The Archaeology of Israel

Catalog description

This course explores the archaeology of the southern Levant from the Bronze Age to the creation of the state of Israel (ca. 3330 B.C.E. - 1948 C.E.). It provides an introduction to the methodology and theory of archaeology and an overview of the material cultures of the complex societies that inhabited the region. Special attention will be paid to cultures of the Israelites, Phoenicians, Philistines, and Arabs and the impact of external imperial rule (from the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians to the Greeks and Romans) on the life and culture of these socieites. We will also investigate the transformation of the region from the rise of Christianity and the Muslim conquest through emergence of Israel as a modern nation-state. Throughout we will focus on extant texts, inscriptions, material culture such as pottery, figurines, and sculpture, and public, religious, and domestic architecture to reconstruct a detailed picture of this region as a dynamic crossroads of civilizations.