The Pennsylvania State University
CAMS 400W (Fall 2011):
ARCHAEOLOGY OF HOMERIC AND BIBLICAL PEOPLES
Empire and Ethnicity during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in the Eastern Mediterranean
Instructor: Dr. Ann E. Killebrew
Meeting Time: Tuesday 6:00 – 8:45 PM
Place: 269 Willard
Office: Weaver 319
E-mail: aek11@psu.edu
Office Hours: W 3:30 – 5:30; TH 2:00 – 4:00 or by appointment
Campus Mail: Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, 108 Weaver Building
Course Syllabus
Course Description and Objectives:
The final centuries of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1400 – 1200 B.C.E.) have been
characterized as the “age of internationalism.” This earliest “global economy”
encompassed the cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, coinciding with the rise of the
Hittite and Egyptian empires, the appearance of a sophisticated Mycenaean culture based
on a city-state palace system, and the development of imperialism. These regions, which
included the Aegean, Anatolia, the Levant and Egypt, comprised an interlocking system
of economic, political, and cultural relations between center, periphery, semi-periphery
and external areas. Homer’s account of the Trojan War, an epic battle between east and
west, has often been understood as reflecting this “golden age of heroes”. Following the
collapse of the Hittite Empire at the end of the 13th century BCE, the destruction of the
Mycenaean palace system, and the subsequent decline of New Kingdom Egypt during the
12th century, the transition to the Iron Age witnessed the formation of new ethnic groups
that are well known in the Bible and first millennium texts. In the Levant, these include
the kingdoms of Israel, Judah, Ammon, Moab and Edom and the coastal city-states
associated with the Phoenicians and Philistines.
This seminar will examine the interconnected world of the Late Bronze Age, the
disappearance of this “golden age of heroes”, and the subsequent appearance of new
ethnic groups that rise out of the ruins of the Late Bronze Age. The second half of the
course will examine the emergence of regional kingdoms, or “secondary states”, during
early first millennium. The course will include historical, archaeological and
anthropological approaches to our reconstruction of first millennium BCE society and
culture in the Levant within its Eastern Mediterranean context.
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Course Requirements:
The course entails lectures, discussion sessions, one midterm and a research paper/oral
presentation. Attendance and active class participation are an integral part of the grade
and the course.
Grading Criteria:
Participation
Attendance (more than 2 missed classes will result in a lowering of
the final course grade by a half letter grade for each additional absence)
Active participation in discussions, debates and assignments
Mid-term Exam
Research Paper (ca. 15 pages [text]) (Due: Monday Dec. 12th, 4:00 PM)
Annotated bibliography and outline of research paper
(10%)
20 minute oral presentation of research paper
(10%)
Final research paper: ca. 15 typed pages [text] in length
(80%)
33.3%
33.3%
33.3%
A full grade will be deducted for each day the paper is late. No paper will be accepted
after Tuesday December 13th, 4:00 PM.
Please Note: Graded work is lowered one full letter grade for each full day it is late.
Grading Scale:
A = 95 – 100
A- = 90 – 94.9
B+ = 87.9 – 89.9
B = 83.33 – 87.8
B- = 80 – 83.32
C+ = 75 – 79.9
C = 70 – 74.9
D = 60 – 69.9
F = 59.9 and below
Required Texts:
Killebrew, Ann E.
2005 Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians,
Canaanites, Philistines and Early Israel 1300-1100 B.C.E. Atlanta:
Society of Biblical Literature. (Killebrew 2005).
Finkelstein, Israel and Amihai Mazar
2007 The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History
of Early Israel. Edited by B.B. Schmidt. Atlanta: Society of Biblical
Literature. (Finkelstein and Mazar 2007).
Required readings are available via JSTOR or on ANGEL as pdf files (see “Lessons” tab,
filed under the appropriate “part” of the course).
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Statement on Academic Integrity:
Pennsylvania State defines academic integrity as the pursuit of scholarly activity in an
open, honest, and responsible manner. All students should act with personal integrity,
respect other students’ dignity, rights, and property, and help create and maintain an
environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts (Faculty Senate
Policy 49-20).
Dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course. Dishonesty includes, but is
not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts
of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, the
use of anonymous Internet sources, submitting the work of another person or work
previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with academic work of
other students. Students who are found to be dishonest will receive academic sanctions
and will be reported to the University’s Judicial Affairs office for further disciplinary
sanction.
