NEAR E 350 A: Archaeology of Ancient Near Eastern Warfare and Empire

The course schedule or readings are subject to change. Any changes made will be announced in class as well as on the course Canvas website, with at least a week’s notice.

Part I: Archaeology of Violence and Warfare

Week 1: Introduction to the Course

March 28– Introduction to the Course: Defining Warfare, Violence and Conflict

Lecture Slides

Map Quiz Terms Handout

Required Reading:

• Otterbein, K.F. 2004 How War Began, Texas A&M University Press, College Station- Chapter 1, “Introduction,” pages 3-21

March 30- The Anthropology of Warfare                       

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Keeley L.H. War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage, Oxford University Press, Chapter 1 “The Pacified Past: The Anthropology of War” pages 3-24 and Chapter 2 “The Dogs of War: The Prevalence and Importance of War” pages 25-40

Recommended Reading:

• Glowacki, L., Wilson, M.L., Wrangham, R.W. 2020 "The evolutionary anthropology of war" Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 178, pages 963-982
• Otterbein, K.F. 2009 The Anthropology of War, Waveland Press
• Nielsen, A.H., W.H. Walker eds., 2009 Warfare in Cultural Context: Practice, Agency and the Archaeology of Violence, University of Arizona Press
• Thrope, J.N. 2003 “Anthropology, Archaeology and the Origin of Warfare” World Prehistory 35(10); pages 145-165

Week 2: Violence and Early Humans

April 4- Primates, Hominids and Early Humans: Are We Programmed to Fight?

Lecture Slides

Map Quiz at the Start of Class

Required Reading:

• Givens, R.D. 2009, “Aggression in Nonhuman Primates: Implications for Understanding Human Behavior” in Nielsen and Walker 2009 Warfare in Cultural Context: Practice, Agency and the Archaeology of Violence, University of Tucson Press; pages 263-280
• Otterbein, K. 2009 The Anthropology of War, Waveland Press. “Origins of War: Two Paths” pages 65-82

 Recommended Reading:

• Corning, P.A. 1975 “An Evolutionary Paradigm for the Study of Human Aggression” in Nettleship and Givens, eds. War, Its Causes and Correlates Mouton; pages 357-387

April 6: Class Canceled

Week 3: The Archaeology of Warfare Part I

April 11- The Case for Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Middle East

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• M. Schwartz, 2011 “Archaeology and Sacrifice” in G.M. Schwartz and A. Porter, Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacrifice in the Ancient Middle East, pages 1-32

Recommended Reading:

• Pongratz-Leisten, B. “Sacrifice in the Ancient Middle East: Offering and Ritual Killing” in G.M. Schwartz and A. Porter (2011), Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacrifice in the Ancient Middle East, pages 291-304
• Alberto Ravinell Green, The Role of Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Middle East (Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1975)

April 13- The Evidence of Warfare: Bioarchaeology and Iconography

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Walker, P.L. 2001, “A Bioarchaeological Perspective on the History of Violence” 2001 Annual Review of Anthropology 30, pages 573-596

Recommended Reading:

• Battini, L. 2016. Making Pictures of War: Realia et Imaginaria in the Iconography of the Ancient Near East. Archaeopress Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology.
• Nigro, L. 1998 “The Two Steles of Sargon: Iconography and Visual Propaganda at the Beginning of Royal Akkadian Relief” Iraq 60; pages 85-102
• Pearson, M.P., Thorpe, I.J.N, eds. 2005 Warfare, Violence and Slavery in Prehistory. BAR International Series 1374, Hadrian Book Ltd
• Soltysiak, A. 2017 “Antemortem Cranial Trauma in Ancient Mesopotamia” International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 27, pages 118-128
• Willey, P. 1990 Prehistoric Warfare on the Great Plains: Skeletal Analysis of the Crow Creek Massacre Victims, Garland

Week 4: The Archaeology of Warfare Part II

April 18- The Evidence of Warfare: Weapons (and Tools)

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Gabriel R., and Metz K.S. 1991 From Sumer to Rome, Greenwood Press; Chapter 3 “Weapons and Lethality” pages 47-80

Recommended Reading:

• Trimm, C. 2017 Fighting for the King and the Gods: A Survey of Warfare in the Ancient Middle East. SBL Press. Chapter 7 “Weapons and Armor” pages 513-552
• Shimelmitz R., and Rosenberg D. 2013 “Dull-edges Weapons and Low-level Fighting in the Late Prehistoric Southern Levant” An Evolutionary Paradigm for the Study of Human Aggression” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 23(3); pages 433-452

