*150. Before the West
A study of Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures in the eastern Mediterranean basin and Mesopotamia through archaeological, inscriptional and literary evidence. Lectures, readings and discussions will explore the transitions from hunter-gatherer societies to the early urban settlements in Çatal Hüyük (Turkey), Egypt, Israel, Minoan Crete, Assyria, and ancient Persia. Special focus on the emergence of trade and cultural contact between these groups, and the transmission of cultural knowledge (alphabet, architecture, astronomy, mythology, religious rituals) from "east" to "west".
(Nancy Evans)