Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies
Description of the section
The section of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies at the Department of Classics in research and teaching covers the Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean, Cyprus, Anatolia, the Levant and Mesopotamia) from the late 4th millennium to the early 1st millennium BC. During this extremely exciting period of human history, we can observe the emergence and establishment of early complex societies, including the first surviving evidence of written records, mainly for administrative purposes.
During these millennia, a decisive change took place in social structures and in the way people interacted with their environment. Furthermore, continuous and diverse relationships between the different regions in the eastern Mediterranean can be observed and described, both in terms of material culture and the dissemination of ideas.
Main research areas
The research focus of the section of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies includes the following areas
- Ceramics and glyptics
- human-animal relationships
- ritual and religious practices
- interaction and exchange networks
- Languages and cultures (Sumerian, Akkadian, Mycenaean, Anatolian with Hittite, Luwian and other Anatolian languages, Hurrian)
- Digital archaeology