National Research University “Higher School of Economics”
Faculty of Humanities
School of Cultural Studies
History of Oriental Cultures
Course Syllabus and Description
Lecturer: Ilya Arkhipov
E-Mail: [email protected]
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
 The course provides glimpses into the cultural history of Asia and North Africa with
a focus on traditional, pre-modern cultures (prehistory, Antiquity, Middle Ages and
Early Modern);
 The emphasis is made on cultural innovations indigenous in Asian cultures;
 The class will meet weekly for a lecture and a seminar. In seminars, there will be
topic presentations and discussions. Attendance and participation are required.
PREREQUISITES:
No specific prerequisites are required for this course but basic competences in history and
anthropology would be helpful. The course is taught in English.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
As a result of the course, the student should have:
Knowledge: a general idea of Oriental cultures with a more profound understanding
of crucial points in the cultural development of the humanity.
Ability: to use systematic fact-based approach to cultural history.
Awareness: of the diversity of human cultures with the emancipation of the
eventually eurocentric worldview.
Skills: to critically evaluate general-audience, educational and scholarly materials on
the given issues.
COURSE TOPICS:
№ Topics
№
Contact Hours
Lectures
Seminars
2
2
Homework
Hours total
Total
1
Introduction.
1
The notions
of history, culture, and
Orient
4
6
10
Human
2
Prehistory in
Asia
2
2
4
6
10
2
Origins
3
of civilization in
the Near East
2
2
4
6
10
3
Culture(s)
4
of
Mesopotamia
2
2
4
8
12
Culture
5
of Ancient Egypt
2
2
4
6
10
Cultures
6
of the ancient
Levant
2
2
4
8
12
Eastern
7
Christianity
2
2
4
6
10
Islamic
8
culture and its
relations with cultures of
Iran and India
Chinese
9
culture
2
2
4
8
12
2
2
4
6
10
Japanese
9
culture
2
2
4
8
12
Total
20
20
40
68
108
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION:
Methods of evaluation:
a)
Continuous: examination of students during the lectures and seminars; return to
the given material; participation in discussions:
b)
Topic presentation;
c)
Final: test (with account of previous observations and appearance in lectures as in
seminars).
The student’s independent work: assimilation of the theoretical material and information
received in the course of the lectures, learning the works on the given problems, preparation for a
presentation on a chosen theme. The course concludes with a written test describing the results
of students’ study.
Final grade is calculated from grades for:
 Topic presentation – 40%;
 Lecture and seminar attendance and participation – 20%;
 Final test – 40%
For each of the above aspects of evaluation the student receives, correspondingly, on a 10point scale:
 For presentation - 0.4 x Q1;
 For lecture and seminar attendance and participation - 0.2 x Q2;
 For final test - 0.4 x Q2
where Q1, Q2, Q3 are grades on a 10-point scale.
TEACHING MATERIALS:
There is no reference textbook for this course. The final test questions will be based upon the
contents of the lectures and the presentations. Students can also use educational and academic
sources (see Recommended readings below). The use of open-access teaching and generalaudience sources provided by museums, universities, science magazines is welcomed as well.
Further sources will be advised upon request.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
1.
Introduction. The notions of history, culture, and Orient
 Orient (East) as a eurocentric concept
 Cultural history as a timeline of innovations
2.
Human Prehistory in Asia
 The Asian Upper Palaeolithic
 The Neolithic revolution
 The Neolithic colonization of Lower Mesopotamia
3.
Origins of civilization in the Near East
 The Uruk phenomenon in Mesopotamia
 The debate on the origins of state and related cultural features
 The invention of writing
4.
Culture(s) of Mesopotamia
 The cuneiform world
 Mesopotamian religion and worldview
 Mesopotamian architecture and art
 Mesopotamian literature
5.
Culture of Ancient Egypt
 Egyptian writing
 Egyptian religion and worldview
 Egyptian architecture and art
 Egyptian literature
6.
Cultures of the ancient Levant
 Peoples and languages of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean
 West Semitic writing and the origins of alphabet
 West Semitic religions and the origins of monotheism
7.
Eastern Christianity
 Eastern Christian cultures as a whole
 Syriac Christians and their culture
8.
Islamic culture and its relations with cultures of Iran and India
 Early Arab culture and early Islam
 Classical Islamic culture (art, literature, science)
 Cultures of Iran and India
9.
Chinese culture
 Chinese culture and its main features
 Chinese religion and social culture
10. Japanese culture
 Japanese language and culture
 The place of art in Japanese culture
PRESENTATION TOPICS:
The presentation topics are announced during the course. A regularly updated list is made
available to the students.
EXAM TOPICS:
(Minor changes are possible; the definitive list will be distributed one week prior to the
exam.)
1. Cultural developments in Prehistoric Asia
2. Origins of the civilization: Mesopotamia and Egypt
3. Peoples, languages and scripts of the Ancient Near East
4. Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion
5. Writing and literature in Mesopotamia and Egypt
6. Architecture and art in Mesopotamia and Egypt
7. Cultures of the ancient Levant
8. Cultures of Iran and India
9. Eastern Christian cultures as a whole
10. Syriac Christians and their culture
11. Early Arab culture and early Islam
12. Classical Islamic culture (art, literature, science)
13. Chinese culture and its main features
14. Chinese religion and social culture
15. Japanese language and culture
16. Place of art in Japanese culture
RECOMMENDED READINGS:
(available online or upon request from the lecturer)
Angold M. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Christianity. Volume 5: Eastern Christianity.
Cambridge University Press, 2006
Aruz J. (ed.) Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to
the Indus. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003.
Aruz J., Benzel K., Evans J.M. (eds.). Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade and Diplomacy in the
Second Millennium B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008.
Aruz J., Graff S.B., Rakic Y. (eds.). Cultures in Contact: From Mesopotamia to the
Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013
Bloom J.M., Blair S.S. The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford
University Press, 2009
Brock S.A. Brief Outline of Syriac Literature. St Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute,
1997
Diamond J. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton, 1997
Ekhtiar M.D., Moore C. (eds.). Art of the Islamic World: A Resource for Educators. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012
Esposito J.L. (ed.). The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford University Press, 2000
Foster J. L. Ancient Egyptian Literature. University of Texas Press, 2002
Gelb I. A Study of Writing. Chicago University Press, 1963
Grabar, O. The Formation of Islamic Art. Yale University Press, 1978
Hobson J.M. The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation. Cambridge University Press,
2004
Liverani M. The Ancient Near East. History, Society and Economy. Routledge, 2014
Malek J. Egyptian Art. Phaidon, 1999
Mason P. History of Japanese Art. Prentice Hall and Abrams, 1993.
Oxtoby W.G., Amore R.C., Hussain A. (eds.). World Religions: Eastern Traditions.
Oxford University Press, 2014.
Raaflaub K.A. (ed.) The Adventure of the Human Intellect: Self, Society and the Divine in
the Ancient World Cultures. Wiley/Blackwell, 2016
Roaf M. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. Andromeda Oxford,
2008
Sullivan M. The Arts of China. University of California Press, 2000.
Van de Mieroop M. A History of Ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010