Students

AHIS3241 – Dialogue of Cultures in the Ancient World

2025 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Javier Alvarez-Mon
javier.alvarez-mon@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above or (20cp in AHIS or AHST units at 2000 level)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit offers and advanced study of cultural dialogue between ancient societies, by examining the material and literary records of the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds, including Egypt. Western cultural stereotypes and prejudices are investigated, as well as notions of cultural identity, assimilation, rejection, and superiority. Problems to be addressed may concern, among many, cultural borrowing, funerary traditions, gift-giving, tribute, plundering, arts and coinage, trade, and dress.  

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Apply notions of cultural identity, acculturation, assimilation, rejection, and superiority amongst peoples and cultures of the ancient world.  
  • ULO2: Understand and critically evaluate methodological approaches to the study of cultural dialogue in antiquity.
  • ULO3: Acquire skills necessary for the analysis and interpretation of social and political identity in the ancient world.
  • ULO4: Conduct independent research, synthesize acquired knowledge, and effectively plan, organize and prioritize work.
  • ULO5: Communicate effectively with teaching staff and peers.

General Assessment Information

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue.    This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Long Research Essay 50% No 02/06/2025
Short Essay (Literature Review) 30% No 28/04/2025
Online Quiz 20% No 24/03/2025

Long Research Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 65 hours
Due: 02/06/2025
Weighting: 50%

 

Essay requiring independent research; Length: 3,500 words

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply notions of cultural identity, acculturation, assimilation, rejection, and superiority amongst peoples and cultures of the ancient world.  
  • Understand and critically evaluate methodological approaches to the study of cultural dialogue in antiquity.
  • Acquire skills necessary for the analysis and interpretation of social and political identity in the ancient world.
  • Conduct independent research, synthesize acquired knowledge, and effectively plan, organize and prioritize work.

Short Essay (Literature Review)

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: 28/04/2025
Weighting: 30%

 

Essay requiring independent research; Length: 1,000 words;

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply notions of cultural identity, acculturation, assimilation, rejection, and superiority amongst peoples and cultures of the ancient world.  
  • Understand and critically evaluate methodological approaches to the study of cultural dialogue in antiquity.
  • Acquire skills necessary for the analysis and interpretation of social and political identity in the ancient world.
  • Conduct independent research, synthesize acquired knowledge, and effectively plan, organize and prioritize work.

Online Quiz

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 11 hours
Due: 24/03/2025
Weighting: 20%

 

Answer a series of questions on the Lectures and Required Weekly Readings from Weeks 1 to 4. Complete the Quiz using the iLearn quiz tool

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply notions of cultural identity, acculturation, assimilation, rejection, and superiority amongst peoples and cultures of the ancient world.  
  • Understand and critically evaluate methodological approaches to the study of cultural dialogue in antiquity.
  • Acquire skills necessary for the analysis and interpretation of social and political identity in the ancient world.
  • Conduct independent research, synthesize acquired knowledge, and effectively plan, organize and prioritize work.
  • Communicate effectively with teaching staff and peers.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

UNIT REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS

This unit will be taught following a flipped classroom model, in which students first gain exposure to new material outside of class via reading and watching recorded lectures, and then the tutorial time is used to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge.

The unit is comprised of two key elements:

  1. Three hours of instruction: 1-2 hours of pre-recorded lectures and 1 hour tutorial delivered either on campus or asynchronously online (for Online-Flexible and OUA students); and
  2. Individual study and preparation.

Note:

  • Students are expected to attend all tutorials (or complete all tutorial activities online each week), unless there are extenuating circumstances.
  • Pre-recorded lectures will be available on the iLearn site before the week they are due. Students are expected to have watched the videos and completed the required lecture and tutorial readings before attending their scheduled tutorial.  

Unit Schedule

UNIT SCHEDULE

 

Week

Lecture topic

Readings

Week 1

 

Welcome to Dialogue of Civilizations

Class Introduction: On Dialogue and Culture

Readings for next week

Forero (2006) Leaving the Wild, and Rather Liking the Change

 Diamond (1997) To Farm or not To Farm (or the worst mistake in History?).

Watch: “First Contact”

Week 2

 

Welcome to Civilization: Human’s Worst Mistake?

Lecture: To Farm or not to Farm, the Gobekli Tepe Enigma.

 

Forero (2006) Leaving the Wild, and Rather Liking the Change

 Diamond (1997) To Farm or not To Farm (or the worst mistake in History?).

Watch: “First Contact”

 

Week 3

 

On Ethnicity: Uruk the World's First Empire

Lecture case study: Uruk, the First World Empire: 3300 BC

Bahrani (2006) Ethnicity in Antiquity

Emberling and Yoffee (1999) Thinking Ethnicity.

Week 4

 

When Humans Were Gods, To Be or not to Be Divine Lecture case study: The Gilgamesh Epic

Kline (2016) The Oldest Story

Moran (1995) The Gilgamesh Epic: A Masterpiece

Brisch (2008) Divinie kingship

Week 5

 

Sexuality and Gender in the Ancient Near East

Lecture case study: Gender in the ANE

Bahrani (2001) Women, sex and gender in Mesopotamia, pp. 1-27

Peled (2010) Eunuchs

Suter (2007) High Priestess

Week 6

 

Trade and Economic Wealth, Birth of Capitalism? Lecture case study: From Assur to Kanesh: Assyrian donkey caravans

Veenhof (2007) Assur the city

 

Week 7

 

Sheep or Grain? On Tribes and Pastoralists Lecture case study: Pastoralism and the kingdom of Mari

Szutchman (2009): Nomads, Tribes and the State

Cohen (2007): Barley as Key Symbol

 

Recess

and Mid-term

 

Week 8

 

Week 9

 

Working Class, Tomb Robbers and Diplomats

Lecture case study: Egyptian tomb robbers and Diplomacy

Da Silva (2016) Women and diplomacy

Head (2011) Food and Protocol

Singer (2017) The Messengers

Watch “The Egyptian” (1954); available> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FQesPn9hvI           

Week 10

 

On Luxury and Consumption: When Enough is not Enough?

Lecture: the Assyrians and their empire

Readings for next week 

Álvarez-Mon (2009) Assurbanipal’s Feast

Parpola (2004) National and Ethnic Identity

Watch:

The Ulai River Battle

Assyria vs Elam: The battle of Til Tuba (video) | Khan Academy

 

Week 11

 

Barbarians at the Gates: Clash of Civilizations

Lecture case study: The Ethnogenesis of Persia and Greece.

Basu et al. (2007) The 300

Briant (2002) Greeks and Persian Decadence

Frediksen (2005) Beautiful People

Week 12

 

Remembering and Forgetting: Fragmentation and the End of History?

Lecture: Class Summary: Evaluating Case Studies

What can we learn from the past? What is Big History?You're Dead To Me - The Ancient Babylonians - BBC Sounds

Week 13

 

No Class/ Final Exam

 

Policies and Procedures

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Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

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Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

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Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

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The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

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Student Enquiries

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IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

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Unit information based on version 2025.02 of the Handbook