Undergraduate Course: Archaeology, Politics, and the Making of the Modern Middle East (CACA10055)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Archaeology is always political. There are few places where this statement is truer than in the Middle East. Here, archaeology has played a pivotal role in the western colonial projects; in the formation of modern nation states; and in the public image of the Taliban and Islamic State groups. Taking a step back from the primary source material, we will examine how historical trajectories are constructed and how these constructions have been used to reinforce political identities. |
| Course description |
This thematic course examines how archaeology and material culture have been used in the political agendas of the modern Middle East: from the western colonising projects of the 18th and 19th century to the destruction of archaeological sites and artefacts undertaken by the Taliban and Islamic State. It explores how some historical trajectories have been promoted through, for example, the selection, excavation, and interpretation of certain archaeological sites, while other, competing histories have been side-lined. Archaeology and material culture take centre stage through weekly case studies in which we will examine, for example, how the search for a Biblical and Roman past by early western archaeologists has been detrimental for our understanding of later periods, and how the rush for the treasures of Pharaonic Egypt shaped our knowledge at the expense of the rich Coptic and early Muslim material culture. We will explore the role of monuments, such as the Dome of the Rock and the remains of Herod's temple in Jerusalem, in the mid-20th century nation-building project, and how archaeological sites with Roman pasts were promoted to western institutions to form diplomatic bonds. The course concludes by assessing the role of archaeology in current political trajectories, looking, for example, at the competing interests in rebuilding war-torn Syria and the revival of the Pharaoh in the building of the new Egyptian Museum.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | The students must have progressed to honours.
There are no pre-requisites for this course, but it is recommended that the students have passed at least one of the following courses: Greek Art and Archaeology, Roman Art and Archaeology, Transformation of the Roman World, Ancient History 2a or Ancient History 2b. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics, History or Archaeology at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
85 %,
Practical Exam
15 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
3,500 word Essay (60%)
1,250 word Book review (25%)
Non-Written Skills:
Online discussion contributions (15%) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours for this course or by appointment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Show critical engagement with selected aspects of the history of archaeology in the Middle East
- Conduct independent research and critically engage with historical narratives pertinent to the Middle East
- Evaluate the work of others, including peers
- Conduct bibliographical research, which includes finding additional information on topics relevant to the course as well as analyse and reflect critically upon selected scholarship
- Make informed contributions to class discussion and summarise succinctly the key points in relevant scholarship.
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Reading List
Abu el-Haj, N. 2002, Facts on the Ground. Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society, The University of Chicago Press.
Abu-Khafaja, S. and Miqdadi, R. 2019, 'Prejudice, military intelligence, and neoliberalism: examining the local within archaeology and heritage practices in Jordan', Contemporary Levant 4(2), 92-106.
Brooks-Hedstrom, D.L. 2012, 'Treading on antiquity: Anglo-American missionaries adnt eh religious landscape of nineteenth-century Coptic Egypt', Material Religion 8(2), 128-153.
Corbett, E. 2015, Competitive Archaeology in Jordan: Narrating Identity from the Ottomans to the Hashemites, Austin: University of Texas Press.
Flood, B. 2002, 'Between Cult and Culture: Bamiyan, Islamic Iconoclasm, and the Museum', The Art Bulletin 84(4), 641-659.
Gibson, S. 1999, 'British archaeological institutions in Mandatory Palestine, 1917-1948', Palestine Exploration Quarterly 131, 115-43.
Greenberg, R. and Hamilakis, Y. 2022, Archaeology, Nation, and Race. Confronting the Past, Decolonizing the Future in Greece and Israel, Cambridge University Press.
Kamash, Z. 2017, 'Postcard to Palmyra': bringing the public into debates over post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle East', World Archaeology 49(5).
Katz, K. 2005, Jordanian Jerusalem: Holy Places and National Spaces, Gainesville.
Meskell, L. 2020, 'Imperialism, internationalism, and archaeology in the un/making of the Middle East', American Anthropologist 122, 554-67.
Richter, T. 2008, 'Espionage and Near Eastern Archaeology: A Historiographical Survey', Public Archaeology 7(4).
Stevenson, A. 2014, 'Artefacts of excavation. The British collection and distribution of Egyptian finds to museums, 1880-1915', Journal of the History of Collections 26(1), 89-102. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Collect, evaluate, and use a wide range of information from a variety of sources.
Summarise, interpret, and critically assess published archaeological scholarship.
Undertake an independent research project in the course essay and complete it within a strict time limit.
Construct and convey in writing and in class presentation a coherent argument based on independent research of primary source material and secondary scholarly literature. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Louise Blanke
Tel: (0131 6)50 2368
Email: louise.blanke@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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