Students with Disabilities:
Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified persons with disabilities to
participate in its programs and is committed to the policy that all people shall have equal
access to programs, facilities, and admissions without regard to personal characteristics
not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy
or by state or federal authorities. Students with disabilities should contact me about their
specific needs.
Cell Phones and Electronic Devices:
*All cell phones and personal electronic devices are to be turned off during class.*
Course Outline
Week 1: Wednesday August 24th:
Lecture: Introduction to course
Video: The Eastern Mediterranean during the 13th Century and Background to the
Trojan War
Assignment: Briefly summarize the story and events portrayed in Iliad and
Odyssey (ca. 2 typed pages – due August 31st).
Questions for Discussion (Handout)
Week 2: Wednesday August 31st:
Lecture: The Late Bronze and the “Age of Internationalism”
Video: Empire of the Hittites and the Fall of Troy
Reading Assignment:
Killebrew 2005: 1-49.
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Bryce, T.R.
2002 The Trojan War: Is There Truth Behind the Legend? Near Eastern
Archaeology 65/3: 182-195. (JSTOR)
Rose, C.B.
2004 Assessing the Evidence for the Trojan Wars. AIA Publications and New
Media. (Handout)
Week 3: Wednesday September 7th:
Class will be held in Pattee Library, Room W211A
6:00 PM: Library Orientation with Daniel Mack, Head Humanities
Librarian. Meet at the Pattee Library, in Room W211A (Pattee Library second
floor of west Pattee past the Music and Media Center).
Discussion Session (Questions for Discussion 1)
Lecture: Canaan during the Late Bronze Age
Reading Assignment:
Killebrew 2005: 51-148.
Questions for Discussion 1 Due
Week 4: Wednesday September 14th:
Lecture: The Bible and Archaeology
Lecture: The End of the Late Bronze Age in Canaan and the Arrival of the
Philistines
Reading Assignment:
Finkelstein and Mazar 2007: 1-65; 183-195.
Killebrew 2005: 197-245.
Bloch-Smith, E. and B. A. Nakhai
1999 A Landscape Comes to Life: The Iron Age I. Near Eastern Archaeology
62/2: 62-92. (JSTOR)
Questions for Discussion 2 (Handout)
Week 5: Wednesday September 21st:
Discussion Session: Questions for Discussion 2 (Ethnicity and Material Culture)
Lecture: Iron I (ca. 1200-1000): The Ethnogensis of Early Israel
Reading Assignment:
Finkelstein and Mazar 2007: 69-98.
Killebrew 2005: 8-10; 149-196.
Faust, A.
2006 Israel’s Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance.
London: Equinox. Pp. 11-19. (Handout)
Questions for Discussion 3 (Handout)
Week 6: Wednesday September 28th:
Discussion: Questions for Discussion 3 (State Formation)
Reading Assignment for Discussion:
Diamond, J.
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1999 Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W.
Norton & Co. Pp. 265-292. (Pdf)
Parkinson, W.A. and M. L. Galaty
2007 Secondary States in Perspective: An Integrated Approach to State
Formation. American Anthropologist 109: 113-129. (Available Online)
Master, D. M.
2001 State Formation Theory and the Kingdom of Ancient Israel. Journal of
Near Eastern Studies 60/2: 117-131. (JSTOR)
Video: The “United Monarchy”: Fact or Fiction?
Selection of Research Paper Topic
Week 7: Wednesday October 5th:
Lecture: The United Monarchy: Fact or Fiction (continued).
Reading Assignment:
Finkelstein and Mazar 2007: 101-139.
Video: The “United Monarchy”: Fact or Fiction?
Week 8: Wednesday October 12th:
Discussion: The Great Debate: Chronology and the 10th Century
Reading Assignment:
Group 1:
Ben-Tor, A. and D. Ben-Ami
1998 Hazor and the Archaeology of the 10th Century BCE. Israel Exploration
Journal 48: 1-37. (Pdf)
2000 Hazor and the Chronology of Northern Israel: A Reply to Israel
Finkelstein. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 317: 916. (JSTOR)
Group 2:
Finkelstein
1996 The Archaeology of the United Monarchy: An Alternative View. Levant
28: 177-88. (Available Online).
1999 Hazor and the North in the Iron Age: A Low Chronology Perspective.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 314: 55-70.
