Ancient Near Eastern History

Ancient Near Eastern History

The program in Ancient Near Eastern History offers an interdisciplinary approach to the history of the Near East from the emergence of cities in Mesopotamia to the rise of Islam. In addition to a broad-based familiarity with the historiographies of the various regions and periods, students obtain training in the archaeological and philological methods taught within the department relevant to the writing of history. Students specialize in one of the traditional geographical-chronological domains of the Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, Persia, or Late Antiquity. The program, moreover, emphasizes the value of a comparative historical perspective, requiring students to become acquainted with current research on the Classical Mediterranean and other premodern societies. Its aim is to train scholars who not only produce groundbreaking research within their own domains, but also can teach a wide range of premodern histories competently and compellingly, from a cross-chronological, global perspective.