An Introduction to Ancient Eastern Civilisations

This is a course of six lectures by Prof Maria Chester on Thursdays at 4 pm.

The Ancient Eastern Civilisations are those which rose in the Aegean and Mesopotamian regions: they are linked to what is known as the Bronze Age and they were the starting point of what we call today “Western civilisations”.

We will study the early civilisations in the Cyclades, Crete and Mycenae and Tyrins, which were prequels to the great civilisation of Classical Greece. We will then examine the development of early societies in Sumeria, Babylon, Persia and Mohenjo Daro.

We shall have a look at their social organisation, religion, myths, art & crafts, technology, writing, architecture, army, language, commerce and trading…and most importantly, their legacy.

Each lecture is presented in fifty minutes allowing people to ask questions or share comments related to the talk.

BRONZE AGE CIVILISATIONS AND BEYOND… 3400 BP – 1200 BP

24.02.2022 – AEGEAN CIVILISATIONS: CYCLADES, MYCENAE & TIRYNS

03.03.2022 – CRETE – THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS (2,700 BP – 1,400 BP)

10.03.2022 – MESOPOTAMIA – SUMERIA (IRAK) – THE ROYAL TOMBS OF UR

17.03.2022 – MESOPOTAMIA – BABYLON

24.03.2022- MESOPOTAMIA – PERSIA (IRAN)- PERSEPOLIS

31.03.2022 – MOHENJO DARO – HARAPPAN CIVILISATION

Lectures will be delivered via Zoom. If you haven’t used Zoom before, please go to www.zoom.us and look at the tutorials. Once you have booked, you will find the invitation in Eventbrite on the Online Event Page. We will also send out the invitation by email 24 hours before the meeting starts.

If you book this course online, we will hold your personal data in accordance with our privacy policy. If you do not wish us to hold your personal data, please book by post and do not supply an email address.