The new Middle East galleries at the Penn Museum / Steve Tinney -- The geography and agriculture of the Middle East / Naomi F. Miller and Katherine M. Moore -- The first cities / Holly Pittman -- Religion and the gods / Steve Tinney -- A view from the highlands / Holly Pittman -- Nomads / Lauren Ristvet -- The ancient Near Eastern city : 2100/500 BCE / William B. Hafford -- The royal cemetery of Ur / William B. Hafford -- Hasanlu / Lauren Ristvet -- The city under empire : Nippur from 1000 BCE to 800 CE / Richard L. Zettler and William B. Hafford -- The medieval and early modern Islamic and Persianate city / Renata Holod -- The modern city / Lauren Ristvet, Jessica Bicknell, and Ellen Owens -- Epilogue : the Middle East and globalization / Brian Spooner.
Summary:
"The Penn Museum has a long and storied history of research and archaeological exploration in the ancient Middle East. This book highlights this rich depth of knowledge while also serving as a companion volume to the Museum's signature Middle East Galleries opening in April 2018. This edited volume includes chapters and integrated short, focused pieces from Museum curators and staff actively involved in the detailed planning of the new galleries. In addition to highlighting the most remarkable and interesting objects in the Museum's extraordinary Middle East collections, this volume illuminates the primary themes within these galleries (make, settle, connect, organize, and believe) and provides a larger context within which to understand them. The ancient Middle East is home to the first urban settlements in human history, dating to the 4th millennium BCE, therefore, tracing this move toward city life figures prominently in the book. The topic of urbanization, how it came about and how these early steps still impact our daily lives is explored from regional and localized perspectives bringing us from Mesopotamia (Ur, Uruk, and Nippur) to Islamic and Persianate cites (Rayy and Isfahan) and finally connecting back to life in modern Philadelphia. Through examination of topics such as landscape, resources, trade, religious belief and burial practices, daily life, and nomads, this very important human journey is investigated both broadly and with specific case studies"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.