April 20 – The Evidence of Warfare: Fortifications and Battlefields

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Düring, B.S 2011 “Fortifications and Fabrications: Reassessing the Emergence of Fortifications in Prehistoric Asia Minor.” In Düring, Wossink and Akkermans eds. Correlates of Complexity, Nederlands Instituut Voor Het Nabije Oosten; pages 69-86

Recommended Reading:

• Burgess, C., Topping P., Mordant C., and Maddison M., eds. 1988 Enclosures and Defenses in the Neolithic of Western Europe. BAR I.S. no. 403(i), British Archaeological Reports
• Burke, A. 2008 Walled Up to Heaven: The Evolution of Middle Bronze Age Fortification Strategies in the Levant. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana

Week 5: Violence Before Warfare?

April 25– Discussion Class Number 1: Why do we fight?

No assigned readings, but come prepared to talk in groups for a graded discussion.

April 27 – Earliest Warfare? Raiding and Small-Scale Violence

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Selover “Weapons, Warfare, and Women: The Dangerous Lives of Early Bronze Age Women in Central Anatolia” Journal of Conflict Archaeology 15(3), pages 176-191

Recommended Reading:

• Kelly, R.C., 2007. Warless Societies and the Origin of War. University of Michigan
• Otterbein, K., 2004. How War Began. Texas A&M University Press

Part II: A Chronology of Warfare

Week 6 – Warfare at the Rise of Urbanism (ca. 4000-2000 BCE)

May 2- The Kings of Akkad: The First Empire

Lecture Slides

Final Project Subject Due at Start of Class    

Required Reading:

• Hamblin, W.J. 2006 Warfare in the Ancient Middle East to 1600 BC: Holy Warriors at the Dawn of History. “The Akkadian empire” pages 73-102

Recommended Reading:

• Ferrill, A. 1985 The Origins of War from the Stone Age to Alexander the Great, Thames and Hudson
• Gabriel, R., and A. Metz, 1991 From Sumer to Rome: The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press

May 4 - The Trojan War: Fact or Fiction         

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Bryce, T. 2006, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford University Press, Chapter 14 “The Trojan War: Myth or Reality?” pages 392-405

Recommended Reading:

• Bryce, 2006 The Trojans and Their Neighbors (2006), Routledge

Week 7- The Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600-1100 BCE)

May 9 - The Late Bronze Age and the Battle of Kadesh, Part I: Battle Prep

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Santosuosso A. 1996 “Kadesh Revisited: Reconstructing the Battle Between the Egyptians and the Hittites” The Journal of Military History 60:3, pages 423-444

Additional Reading on Egyptian Military and Weapons

Additional Reading on Hittite Military and Weapons

Recommended Reading:

• Bryce 2003 Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Middle East, “The Interaction of the Players: Imperial Administration and International Relationships” pages 38-49 and “The Club of Royal Brothers” pages 70-88
• Pearson, W. 2010 “Ramses II and the Battle of Kadesh: A Miraculous Victory?” Ancient History, Resources for Teachers, 40:1, pages 1-20
• Spalinger A. 2003 “The Battle of Kadesh: The Chariot Frieze at Abydos” Aeypten und Levante, Vol 13, pages 163-199
• Spalinger, A.J. 2011 “Military Institutions and Warfare: Pharaonic” in A Companion to Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1B. Lloyd, ed. pages 425-445
• Spalinger, A.J. 2005 War in Ancient Egypt: The New Kingdom, Blackwell Publishing
• Partridge, R.B., 2003 Fighting Pharaohs: Weapons and Warfare in Ancient Egypt, Peartree Publishing

May 11- The Late Bronze Age and the Battle of Kadesh - Reenactment

Week 8- Total Empire: The Late Bronze Age to the Neo-Assyrians (ca. 1600-500 BCE)

May 16- Collapse, and the ‘Sea Peoples’

Lecture Slides

Battle of Kadesh Write Up Due at the Start of Class 

Required Reading:

• Millek, J.M. 2017 “Sea Peoples, Philistines, and the Destruction of Cities: A Critical Examination of Destruction Layers ‘Caused’ by the ‘Sea Peoples’” In Sea Peoples Up-To-Date,M. Fischer and T. Bürge, eds., Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pages 113-140

Recommended Reading:

