The History of Ancient Civilizations
HIST 4311/6311)

updated 11/28/2006

Dr. Turner's Homepage  or ASU History and Antholopology or Augusta State University
 

Course Description:
This course will look at the history of the cultures and practices of the societies that laid the foundation for civilization in Europe and the Middle East. This is a survey of the civilizations of the Mediterranean region examining the cultural, political, legal, philosophical, and artistic elements of these societies, focusing on Egypt, Greece and Rome. It also will include discussions on the lasting effects of classical ideas and institutions.

This class will have a cultural twist. The only reason we spend so much time on the history of the politics and societies of these people is that it is nearly impossible to understand the development and significance of culture in the lives and decisions people made without a context in which to place them. The better we understand how and why these people lived and died, the better we will understand their cultural beliefs, folk-loric traditions & practices, and visa versa.

People are multi-faceted, complex, complicated creatures. They are so interesting. Please have respect while having curiosity. Ask questions, the more the merrier, but without belittling the beliefs and cultures of the forefathers of, quite possibly, the person next to you.

Books:

Other Suggested Readings (not required):
Plato, The Symposium, trans. Chris Gill, Penguin Classics: 1999.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day, trans. Faulkner Raymond, Chronicle Books: 2000.

Cicero, On the Good Life, trans. Michael Grant, Penguin Classics: 1971. (among others by Cicero).

Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998

Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion, Yale University Press, 1976.

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, Oxford: 2000.

Homer, Illiad & Odyssey.

Assignments:
Attendance & Participation 10%
Quiz #1 20%
Quiz #2 20%
Quiz #3 (Final) 20%
Paper #1 10%
Paper #2 10%
Paper #3 10%

Schedule:
Introduction: Mesopotamia & the Fertile Crescent Region

Egypt
Egyptian Civilization
Egyptian Priesthood and Culture
The Cult of Osiris
Egypt & Magic
Quiz #1; Introduction to Greeks
Greece
Proto-Greeks?
The Greek Polis
Classical Greek Philosophy
Macedonia and Alexander the Great
Quiz #2; Relations with the Etruscans & Rome
Rome
Royal Rome
The Roman Republic
Julius Caesar and Augustus
Imperial Rome
The Beginnings of Christianity & Dividing the Empire
The Egyptian Greek and Roman Legacy
Quiz #3

Dr. Turner's Homepage or ASU History and Antholopology or Augusta State University