Archaeological Sciences

The cities of the Levant in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC The course unit is dedicated to the definition of the first urban phenomenon of the Levant, of the concept of city during the Bronze Age. A first part of the course (24 hours) will be introductive, dedicated to the definition of the concept of city, its topographic features and fundamental architectural elements such as fortifications, palaces, temples, necropolis; highlighting the “revolutionary” characteristics of urbanization and its economic-technological implications. Subsequently (24 hours) the question of chronology, contacts, trades and synchronism with the neighboring coeval civilizations will be analyzed. In the second part of the course (60 hours) will be examined and illustrated archaeological evidences related to major centers of the Levant, in light of the most recent archaeological discoveries in Syria (Ugarit), and Lebanon, with particular reference to the site of Biblo, in Israel, Hazor, Khirbet Kerak, Megiddo and Arad, in Palestine, Jerusalem, Sichem and Jericho, and Khirbet al-Batrawy in Jordan. In the third part (24 hours) of the course will be highlighted the factors that led to the end of the city-system at the end of the Ancient Bronze Age and the upswing of the urban system during the Middle Bronze Age, highlighting the elements of continuity and discontinuity, with particular reference to the material culture. Interdisciplinary seminars will be planned during classes. Participation in the visit of the Museum of the Near East, Egypt and the Mediterranean of Sapienza is necessary to pass the exam. The course unit is related to a series of other educational activities useful for the acquisition of CFU (laboratory for cataloging archaeological materials, laboratory for graphic documentation of archaeological materials, laboratory for photographic documentation of archaeological materials, excavation at the sites of Tell es-Sultan/Jericho - Palestine -, and Khirbet al-Batrawy - Jordan).

Key competences concerning geography, history, and archaeology of Near East are important; knowledge of Italian and English are necessary.

