INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST: THE ORIGIN OF ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The course sits at the intersection of archaeology and philology of ancient Near Eastern sources. It is meant to provide the students with in-depth knowledge on the early phase of urbanization, with special reference to its implications in terms of society, economy, and of history of thought, within the vast area spanning from the eastern Mediterranean coast to the Persian Gulf and neighboring areas.

At the end of the course, students will have acquired a basic knowledge of the historical sources pertaining to the Ancient Near East, with reference to the archaic period, along with an up-to-date methodology for addressing a specific subject in this field of study. They will also be informed about early civilizations in comparative perspective, current bibliography and available digital resources.
During the course, students are also expected to:
a) participate in open discussions about historical issues in order to consolidate their critical capacities;
b) learn to collect, analyse and organize documents in view of a small independent research project;
c) raise questions regarding the nature and reliability of the sources;
d) acquire the ability to write a short essay or exercise on an agreed subject and to present their results to their colleagues.

No prerequisites required.

The course sits in the broader frame of ancient Near Eastern History, with focus on the archaic period. It surveys the origin of writing and accounting in antiquity, with special reference to the cuneiform writing system, first attested in Mesopotamia around 3.300 BCE. Taking a comparative perspective, the earliest, original systems from ancient Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica will also be explored, in order to achieve a better understanding of how humans first developed admininstration and made language visible. Topics will include the definition of writing, the historical context in which it emerged, its impact on society, admninistration, and intellectual history, as well as how the writing technonlogy developed as a function of time, space and culture, eventually reaching us. Further, we will discuss major decipherments of ancient writing systems, as well as contemporary methodologies for dealing with as yet undeciphered scripts from antiquity.

Gnanadesikan, Amalia E. 2008, The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet. Wiley-Blackwell, 2008.

Woods, Christopher et alii (eds.) 2010, Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 32. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Open access pdf: http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oimp/oimp32.html

Two-hour written exam in the form of multiple-choice questions, focusing on history, geography, and topics addressed during the course.

written

The exam consists of 15 questions:
- 1 question on historical geography (max 2 points out of 30)
- 1 question on chronology (max 2 points out of 30)
- 13 multiple-choice questions (max 26 points out of 30)

Honors (lode) is awarded to exams that achieve the maximum score (30/30) and are excellent in the content of the first two questions. Serious errors (e.g., incorrect dating by centuries, significantly wrong geographical locations, etc.) result in a 1-point penalty, which will be deducted from the final score. Unanswered questions receive no points. The minimum passing score is 18 points.

Public lectures; sources and materials will be made available to the students. Analysis and discussion in class of selected sources. Exploration of on-line resources.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development