Submission of Assignments: All assignments are to be submitted in person by their respective due dates and times (which are all listed according to local Sydney time). Access to the internet and the ability to download and/or view unit materials are essential. Any technical issue encountered with accessing unit materials should be directed to the IT department via ask.mq.edu.au. After lodging a complaint/request with them you must also notify me via email concerning the issue as soon as possible after it is discovered.

Assignments will be assessed on their level of completion, coherence, correction, grammar, and comprehension.

Assessment tasks / assignments are compulsory and must be submitted on time. Extensions for assignments can only be granted for medical reasons or on compassionate grounds. Without documentation (medical or counseling certificates) or prior staff approval, if you miss a class session you will not be able to make up the assessment for that day/week. If required, applications for extensions should be made to me before the assignment's due date. No assignments will be accepted after assignments have been corrected and feedback has been provided.

For Special Consideration Policy see under Policies and Procedures.

Note on Assessment - To complete the unit satisfactorily you will need to achieve an overall mark worth 50% or above.

It is highly recommended that you come to all lectures and tutorials. Further, you should complete the readings for any given week before that week's lecture.

This class is offered internally. Students will meet in-class for lectures and tutorials. Every student will need internet access that allows the downloading of large video files and additional resources in order to pass this course. Additionally, access to a library and/or article database such as Jstor will be necessary to complete multiple of the assignments. If individual access to such databases is not possible, access is possible via the Macquarie Library website, although a proxy server may be necessary (for more see the "IT Help" link under the "Policies and Procedures" tab).

Additional resources, including weblinks, any additional directions, and any announcements will appear on the unit's iLearn page.

Required Textbooks:

Marc Van De Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East: 3000–323 BC (2^nd Ed.; Blackwell, 2007). [Abbreviated VDM in the unit schedule below]

Andrew George, Epic of Gilgamesh (London: Penguin, 1999).

Bible. Preferably the NRSV or ESV translation.

Unit Bibliography (not required for purchase):

Aharoni, Y. and M. Avi-Yonah, Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1977).

Aldred, Cyril and A. Dodson, The Egyptians (London: Thames and Hudson, 1998).

Bottéro, Jean, Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).

Brewer, D.J. and E. Teeter, Egypt and the Egyptians (Cambridge, 2007).

Curtis, J. Ancient Persia (London: British Museum, 1989).

Freedman, D.N., The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New Haven: Doubleday, 1992).

George, Andrew, Epic of Gilgamesh (London: Penguin, 1999).

Grimal, N., A History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994).

Gurney, O.R., The Hittites (London: Penguin, 1990).

Hallo, W. and W.K. Simpson, The Ancient Near East: A History (New York: Harcourt: Brace, 1998).

Isserlin, B.S.J., The Israelites (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001).

Jacobsen, T., The Harps that Once (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987).

Kovacs, M.G., The Epic of Gilgamesh (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989).

Kramer, S.N. The Sumerians (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963).

Kramer, S.N., History Begins at Sumer (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1981).

Kuhrt, A., The Ancient Near East (2 volumes; London: Routledge, 1995).

Machinist, P., “Palestine, Administration of,” Anchor Bible Dictionary volume 5, pages 69-81 (Edited by D.N. Freedman; New York: Doubleday, 1992

Macqueen, J.G., The Hittites (London: Thames and Hudson, 1986).

Meyers, E. (ed), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East (5 volumes; New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).

Oates, J., Babylon (London: Thames and Hudson, 1979).

Pollock, S., Ancient Mesopotamia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

Porada, E., The Art of Ancient Iran (New York: Crown, 1965).

Postgate, N., Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History (London: Routlege, 1992).

-------- “The Land of Assur and the Yoke of Assur,” World Archaeology 23/3 (1992) 247-63

Potts, D., Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations (London: Athlone, 1997).

Redford, D. (ed)., Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2001).

Roaf, M., Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia (New York: Facts on File, 1990).

Saggs, H.W.F., Civilization before Greece and Rome (New Haven: Yale, 1989).

Sasson, J. et al (eds), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (4 volumes; New York; Scribner, 1995).

Shaw, I. (ed), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

Stern, E., (ed)., The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (5 volumes; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1993-2008).

Trigger et al, Ancient Egypt: A Social History (Cambridge, 1983).

Van de Mieroop, M., The Ancient Mesopotamian City (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997).

Yon, M., The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2006).

*This is a Tentative Schedule. A final schedule will appear on iLearn when the Unit begins.