• Ben-Dor Evian, S. 2016 “The Battles between Ramesses III and the ‘Sea-Peoples:’ When, Where and Who? An Iconic Analysis of the Egyptian Reliefs” Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 143(2), pages 151-168
• Ben-Dor Evian, S., 2017 “Ramesses III and the ‘Sea-peoples’: Towards a New Philistine Paradigm” Oxford Journal of Archaeology 36(3), pages 267-285
• Jung, R. 2017 “The Sea Peoples After Three Millennia: Possibilities and Limitations of Historical Reconstruction” In Sea Peoples Up-To-Date,M. Fischer and T. Bürge, eds., Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pages 23-42
• Oren, E.D. 2000 The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. University of Pennsylvania Press

May 18- The Neo-Assyrian War Machine: Death and Destruction

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:     

• Faust, A. 2015 “Settlement, Economy and Demography under Assyrian Rule in the West: The Territories of the Former Kingdom of Israel as a Test Case.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 135:4, pages 765-789

Recommended Reading:        

• De Backer, F. 2009 “Some Basic Tactics of Neo-Assyrian Warfare 2: Siege Battles” State Archives of Assyria Bulletin, XVIII, pages 265-286
• Hackett, J.W., 1989, Warfare in the Ancient World Facts on File “The Assyrians” pages 36-53
• Jacoby, R. 1991 “The Representation and Identification of Cities on Assyrian Reliefs” Israel Exploration Journal, Vol 41:1/3, pages 112-131

Week 9- Biblical Warfare and the Persians (ca. 500-300 BCE)

May 23- Biblical Warfare: The Battle of Lachish     

Lecture Slides

Lachish Handout

Required Reading:

• Ussishkin, D. 1990 “The Assyrian Attack on Lachish: The Archaeological Evidence from the Southwest Corner of the Site” Tel Aviv 17:1; pages 53-86

Recommended Reading:

• Bagg, A.M. 2013 “Palestine under Assyrian Rule: A New Look at the Assyrian Imperial Policy in the West. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 133:1, pages 119-144
• Katz, H. and Faust, A. 2012 “The Assyrian Destruction Layer at Tel ‘Eton” Israel Exploration Journal, 62:1, pages 22-53.
• Ussishkin, D. 1980 “The ‘Lachish Reliefs” and the City of Lachish” Israel Exploration Journal Vol 30.3/4, pages 174-195

May 25 – Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire      

Lecture Slides

Text of the Cyrus Cylinder

Required Reading:

• Hackett, J.W., 1989, Warfare in the Ancient World Facts on File “The Persians” pages 82-103

Recommended Reading:

• Piller, C.K. 2013 “The Cadusii in Archaeology? Remarks on the Achaemenid Period (Iron Age IV) in Gilan and Talesh” Iran and the Caucasus 17, pages 115-151
• Razmjou (2013) Curtis J. & Tallis N. (eds.), Forgotten Empire. The World of Ancient Persia, (British Museum Press) “Transport and Warfare” pages 210-235
• Holland, T. 2005 Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West, Anchor Books
• Bartolini, P. 1988 The Phoenicians Bompiana; “Army, Navy and Warfare” pages 132-139
• Morillo S., Black J. Lococo P. 2008 War in World History: Society, Technology and War from Ancient Times to the Present, Volume 1, McGraw Hill
• van Creveld, M. 1989 Technology and War from 2000 BC to the Present, The Free Press

Week 10 - Alexander and the Modern Day

May 30 - Alexander the Great and the Rise of the Greeks

Lecture Slides

Required Reading:

• Carey, B.T. 2009 Warfare in the Ancient World, Ch. 3 “Warfare in the Hellenistic Era: The Rise of the Macedonian Art of War” pages 64-89

Recommended Reading:

• Borza, E.N. 1987 “The Royal Macedonian Tombs and the Paraphernalia of Alexander the Great” Phoenix, 41:2, pages 105-121
• Carey, B.T. 2009 Warfare in the Ancient World, Ch. 4 “Republican Rome at War: The Rise and Evolution of the Legion” pages 90-120
• Chrissanthos, S.G. 2008 Warfare in the Ancient World: From the Bronze Age to the Fall of Rome Praeger Series on the Ancient World
• Hackett, J.W., 1989, Warfare in the Ancient World Facts on File. “Alexander the Great” pages 104-129
• Roth, J.P. 2009 Roman Warfare Cambridge University Press

• Shipley, G. 2005 “Between Macedonia and Rome: Political Landscapes and Social Change in Southern Greece in the Early Hellenistic Period.” The Annual of the British School at Athens” Vol. 100, pages 315-330

June 1- Discussion Class: Warfare and Colonialism in the Modern Middle East

No assigned readings, but come prepared to talk in groups for a graded discussion

Final Project Due June 7, by 11:59pm