The origins of many features of civilisation - such as writing, urbanisation, science and metalworking - can be found in the Ancient Near East where societies evolved from small villages of hunter-gatherers and farmers to the first real cities.
‘Ancient Near East' is a term that covers a wide range. It comprises a very large geographical area as well as a significant period in history. Different peoples lived in this region that stretched over almost 5 million km2 for 10 millennia. The area has a great ecological diversity: alluvial plains, coastal regions, high mountain peaks and deserts. The combination of so many different living environments and ethnic diversity has led to rich and complex cultures that are gathered today under the term Ancient Near East.
The core countries are Iraq and Syria (east of the Euphrates) (= Mesopotamia), Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria west of the Euphrates (= the Levant or Syro-Palestine), and more peripheral areas such as Turkey (= Anatolia or Asia Minor), Iran, Afghanistan and the Arabian Peninsula. The archaeology of Ancient Egypt is part of Egyptology, and is generally considered a separate discipline. Apart from archaeological finds, our historical knowledge of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites and other peoples is also based on written sources. For Mesopotamia, this means clay tablets written in cuneiform script. The cultural-material developments in the different regions (with a focus on Mesopotamia and its neighbouring areas) are covered in the bachelor and master programme Ancient Near East.