The texts in the bibliography are available in pdf format. The articles of Prof. L. Nigro can be downloaded on his academia page. A. Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. 10,000-586 B.C.E., New York 1990, pp. 91-231. Near Eastern Archaeology 73 (2010) L. Nigro, “Byblos, an ancient capital of the Levant”, La Revue Phénicienne 100 (2020), pp. 61-74. L. Nigro, “Paths towards Urbanism in Early Bronze Age Jordan”: S. KERNER - O. AL-GHUL - H. HAYAJNEH (eds.), Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Essays on Southwest Asian Archaeology in Honour of Zeidan Kafafi (Studien zur Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, 7), Münster 2023, pp. 161-196. L. Nigro, “Jericho. From the Neolithic to the Bronze and Iron Ages: The Urban Diversity”: N. MARCHETTI - F. CAVALIERE - E. CIRELLI - C. D’ORAZIO - G. GIACOSA - M. GUIDETTI - E. MARIANI (eds.), Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 06-09 April 2021, Bologna, Volume 2, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2023, pp. 399-414. L. Nigro, “Beheaded Ancestors. Of skulls and statues in Pre-Pottery Neolithic Jericho”: Scienze dell’Antichità 23.3 (2017), pp. 3-30. L. Nigro, “Jericho”, in D.M. Master (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology, vol. II. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013, pp. 1-8. L. Nigro, “Jericho and the Dead Sea. Life and Resilience”: M. PEILSTÖCKER - S. WOLFRAM (eds.), Life at the Dead Sea. Proceedings of the International Conference held at the State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz (SMAC), February 21–24, 2018, Chemnitz (Ägypten und Altes Testament 96), Münster 2019, pp. 139-156, pls. 6-7. L. Nigro, “Tell es-Sultan 2015. A Pilot Project for Archaeology in Palestine”: Near Eastern Archaeology 79:1 (2016), pp. 4-17. L. Nigro, “Gerico: le origini della città in Palestina. Caratteri originali, sviluppo e crisi della prima urbanizzazione palestinese nel III millennio a.C.: il caso di Tell es-Sultan”, in Atti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia. Serie III, Rendiconti LXIX (1999), pp. 187-218. L. Nigro, “Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho in the Early Bronze Age II-III”: E. GALLO (ed.), Conceptualizing Urban Experiences: Tell es-Sultan and Tall al-Hammām Early Bronze cities across the Jordan. Proceedings of a workshop held in Palermo, G. Whitaker Foundation, Villa Malfitano, June 19th 2017 (Rome «La Sapienza» Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan, 13), Rome 2019, pp. 79-108. L. Nigro, “Sulle mura di Gerico. Le fortificazioni di Tell es-Sultan come indicatori della nascita e dello sviluppo della prima città di Gerico nel III millennio a.C.”, in F. Baffi, R. Dolce, S. Mazzoni, F. Pinnock (edd.), Ina Kibrāt Erbetti. Studi di Archeologi orientale dedicati a Paolo Matthiae, Roma: Università La Sapienza, 2006, pp. 349-397. L. Nigro, “Alle origini della prima urbanizzazione palestinese: il caso dell’Edificio 7102 di Tell el-‘Areini”: Vicino Oriente 13 (2007), pp. 25-38. E. Gallo, R. Gharib, L. De Vito, G. Cecconi, M. De Marco, L. Nigro, “Khirbet Al-Batrawy in North-Central Jordan: New Discoveries in the Early Bronze Age Palace, 2018-2020”: N. MARCHETTI - F. CAVALIERE - E. CIRELLI - C. D’ORAZIO - G. GIACOSA - M. GUIDETTI - E. MARIANI (eds.), Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 06-09 April 2021, Bologna, Volume 2, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2023, pp. 229-242. L. Nigro - E. Gallo, “Khirbat al-Batrawy 2015-2019: The Four-Lines Defensive System and the Entrance Hall of the "Palace of the Copper Axes”: F. BALAAWI - P.P. CREASMAN (eds.) Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan XI, Amman 2022, pp. 161-177. L. Nigro, “Khirbet al-Batrawy: Rise, Flourish and Collapse of an Early Bronze Age City in Jordan”, in R. Matthews, J. Curtis (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. 12 April – 16 April 2010, the British Museum and UCL, London, Volume 1. WiesbadeN Harrassowitz, 2012, pp. 609-628. L. Nigro, “The Copper Routes and the Egyptian Connection in 3rd millennium BC Jordan seen from the caravan city of Khirbet al-Batrawy”: Vicino Oriente XVIII (2014), pp. 39-64. L. Nigro, “Water and Power. Early cities in Jordan and water control in the 3rd millennium BC: the case of Batrawy”: L. NIGRO - M. NUCCIOTTI - E. GALLO (eds.), Precious Waters. Paths of Jordanian Civilizations as seen in the Italian Archaeological Excavations. Proceedings of an International Conference held in Amman, October 18th 2016 (Rome La Sapienza Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan, vol. 12), Rome 2017, pp. 1-14. L. Nigro, “The EB IV/Intermediate Bronze Age at Batrawy and Jericho: Post-urban vs. Proto-urban”: J.C. LONG - JR.W.G. DEVER (eds.), Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age. Eassys in Honor of Suzanne Richard, Shieffield - Bristol 2021, pp. 293-308. L. Nigro, “The end of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. Urban Crisis and Collapse seen from two 3rd Millennium BC-Cities: Tell es-Sultan/Jericho and Khirbet al-Batrawy“, in T. Cunninghm, J. Driessen (eds.), Crisis to Collapse. The Archaeology of Social Breakdown (AEGIS 11), Louvain 2016, pp. 149-172. L. Nigro, “Le tombe costruite sulla “Spring Hill” e i Signori di Gerico nel II millennio a.C.”, in G. Bartoloni, G. Benedettini (edd.), Sepolti tra i vivi. Evidenza ed interpretazione di contesti funerari in abitato. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, 26-29 Aprile 2006 (Scienze dell’Antichità 14/1), Roma 2007-2008, pp. 277-307. L. Nigro, “The Eighteenth Century BC Princes of Byblos and Ebla and the Chronology of the Middle Bronze Age”, in Interconnections in the Eastern Mediterranean. Lebanon in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Proceedings of the International Symposium – Beirut 2008 (BAAL Hors-Série VI), Beirut 2009, pp. 159-175. L. Nigro, “Hotepibra at Jericho. Interconnections between Egypt and Syria-Palestine during the 13th dynasty”: A. VACCA - S. PIZZIMENTI - M.G. MICALE (a cura di), A Oriente del Delta Scritti sull’Egitto ed il Vicino Oriente antico in onore di Gabriella Scandone Matthiae (Contributi e Materiali di Archeologia Orientale XVIII), Roma: Scienze e Lettere 2018, pp. 437-446. L. Nigro, “A Turtle Dove Rhyton from the “Hyksos Palace” at Tell es-Sultan, Ancient Jericho”: M. D’ANDREA - M.G. MICALE - D. NADALI - S. PIZZIMENTI - A. VACCA (eds.), Pearls of the Past. Studies on Near Eastern Art and Archaeology in Honour of Frances Pinnock (Marru. Studien zur Vorderasiatischen Archäologie/Studies in Near and Middle Eastern Archaeology 8), Münster 2019, pp. 677-690. The Temples of Canaanite Hazor. Pp. 99-125. In: Kamlah, J. (ed.) Temple Building and Temple Cult: Architecture and Cultic Paraphernalia of Temples in the Levant (2.-1. Mill. B.C.E.). Abhandlungen des Deutchen Palastina-Vereins. Harrassowitz https://www.academia.edu/40507766/The_Temples_of_Canaanite_Hazor Weinblatt-Krauz D., 2013. The Favissa of the Southern Temple in Area A. Near Eastern Archaeology 76(2): 76-81 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/neareastarch.76.2.0076?seq=6 Bonfil, R. and Zarzecki-Peleg, A. 2007. The Palace in the Upper City of Hazor as an Expression of a Syrian Architectural Paradigm. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 348: 25–47. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25067036?seq=21 Ayala Amir, Rachel Kalisher, Melissa S. Cradic, Matthew J. Adams, Mario A. S. Martin, Ronny Neumann, Yuval Gadot, Israel Finkelstein 2023, Burial offerings in intramural tombs at Middle Bronze Age Megiddo: Archaeometry.2023;65:1353–1373 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/arcm.12877 Melissa Cradic, Residential Burial and Social Memory in the Middle Bronze Age Levant: NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 81.3 (2018), pp. 191-201.

