Insegnamento
PHOENICIAN-PUNIC ARCHAEOLOGY
Docente
LORENZO NIGRO
The students are expected to acquire an overall knowledge about the archaeology of the early Mediterranean city and to develop specific competencies in analysing urban settlements and their most relevant topographic features and monuments.
The course will deal with the origins of Mediterranean civilizations, by exploring the archaeology of the city from the Levant to the West, from the III until the I millennium B.C. Particularly, the lessons will analyze the elements that contributed to create urban settlements and to define their dwellers' customs, societal behaviours and ideas. Special attention will be paid to production systems (from pottery to metallurgy, from alimentary diets to agriculture), to spatial organisation and architectures of the urban centers, to art and to religion.
Therefore, the course will focus on the concept of the city and will examine its topographic features and organisation as well as its fundamental architectural elements, such as fortifications, palaces, temples and necropolis.
Emblematic case studies will be considered and in-depth studied - particularly Jericho and Motya - in the light of the most recent archaeological discoveries.
The set of lessons dedicated to Jericho will investigate one of the earliest city of the Near East, exemplifying the extraordinary phenomenon that is the formation and growth of an integrated human society, a socio-cultural achievement that gained the site the renowned title of the "oldest city in the world". The lessons will focus on the transformation of the area into an urban settlement and examine the societal, economic, religious aspects of the ancient city.
The set of lessons dedicated to Motya will provide an overall picture of the Phoenician settlement and its development over time. Hence, the origins of the Phoenician foundation will be investigated and its urban history and topography will be illustrated in the light of the most recent archaeological discoveries, resulted from 'La Sapienza' University of Rome missions at Motya.
1) L. Nigro, "The Archaeology of Collapse and Resilience: Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho as a Case Study", in L. Nigro (ed.), Overcoming Catastrophes. Essays on disastrous agents characterization and resilience strategies in pre-classical Southern Levant (Rome «La Sapienza» Studies on The Archaeology of Palestine And Transjordan, 11)(2014) pp. 55-85, Rome: Rome «La Sapienza» Expedition to Palestine & Jordan. 2) L. Nigro, "Jericho", in D.M. Master (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, vol. II (2013), pp. 1-8.
3) L. Nigro, "Results of the Italian-Palestinian Expedition to Tell es-Sultan: at the Dawn of Urbanization in Palestine", in L. Nigro, H. Taha (eds.), Tell es-Sultan/Jericho in the Context of the Jordan Valley: Site Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development. (= Rome "La Sapienza" Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan, 2), Rome 2006, pp. 1-40.
4) L. Nigro, “Before the Greeks: the earliest Phoenician settlement in Motya – Recent discvories by Rome «La Sapienza» Expedition”: Vicino Oriente XVII (2013), pp. 39-74.
5) L. Nigro, “Temples in Motya and their Levantine prototypes: Phoenician religious architectural tradition”, in CL. DOUMET-SERHAL - A.M. MAILA-AFEICHE (eds.), Cult and Ritual on the Levantine Coast and its impact on the Eastern Mediterranean Realm. Proceedings of the International Symposium Beirut 2012 (BAAL Hors-Série X), Beyrouth 2015, pp. 83-108.
6) L. Nigro, The so-called “Kothon” at Motya. The sacred pool of Baal ‘Addir/Poseidon in the light of recent archaeological investigations by Rome «La Sapienza» University - 2005-2013. Stratigraphy, architecture, and finds (Quaderni di Archeologia fenicio-punica / Colour Monograph 03), Roma: Missione archeologica a Mozia, 2014.
7) L. Nigro, Rome “La Sapienza” excavations at Motya 2007-2009: The Temple of the Kothon, the Circular Temenos, and Astarte’s Shrine, in La vie, la mort et la religion dan l’univers Phénicien et punique, VIIème congrès international des études phéniciennes et puniques, Tunis 2019, pp. 1641-1663.
All the texts are available on Academia: https://uniroma1.academia.edu/LorenzoNigro and on the web page of the course.
The teaching activity and learning process is based on the combination of:
1) 30 video-lectures (the professor presents the course contents, in a way similar to classroom frontal teaching, supported by slides), that gradually introduces the student to the discovery of the ancient city, particularly by examining two exemplary study cases, i.e. Motya and Jericho.
2) Individual study.
3) Interactive activity: preparation of a short essay that will be revised by the professor.
For the learning of the discipline, video-lectures and other teaching materials are available to students on the web page of the course.
Professor and tutor will assist the students during the entire academic year through e-mail correspondence and, at the student's request, video-reception (dates and times to be agreed in advance with the professor and the tutor).
Students will self-evaluate their level of learning and their knowledge of Phoenician-Punic Archaeology by answering to a number of questions (available on the web page of the course).
The evaluation will consist in an oral exam (questions concerning general and specific topics addressed during the lessons; recognition/description of monuments and artefacts analysed in the lessons; knowledge of the examined archaeological sites and periods).
The acquired knowledge and competencies will allow the graduates to be employed as professional archaeologists in a wide range of potential institutions, such as those connected to cultural heritage management, protection and valorisation, e.g. museums, archaeological sites; public administrations; academic and research entities; archaeological excavations associations or cooperatives; organisations working in the field of tourism, history, architecture etc.