Archaeology and Ancient Languages
Dr. Todd H. Rider ([email protected])
Spring 2017
Fridays 11:30-1:00
In this course, students will learn:
1. Over 4000 years of world history and geography.
2. The major methods and discoveries of archaeology.
3. How to translate real inscriptions in at least eight different ancient languages.
4. The science of how ancient materials and artifacts were produced and how they are studied now.
No prior knowledge of history or foreign languages is required. Relevant online reading material will be
assigned in advance of each class, and each class will have short lectures summarizing the reading material.
Most of each class will focus on hands-on lab activities in which students can handle and study real ancient
artifacts and replicas of artifacts, translate the inscriptions on those artifacts, and compose their own
inscriptions in ancient languages. Questions and exploration are strongly encouraged. The schedule will be:
Date
Topic
Jan. 27
Introduction to archaeology and ancient languages
Feb. 3
Maya civilization and glyphs
Feb. 10
Egyptian civilization and hieroglyphs
Feb. 17
Egyptian civilization and hieroglyphs (continued)
Feb. 24
[No class—vacation week]
March 3
Sumerian civilization and cuneiform
March 10
Later Mesopotamian civilizations and cuneiform
March 17
Early Semitic civilizations and alphabetic writing
March 24
Early Jewish history and Hebrew writings
March 31
Early Greek civilization and writing
April 7
Later Greek civilization and writing
April 14
Roman Republic/Empire and writing
April 21
[No class—vacation week]
April 28
Lost civilizations, lost languages, and lost technologies
Students are encouraged to pursue their own independent studies or projects outside of the course. Dr. Rider
is happy to offer suggestions or advice. Some purely optional but useful resources are:
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, www.mfa.org [extensive collection of ancient artifacts]
Harvard Semitic Museum, semiticmuseum.fas.harvard.edu [great collection of artifacts and replicas]
Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology, www.peabody.harvard.edu [lots of Maya artifacts]
Andrew Robinson, The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs & Pictograms (2nd edition) [prettier]
J. T. Hooker et al., Reading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the Alphabet [more detailed]
Chris Scarre and Brian Fagan, Ancient Civilizations (4th edition) [overview of ancient history]
Colin Refrew and Paul Bahn, Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice (7th edition) [methods]
To save money on books, search for used copies and/or somewhat earlier edition numbers at amazon.com,
abebooks.com, or half.com.
Extra credit will be awarded if students bring a mummy back to life by the end of this course.
About the Instructor
Dr. Todd H. Rider received his Ph.D. from MIT, and his research has been featured in magazines ranging
from Science to Time and on TV programs from NBC’s Nightly News to BBC’s Horizon. In physics
research, he discovered fundamental physical limitations on nuclear fusion reactors, analyzed antimatter
rocket engines, and demonstrated methods to combine numerous laser beams to form more powerful laser
beams. In biology research, he invented and developed the CANARY sensor, which uses genetically
engineered white blood cells to rapidly identify bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Dr. Rider also
invented the DRACO broad-spectrum antiviral therapeutics and demonstrated that they are safe and effective
against 18 different viruses in cells and 4 viruses in mice. He created and runs the K-12 Science on Saturday
program at MIT and has over 25 years of experience teaching biology, chemistry, physics, earth science,
engineering, and archaeology courses to students at all levels. He is currently working on his plan for world
domination.