This class provides a comprehensive survey of Mesopotamian architecture from 10,000-300 BC. Topics to be investigated in this class include: the evolution of human habitats — from temporary shelters to well-defined house types that dominated Mesopotamian domestic life for millennia; the development of places of worship — from pre-formal household-based cultic spaces during the Neolithic to large temples complexes that dominated the cities of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia; the rise of palaces — from the house of the "Big Man" to large elaborately decorated buildings that were homes to kings and rulers but also served as administrative centers and arenas for political performance; the emergence of villages — their layout, economic underpinnings, and social organization; the formation and layout of cities — centres of political, religious, and economic power.

This course will address models of state formation and social complexity and evaluate their relevance to ancient Near Eastern societies. Topics discussed include family structures, the role of tribes, chiefdoms, bureaucracy, and the impact of irrigation, craft specialization, and trade upon socio-economic complexity. While focusing on the ancient Near East (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, the Levant, Iran, Anatolia), comparative data from other regions (Meso- and South America, Africa, China) as well as from the contemporary Middle East will be consulted where appropriate.

This class will provide an in-depth look at the rise of Mesopotamian urban civilization from 4000-2000 BC — a crucial time period that saw the rise of first cities in the Uruk period; the formation of competing urban polities and first empires in the Early Dynastic, Akkadian, and Ur III periods; the development of writing as reflected in bureaucracy and historical narratives; unprecedented technological innovations; and the creation of unparalleled works of art and visual narratives. Much of the discussion in this class will focus on materials from excavated sites in Iraq, Syria, and Iran to highlight the wealth of available data but to also discuss its limitations for modern analytical and interpretive approaches. In addition to lectures, students will actively participate through class presentations and in focused discussions of selected topics. The class will also include site visits to the Royal Ontario Museum to consult its Mesopotamian archaeological collection.

This course is intended to provide students with training in the use of polarized-light microscopy in the examination of ceramics, with some reference to stone, other materials, and microstratigraphy. Starting with classes in elementary optical mineralogy and case studies, the bulk of the training will comprise lab sessions in which typical thin-sections of rocks, pottery, soils, and other materials will be studied. Working from standard thin-sections and using a lab manual, students will be taught to recognize the principle minerals and other inclusions (including anthropogenic) found in archaeological ceramics. In consultation with instructor, a research project will be completed that includes analysis of 20 thin-sections. Prior knowledge of geology is not necessary.

A survey class on the warfare in the ancient Near East (10,000-333 BC) using archaeological data and historical sources. Topic to be covered include origins of conflict, archaeological manifestations of war, armies and weapons, siege techniques, urban combat, and prisoners of war.

Death is an unavoidable part of the human experience, and each culture has its own unique ways of handling the loss of family and community members and conceptualizing the relationships between the living and the dead. This course represents an intensive education in the archaeology of death. Participants in this class will read a variety of theoretical and methodological literature outlining several approaches to reconstructing the ways that people have disposed of the dead throughout history, and will use these frameworks to examine in detail the primary archaeological data for mortuary practices from sites in the ancient Near East.

The cultures of the Horn of Africa and Southwest Arabia, separated by the Red Sea, have long been intertwined. This course explores the history and archaeology from the emergence of the hominids in Ethiopia, to the rise of the Sabean and Axumite kingdoms, until the Middle Ages, highlighting their interactions and the roles they played in the development of their respective cultures.

Borders impact all kinds of aspects of our daily lives, and the same was true for peoples in the ancient Near East. This course will analyze premodern societies from the perspective of these boundaries, from “natural” geographic boundaries to the strict registers of action that define the aesthetics of Pharaonic and Near Eastern art. Using cutting-edge theoretical approaches developed by anthropologists, geographers, art historians, and archaeologists to study modern (and ancient) border-making, this course will investigate Pharaonic and Near Eastern societies through the prism of the political, cultural, administrative, and economic boundaries they created and maintained. Each week, we will
analyze theoretical approaches in tandem with specific case studies from the ancient Near East and Egypt. We will look at a range of topics, from the nature of “boundary stelae” that ostensibly demarcate national borders to the role of strictly defined registers of action that often structure Pharaonic and Near Eastern art. The course is focused upon archaeological approaches to boundaries and border-making, but we will also read and discuss relevant primary sources in translation.

