HI282
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East
0.5 Credit

Over the course of only a few millennia, the cultures of the Near East witnessed significant developments which successively transformed prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies into small states and ultimately into the vast Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires among others. This course will seek to uncover the underlying factors and catalysts which prompted these developments and trace the evolution of culture in the region with a focus on significant innovations such as agriculture and the first invention of writing one hand and social and religious perspectives on the other.{G}{P}