of art.
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