Gender Issues and Jewish Law will cover Constructions of Sexes, Genders, and Sexualities in Rabbinic Literature. We shall deal with legal and biological definitions of sex and intersex in classical Jewish writings from Bible through rabbinic literature, legal codes, and modern Jewish approaches, including biomedical ethics on sex assignment. We shall examine texts dealing with the legal definitions of sex acts and their legal repercussions. Constructions of the very different male and female genders and rabbinic attempts to categorize the gender of an intersex will be studied. We shall examine various sexual acts: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transsexual, intergenerational, and solitary sex in an attempt to discern the relationship of classical Jewish texts to them. Did these relationships constitute constructions of sexualities? The impact of cross-cultural influences on Jewish approaches to sex, gender, and sexuality will also be addressed.

The topic to be covered is Constructions of Sexes, Genders, and Sexualities in Rabbinic Literature. We shall deal with legal and biological definitions of sex and intersex in classical Jewish writings from the Bible through rabbinic literature, legal codes, and modern Jewish approaches, including biomedical ethics on sex assignment. We shall examine texts dealing with the legal definitions of sex acts and their legal repercussions. Constructions of the very different male and female genders and rabbinic attempts to categorize the gender of an intersex will be studied as well as sexualities (heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, and solitary sexuality). We shall attempt to discern trends in their constructions and the impact of cross-cultural influences on Jewish approaches to sex, gender, and sexuality.

This course examines a variety of different sources of evidence for religion in the ancient Near East, especially in Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia, including original written sources, archaeological evidence, and iconography. Where possible, the focus will be on reading primary Near Eastern texts, and interpreting them within their contemporary social and political context. We also will discuss links between ancient Near Eastern texts and material that later came to be incorporated into Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious texts.

A seminar on Phoenician and Punic inscriptions and their relationship to contemporary Judaean literature. Knowledge of biblical Hebrew is supposed. The texts are prepared and presented by the students. Preparation includes grammatical, syntactic, literary, historical, and palaeographical analysis, in the light of the relevant scholarly literature, and with due attention to comparative materials.

A seminar on the language and literature of Ugarit. Knowledge of biblical Hebrew or some other Semitic language is presupposed. The texts are prepared in advance and presented by the students, with attention to grammar and syntax, and with consideration of literary and religious questions, from an historical and comparative point of view, and with reference to all the relevant scholarly literature.

This course continues the study of Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic) grammar at the advanced level, focusing on the earliest Ethiopic texts, the ancient inscriptions from before and during the Kingdom of Aksum.

Advanced discussion of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of Biblical Hebrew. Consideration of the various linguistic methods used to investigate Biblical Hebrew. Investigation of the most visible and currently unresolved grammatical issues. For each language issue addressed, selections of texts from Biblical Hebrew will be used as a reference point. Weekly Hebrew composition will also be required.

This course will consider the genetic, geographic, and typological features of the major Semitic language branches. Attention will be given to 1) classifications of Semitic languages (genetic and typological); 2) comparison of phoneme and lexical inventories, morphology, and syntax; 3) methods used to reconstruct "proto-Semitic"; 4) causes of language change.

A reading and research course is a course created when an individual graduate student (or a very small group of graduate students) wishes to explore a topic not currently offered as a graduate course. The student is responsible for finding a graduate faculty member who is willing to work with the student. In collaboration, the graduate faculty member and the student will create the learning goals, deliverables, resources, timeline, and mechanism for feedback. The supervising faculty member must have a School of Graduate Studies (SGS) graduate faculty membership appointment through the Graduate Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations. These are not meant to replace existing curriculum where sufficient course offerings are available. Reading/Research courses are supplementary and are considered at the discretion of the academic advisor to fill in a gap in knowledge/academic preparedness for the dissertation.

