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 counselling certificates) or prior staff approval, late work will not be accepted. If required, applications for extensions should be made before the assignment's due date. No assignments will be accepted after assignments have been corrected and feedback has been provided (see also the clause below).

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.

Assignment tasks handed in early will not be marked and returned before the due date.

Tasks 10% or less. No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for Special Consideration is made and approved.

Tasks above 10%. No extensions will be granted. Students who submit late work without an extension will receive a penalty. This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for Special Consideration is made and approved. 

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. 

IMPORTANT NOTE ON FINAL MARKS: Please note with respect to the marks you receive for work during the session: that the marks given are indicative only; final marks will be determined after moderation. See further the note on Results in the Policies and Procedures section below.

It is highly recommended that you come to all tutorials (internals). Further, you should complete the readings and any other work for any given week before that week's meeting.

This class is offered In Person (Internal) and Fully Online Virtually (OUA is Fully Online Virtual only) (External). Internal students will meet in-class for lectures and tutorials while external students will access course material via the iLearn website. Lectures will be recorded every week and made available via iLearn for external students. Every student, whether internal or external, will need internet access that allows the downloading of unit content and additional resources in order to pass this course. 

There is no Required Textbook for this unit. Weekly readings that accompany the lectures and those for the tutorials will be posted on the Unit's Leganto page (which can be accessed via the Unit's iLearn page). Be sure to complete any readings listed for a given week before coming to class for that week.

Recommended Texts:

Van De Mieroop, Marc. A History of the Ancient Near East: 3000–323 BC (3rd Ed.; Wiley 2016). ISBN: 978-1-118-71816-2 (there is also an ebook version)

Ben-Tor, Amnon (ed). 1992 The Archaeology of Ancient Israel. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. ISBN 0300059191

Mazar, Amihai. 1990 Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10,000-586 B.C.E. Doubleday, New York. ISBN: 0385425902

Richard, Suzanne. 2003 Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader. Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, IN. ISBN: 1575060833

Stern, Ephraim. 2001 Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, Volume II: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B.C.E.). Doubleday, New York. ISBN: 0385424507

1. Intro and Geography and Chronology
   1. Tutorial: Introduction and the Place of Geography in History
2. Sapiens, Hunter-Gatherers (Gobekli Tepe) and Catal Huyuk (10,000-6700)
   1. Tutorial: Domestication: the worst mistake in history? 
3. Village to Town, Uruk and the Invention of Writing (6700-3000)
   1. Tutorial: Cuneiform Writing (a hands-on approach) 
4. First States and Empires. City States, Akkadian Empire, UrIII, EB (3000-2000)
   1. Tutorial: Sumero- Akkadian Literature 
5. Kingdoms and States (2000-1500) 
   1. Tutorial: Us vs. Them: Identify formation, re-formation, Immigrants, and the “other”
6. The International Age (1500-1200/1050) 
   1. Tutorial: Ancient Scripts and Languages 
7. Collapse! Local Players (1200-950) 
   1. No Tutorial
8. Elamites 
   1. Tutorial: on Art and the Environment  
9. Early Israel 
   1. Tutorial: Text as artefact 
10. The Assyrians 
    1. Tutorial: Reading pottery 
11. The Neo-Babylonians
    1. Tutorial: On the Discovery of the Ancient Near East 
12. The Persians
    1. No Tutorial
13. Study for Final Exam