(JSTOR)
Fantalkin, A. and I. Finkelstein
2006 The Sheshonq I Campaign and the 8th Century Earthquake: More on the
Archaeology and History of the South in the Iron I- Iron IIA. Tel Aviv 33:
18-42. (Available Online)
Group 3:
Mazar, A.
1997 Iron Age Chronology: A Reply to I. Finkelstein. Levant 29: 157-67.
(Available Online)
Mazar, A., H.J. Bruins, N. Panitz-Cohen and J. van der Plicht
2005 Ladder of Time at Tel Rehov: Stratigraphy, Archaeological Context,
Pottery and Radiocarbon Dates. Pp. 193-255 in: The Bible and
Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. Edited by. T.E.
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Levy and T. Higham. London: Equinox. (Pdf)
Group 4:
Gilboa, A. and I. Sharon
2003 An Archaeological contribution to the Early Iron Age Chronological
Debate: Alternative Chronologies for Phoenicia and their Effects on the
Levant, Cyprus and Greece. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental
Research 332: 7-80. (JSTOR)
Sharon, I., A. Gilboa, A.J.T. Jull, and E. Boaretto
2007 Report on the First State of the Iron Age Dating Project in Israel:
Supporting the Low Chronology. Radiocarbon 49/1: 1-46. (Available
Online)
Group 5:
Cahill, J.
2003 Jerusalem at the Time of the United Monarchy: The Archaeological
Evidence. Pp. 13-80 in: Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First
Temple Period. Edited by A.G. Vaughn and A.E. Killebrew. Atlanta:
Society of Biblical Literature. (Pdf)
Finkelstein, I.
2003 The Rise of Jerusalem and Judah: The Missing Link. Pp. 81-102 in:
Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period. Edited by
A.G. Vaughn and A.E. Killebrew. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
(Pdf)
Killebrew, A.
2003 Biblical Jerusalem: An Archaeological Assessment. Pp. 329 – 46 in:
Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period. Edited by
A.G. Vaughn and A.E. Killebrew. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
(Pdf)
Archaeological Jeopardy! – Review for Mid-term Exam
Week 9: Wednesday October 19th
Mid-term Exam
Week 10: Wednesday October 26th:
Lecture: Levantine Coastal Cities of the Levant: The Phoenicians and Philistines
during the Iron II Period
Topic statement, annotated bibliography and outline of paper due
Week 11: Wednesday November 2nd:
Lecture: Levantine States: Israel and Judah
Reading Assignment:
Finkelstein and Mazar 2007: 143-179.
Herr, L. G.
1997 The Iron Age II Period: Emerging Nations. Biblical Archaeologist 60/3:
114-183. (JSTOR)
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Discussion of:
Joffe, A. H.
2001 The Rise of Secondary States in the Iron Age Levant. Journal of
Economic and Social History of the Orient 45: 425-467. (JSTOR)
Week 12: Wednesday November 9th:
Lecture: Levantine States: Ammon, Moab and Edom
Reading Assignment:
LaBianca, O.S. and R.W. Younker
1995 The Kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom: The Archaeology of Society
in Late Bronze/Iron Age Transjordan (ca. 1400 – 500 BCE). Pp. 399-415
in: The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. Edited by T.E. Levy.
New York: Facts on File. (Pdf)
Discussion of:
Routledge, B.
2000 The Politics of Mesha: Segmented Identities and State Formation in
Iron Age Moab. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
43: 221-256. (JSTOR)
Lecture: The Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires and the Southern
Levant: Judah and Jerusalem at the End of the Iron Age
Cogan, M.
1997 Into Exile: From the Assyrian Conquest of Israel to the Fall of Babylon.
Pp. 242-75 in: The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Edited by M.D.
Coogan. New York: Oxford University Press. (Pdf)
Finkelstein and Mazar 2007: 143-179.
Week 13: Wednesday November 16th
Student Presentations
Thanksgiving Vacation: November 23rd and 25th
Weeks 14 – 15: Wednesday November 30th and December 7th
Student Presentations
Research papers (ca 15 pages [text] in length) are due by Monday December 13th at
4:00 PM in my mailbox in Weaver Building Room (ground floor, next to the offices).
Please Note: A full grade will be deducted for each full day the paper is late. No paper
will be accepted by e-mail. No paper will be accepted after Tuesday December 14th at
4:00 PM.
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