13822

WiSe 16/17: (SU) Fundgruppen und Typologien

Andrea Ricci

Information for students

Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch

Comments

Water is the primary element of life. The procurement, distribution and consumption of water are essential for human life. The construction and management of water systems requires complex engineering and workforce organization. The location, accessibility, yield, and quality of water resources significantly influence the setting and longevity of ancient and modern settlements. Control and management of water affects the economic, political, social life of the communities inhabiting these settlements. This course will examine diachronically the archaeology of water exploitation in Southwest Asia over the last 9000 years. We will consider the distribution of water and forms of ancient and historical water management systems in the alluvial plains, deserts, highland zones and steppes of Mesopotamia, Persia, Anatolia, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. This analysis of ancient water management practices will be interwoven with ongoing debates of the archaeology of the Near East, including: the emergence of the earliest urbanized communities of Mesopotamia; water and political power; technologies of water management both in the landscape and at single site level; and long-term human-environment dynamics. Finally, the class will discuss water sustainability through the examination of attempts to revive traditional and ancient technologies in an effort to better manage water resources in arid environments. close

Suggested reading

Eyre C.J., 1995, The Agricultural Cycle, Farming, and Water Management in the Ancient Near East, in Sasson J. (ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East Vol. 1, New York, Scribner: pp. 175-189 Fagan B., 2011, Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind, New York, Bloomsbury Press: pp. 3-20 Pournelle J., 2007, From KLM to Corona: A Bird’s Eye View of Cultural Ecology and Early Mesopotamian Urbanization, in Stone E. (ed.), Settlement and Society: Essays Dedicated to Robert McCormick Adams, Los Angeles, Cotsen Institute, UCLA: pp. 29-62 Ortloff C.R., 2009, Water engineering in the ancient world: archaeological and climate perspectives on societies of ancient South America, the Middle East, and South-East Asia, Oxford, Oxford University Press Scarborough V. L., 2003, The Flow of Power: Ancient Water Systems and Landscapes, Santa Fe, School of American Research Tamburrino A., 2010, Water Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia, in Mays L.W. (ed.), Ancient Water Technologies, New York, Springer Wilkinson, Tony J. 2003. Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East. Tucson: University of Arizona Press: Ch. 2, 5 and 9 close