A reading and research course is a course created when an individual graduate student (or a very small group of graduate students) wishes to explore a topic not currently offered as a graduate course. The student is responsible for finding a graduate faculty member who is willing to work with the student. In collaboration, the graduate faculty member and the student will create the learning goals, deliverables, resources, timeline, and mechanism for feedback. The supervising faculty member must have a School of Graduate Studies (SGS) graduate faculty membership appointment through the Graduate Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations. These are not meant to replace existing curriculum where sufficient course offerings are available. Reading/Research courses are supplementary and are considered at the discretion of the academic advisor to fill in a gap in knowledge/academic preparedness for the dissertation.

A reading and research course is a course created when an individual graduate student (or a very small group of graduate students) wishes to explore a topic not currently offered as a graduate course. The student is responsible for finding a graduate faculty member who is willing to work with the student. In collaboration, the graduate faculty member and the student will create the learning goals, deliverables, resources, timeline, and mechanism for feedback. The supervising faculty member must have a School of Graduate Studies (SGS) graduate faculty membership appointment through the Graduate Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations. These are not meant to replace existing curriculum where sufficient course offerings are available. Reading/Research courses are supplementary and are considered at the discretion of the academic advisor to fill in a gap in knowledge/academic preparedness for the dissertation.

A reading and research course is a course created when an individual graduate student (or a very small group of graduate students) wishes to explore a topic not currently offered as a graduate course. The student is responsible for finding a graduate faculty member who is willing to work with the student. In collaboration, the graduate faculty member and the student will create the learning goals, deliverables, resources, timeline, and mechanism for feedback. The supervising faculty member must have a School of Graduate Studies (SGS) graduate faculty membership appointment through the Graduate Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations. These are not meant to replace existing curriculum where sufficient course offerings are available. Reading/Research courses are supplementary and are considered at the discretion of the academic advisor to fill in a gap in knowledge/academic preparedness for the dissertation.

This course explores special topics in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations according to the subtitle.

This course explores special topics in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations according to the subtitle.

Individual directed research, no meeting time/place. This course facilitates independent codicology research at the Fisher Rare Books Library, supervised by the instructor, with coursework and deadlines to be determined individually. A mentorship component with a librarian will be included.

This course explores special topics in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations according to the subtitle.

This course is designed to orient students to the field of contemporary Qur'anic studies through reading and discussion of the text itself in Arabic and of significant European-language scholarship about the Qur'an as well as through examination of the principal bibliographical tools for this subject area.

This course is an introduction to the rich literature that has grown around the study of the Qur'an in the Arabic tradition. In addition to readings in the Qur'an students will read selections from works in ma'ani, and majaz; we will then move to the major works in tafsir; selections include material from al-Tabari, al-Tha`labi, al-Zamakhshari, al-Qurtubi, al-Razi, Ibn Taymiyah, and al-Suyuti. The course will culminate in the study of al-Itqan of al-Suyuti. The course will also introduce students to the major reference works that are used for research in this field.

There is a massive commentary tradition on Arabic medieval poetry. This course will cover the commentary tradition on the poetry of al-Mutanabbi. The poetry of al-Mutanabbi generated a heated debate among philologists and a tradition of commentary developed around the corpus of al-Mutanabbi. This corpus is massive and unstudied. The course will be a continuation of the commentary tradition studied on the Qur'an, it will allow students to deepen their knowledge of the commentary tradition. The focus of the course will be the commentary of al-Wahidi and Ibn Jinni. Students will become aware of the whole corpus but the readings will be from these two commentators.

This course introduces the different areas of study covered within the NMC department, with guest presentations from NMC faculty and associated readings. Students develop an independent research project in their field by the end of the course.