The Hashemite University
Queen Rania’s Institute of Tourism and Heritage
Department of Sustainable Tourism
Master Degree in Archaeology of Ancient Arab Civilizations
Courses' Description
901701 Special Advanced Topics in Archaeology:
This course provides students with a number of advanced special topics in archaeology
that prepares them for fieldwork course in the Archaeological Excavation Methods.
Therefore the course will comprise a theoretical part as well as practical. Classroom
topics include methods of field survey and excavation, stratigraphy, using maps and plans
and analyzing and understanding material culture. A number of different archaeological
sites will be visited.
901702 Levant in the Ancient Ages:
This course surveys the history of Levant (Bilad Esh Sham) from the beginning of
Paleolithic to the end of Persian period. The course focuses on several interrelated themes
concerning the successive chronological periods including the development of
agriculture, ivention of pottery, the rise of urban centers in the Levant, the invention of
the alphabet in the Bronze Ages, the rise of territorial states in Iron Ages and finally the
establishment of Persian empire.
901720 Archaeological Excavation Methods:
This course focuses on practical training in methods of excavations, recording, pottery
reading, and surveying. Student have to do a post excavation work including computer
database input and manipulation of information, drawing of artifacts and plans for
publication, packaging of actual artifacts to be stored for a long time.
901741 Antiquities of Arabian Peninsula before Islam:
This course is designed to provide a student with a survey of the Arabian Peninsula's
landmarks, their history from the beginning of the Stone Ages to the endof the Iron Age.
This course requier knowledge in the related neighbouring lands cultures of the Arabian
Peninsula.
901742 Antiquities of Nabataean, Tadmurian and Hadharian Kingdoms:
This course studies the distiguished civilizations of Nabataeans in southern Levant, the
Tadmurian in the northern Badia and Hadhrian in Iraq. This course surveys the most
important aspects of these civilizations, focusing on the development of political, social,
and religious systems, as well as the creation of major works of art, architecture, and
literature.
901747 Old North Arabian Writings, Prerequisite: 0901742
This course deals with the inscriptions written by North Arabian nomads (Thamudians,
Safaities, and Lyhyanites) as well as by the sedentary Arabians (Nabataeans an
Tadmurians). The spatial distributions of the inscriptions, the development of the
different scripts, and the grammar will be the main focus of this course.
901740 The Civilizations of Kinda, Lakhmids and Ghassanids:
This course gives a definition of the Arab kingdoms that flourished by the fourth century
AD, the Lakhmids in Southern Iraq and the Ghassanids in Southern Syria. It talks about
their alliance with the great world power at that time: The Ghassanids with Romans and
the Lakhmids with Persians. A special emphasis will be given to their great contribution
to the civilization of the Near East.
901743 Special Topics in Arab and Islamic Archaeology:
A student is exposed to a number of special advanced topics in Islamic and Arab
Archaeology to be chosen by the lecturer and the department in each semester.
901744 Ancient Pottery Manufacturing Techniques:
This course will examine the typology and chronology of the major ancient pottery
produced in the Near East from the beginning to the late Islamic period.
901745 Islamic and Arab Numismatics:
This course surveys the main developments of the Arab and Islamic coinage from the
fourth century B.C. to the Late Islamic Period. Emphasis will be placed on the ways in
which numismatic evidence may be used to address questions of historical and
archaeological interest. The numismatic approaches to economic, political and cultural
history will be explored, as well as the numismatics as a branch of art- history.
901746 Seminar in Ancient Semitic Civilizations:
This course surveys Semitic Peoples, their languages in ancient historical times and their
geographical distribution which covered abroad area bridging Africa, Western Asia and
Arabian Peninsula. The course will also deal with their earliest historic (written)
evidences in the Fertile Crescent, extending northwest into southern Asia Minor and the
Levant along the Mediterranean.
901748 Ethnoarchaeology:
The students will be introduced to theories, methods and techniques applied by modern
archaeologists to contemporary societies and materials to aid their understanding of
extinct societies, of their way of life by studying the material and non-material traditions
of modern societies. Students have to participate in an ethno-archaeological project in
which they can study an ancient phenomena through watching its counterpart in a modern
society
901749 Comparative History:
This course studies the development of the different Arab civilizations represented at
various sites in the Near East especially the Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia and the
Levant. The main aim of the course is to explore the distinguish aspects of each
civilization.