The classes are taught/online, with the aid in the classroom of ppt presentations, excavation reports, archaeological finds. Attendance is mandatory. During classes will be organized a visit to the Museum of the Near East, Egypt and Mediterranean of Sapienza, the participation to which it is mandatory to pass the exam. if necessary the course will take place electronically Attendance is mandatory to achieve expected learning outcomes.

Attendance is mandatory to achieve expected learning outcomes.

The final evaluation consists of an oral exam during which questions will be proposed on the topics discussed during the lessons and treated in the syllabus. To evaluate the candidate’s performance will compete the terminology used, the ability to expose the concepts and classification in the historical-geographical context. Attendance at lessons and seminars, active participation in the classroom, knowledge of the indicated syllabus are fundamental elements for passing the final exam, while useful reasoning and self-study skills are useful elements. To pass the exam you must obtain a mark of not less than 18/30. The student must demonstrate to express himself in an appropriate language, to have acquired sufficient knowledge of the basic topics presented during the lessons and to be able to orientate himself in the basic aspects of the discipline. To achieve a mark of 30/30 cum laude, the student must instead demonstrate that he has acquired excellent knowledge of all the topics covered during the course, being able to link them in a logical and consistent way, as well as reasoning skills and autonomous study.

The classes are taught/online, with the aid in the classroom of ppt presentations, excavation reports, archaeological finds. Attendance is mandatory. During classes will be organized a visit to the Museum of the Near East, Egypt and Mediterranean of Sapienza, the participation to which it is mandatory to pass the exam.