Undergraduate Course: Greece and the Near East: Contacts, Conflicts, Exchanges (ANHI10120)

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	This course examines forms, contexts, and outcomes of cross-cultural interaction between the Greeks and various Near Eastern civilisations from the Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. It aims to foster a non-Hellenocentric understanding both of Greek history itself and of Mediterranean history more generally.
Course description	Greece's interactions with the civilisations of the ancient Near East are one of the most widely debated issues in Ancient History and Classical Studies. Modern scholarly positions range from emphasising a debt to the Near East in Greece's cultural development to arguing that the Greeks had nothing to learn from their neighbours, with a variety of nuances in between. Treatments often focus on discrete periods of Greek history, such as the "Orientalising" phase of the early archaic age or the Hellenistic period, as being characterised, more than others, by intense cross-cultural interaction. Interacting cultures are sometimes dissolved into a generic "Orient" which hinders appreciating their diversity and peculiarities. This course aims to offer a comprehensive view of the question and to (re)tell the story by focusing on three key aspects: (1) the long-period dimension of cross-cultural interaction between Greeks and Near Eastern civilisations; (2) the diversity of the interacting cultures; (3) the multifaceted nature of cross-cultural interaction, with reference to forms, contexts, and outcomes. Starting from these premises, classes will address a variety of modes and contexts in which the Greeks interacted with various neighbouring civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East, from the Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. Civilisations we will encounter include the Hittites and "Neo-Hittites" Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, Persians, and Carians. Topics addressed include methodology (why is "Orient" a problematic concept?); the relation between ethnicity, migration, and material culture; representations of the "Other;" shared elements and cross-cultural influence in literature, material culture, and political thought and practice; agents of cross-cultural interaction (e.g. mercenaries, scholars); Hellenistic royal ideology and local culture; mythography of cultural exchange. Discussion of each topic is based on a combination of textual and material evidence from the civilisations involved, as applicable.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics, History or Archaeology (at least 1 of which should be in Classics) 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
High Demand Course?	Yes

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: 0
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Exam: Two-hour final exam (60%) Coursework: 3,000 word essay (40%)
Feedback	Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser.
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)			120

Academic year 2026/27, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)		Quota: 2
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Exam: Two-hour final exam (60%) Coursework: 3,000 word essay (40%)
Feedback	Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser.
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)			120

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Critically evaluate modern approaches to the theme of cross-cultural interaction in a variety of contexts and periods. Assessed via coursework. Critically analyse evidence for cross-cultural interaction, in the form of written sources and artifacts. Assessed via coursework and final exam. Reconstruct the long and multifaceted history of encounters between Greeks and neighbouring civilisations and understand the impact of those encounters on their political, social, and cultural development. Assessed via coursework and final exam Become acquainted with the material and textual records of a variety of cultures and civilisations of the ancient Mediterranean world besides the "classical" ones. Assessed via final exam. Adopt a non-Hellenocentric approach to the study of the ancient Mediterranean. Assessed via coursework.

Reading List
Burkert, W. (1992). The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age. Cambridge (MA). Gunter, A.C. (2009). Greek Art and the Orient. Cambridge; New York. Haubold, J. (2013). Greece and Mesopotamia: Dialogues in Literature. Cambridge. Hodos, T. (2020). The Archaeology of the Mediterranean Iron Age: A Globalising World, c. 1100¿600 BCE. Cambridge. López-Ruiz, C. (2010). When the Gods Were Born: Greek Cosmogonies and the Near East.Cambridge (MA). López-Ruiz, C. (2021). Phoenicians and the Making of the Mediterranean. Cambridge (MA). Malkin, I. (2011). A Small Greek World: Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean. New York. Metcalf, C. (2025). Three Myths of Kingship in Early Greece and the Ancient Near East: The Servant, the Lover, and the Fool. Cambridge. Miller, M.C. (1997). Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC: A Study in Cultural Receptivity. Cambridge. Raaflaub, K.A. (2009). ¿Early Greek Political Thought in Its Mediterranean Context¿, in R. Balot (ed.), A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought. Malden (MA), 37¿56. Stevens, K. (2019). Between Greece and Babylonia: Hellenistic Intellectual History in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Cambridge; New York. West, M.L. (1997). The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Oxford.

Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills	- Ability to analyse written texts and material remains. - Ability to collect, evaluate and use the best available evidence in order to take a stance on debated historical issues. - Ability to summarise, interpret and critique the work of other scholars in oral and written form. - Ability effectively to communicate personal views on a given topic in an academic context. - Ability to overcome the traditional borders of the discipline of Ancient History.
Keywords	Not entered