This course traces the origin and historical development of western civilization beginning with ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Ancient Near East (Sumeria, Babylon, Assyria, Persia). It also covers the origin and the history of the Hebrew people and their religion, as well as Greek and Hellenistic cultures, and Roman civilization. The nature of this course is interdisciplinary and it includes literary, philosophical, religious, political and historiographic sources pertaining to the ancient period, including the rise of Christianity and the dissolution of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century.
