Legacy of the Ancient Mesopotamia

Year: 2019/2020

Semester: Summer

Hours: 30

Language: English

Building: Collegium Historicum Novum

Room: tba

Tips: Collegium Historicum Novum, Morasko Campus, Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego Str. 7 room number tba

Week 1: The Discovery of Ancient Mesopotamia

Week 2: Overview of Mesopotamian Beliefs on the Order of the World

Week 3: Written on Clay and Stone: Mesopotamian Writing and Historical Traditions

Week 4: Alphabet – Who and Where Has Invented it?

Week 5: Agriculture and Animal Domestication

Week 6: Formation of Cites and the Beginnings of Urban Life

Week 7: Urban life and Urban Institution

Week 8: Image of the King and the Ideology of Universal Control

Week 9: Looking into Sky: birth of Astronomy and Astrology

Week 10: Looking into the Future: other methods of divination

Week 11: Mesopotamian Mathematics

Week 12: Mesopotamian Literary Traditions

Week 13: Greeks and Ancient Mesopotamia

Week 14: Bible and Christianity and Ancient Mesopotamia

Week 15: The Legacy of Ancient Mesopotamia

1. M. Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Abingdon 1990.

2. J. M. Sasson (ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, New York 1995.

3. S. Dalley, D. Pingree, A.T. Reyes, The Legacy of Mesopotamia, Oxford 1998.

Ancient Mesopotamian civilization which are present today in the European culture. The subject will be approached in three sections. The first (lectures 1-3) should present general overview of Mesopotamian civilization, the second (lectures 4-12) would discuss particular fields in which influence of Ancient Mesopotamia on the modern European civilisation could be traced, the third (Lectures 13-15) would focus on how these elements were transferred and embedded into modern European civilisation.

Timetable:

Wednesday, 9.30-11.00

Collegium Historicum Novum, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 7 (Morasko Campus), room 2.132.

Pre-requisities:

Good knowledge of English language

Assessment criteria:

- in class presence

- essay

- oral exam

Grades:

5,0 – very good knowledge of Mesopotamian legacy; very high knowledge of the cultural and social context of Mesopotamian culture, high ability to indicate elements of Mesopotamian origin in contemporary culture and means of their transfer; deep understanding of role played by multiculturalism in formation of contemporary European culture.

4,5 – good or very good knowledge of Mesopotamian legacy; very high knowledge of the cultural and social context of Mesopotamian culture, high ability to indicate elements of Mesopotamian origin in contemporary culture and means of their transfer; deep understanding of role played by multiculturalism in formation of contemporary European culture.

4,0 –good knowledge of Mesopotamian legacy; high knowledge of the cultural and social context of Mesopotamian culture, ability to indicate major elements of Mesopotamian origin in contemporary culture and means of their transfer; understanding of role played by multiculturalism in formation of contemporary European culture.

3,5 –satisfactory knowledge of Mesopotamian legacy; intermediate knowledge of the cultural and social context of Mesopotamian culture, limited ability to indicate major elements of Mesopotamian origin in contemporary culture and means of their transfer; understanding of role played by multiculturalism in formation of contemporary European culture.

3,0 – sufficient knowledge of Mesopotamian legacy; basic knowledge of the cultural and social context of Mesopotamian culture, limited ability to indicate elements of Mesopotamian origin in contemporary culture and means of their transfer; basic understanding of role played by multiculturalism in formation of contemporary European culture.

2,0 – insufficient knowledge of Mesopotamian legacy; unsatisfactory knowledge of the cultural and social context of Mesopotamian culture, lack of ability to indicate major elements of Mesopotamian origin in contemporary culture and means of their transfer; lack of understanding of role played by multiculturalism in formation of contemporary European culture.