Uncover deep mysteries about the ancient civilizations of the Near East-and their indelible impact on the history of the world-with Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations. This course is your introduction to the fascinating civilizations that often receive only a few lines of cursory discussion in the average textbook on Western civilization, including: the Hitties, the Assyrians, and the Sumerians. Along the way, award-winning Professor Kenneth W. Harl examines the evolution of writing, the development of vast empires, and the growth of trade. Filled with insights into ancient history, this course will give you a new appreciation of our own roots, and a rock-solid foundation for deeper exploration.
Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations
Decipher the secrets of lost and mysterious civilizations such as the Minoans, the Carthaginians, and many others in this course on the first empires in Western history.
Rated 4 out of
5
by
tommyd555 from
Mix of Good Lectures and Those That Came Up Short
This was a difficult course to review because of its incongruities:
It had some good lectures (the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age involving the reconfigurations of civilizations in Asia Minor, the Greek world, and the Levant, and discussions of the Assyrian Empire and Persian Empire)…but also those that came up short (see next paragraph).
I did not think Professor Harl covered Gilgamesh (little was said of the touching humanity aspect of the epic) and Israel (their true unique cultural contributions weren’t really touched on until the very end of the lecture in what felt to me like was a rushed manner) in a way that would do them justice to those first encountering them…yet his work on the Iron Age, Assyria, and the Persia Empire was complete and thorough.
A course of this length, covering such a long period of time is bound to suffer from a lack of lecture time to be anything but way too introductory…and yet the professor presents a wide breadth of civilizations---I wouldn’t have guessed we’d be hearing about the Amorites and Lydians.
Civilizations in the Near East are all that are covered in this course…yet the course’s title doesn’t specify this which might lead one to wonder when the ancient Chinese, Indus Valley, and American civilizations will show up in these lectures.
Are there any unifying themes that tie these lectures or civilizations together? Professor Harl mentioned they all shared and built on earlier traditions originating from Sumer…but I don’t recall him expounding much on those specific elements.
It made sense to begin with the first civilizations in Sumer…but why end with the Persian Empire? If I follow his line of reasoning it is because the succeeding Greek civilization represented a divergence in human thought by believing in the rule of law as he posited in the last lecture? I guess I still struggle to see the reasoning behind the break after the Persians.
Was this course really needed? Most of these civilizations have full length courses dedicated to them…and they are at least double the size of this one! What gap is this filling? Granted this might be a timing issue: at the time of this course's production there might not have been many other options available. But if Professor Harl wanted his turn to survey these great civilizations then why were only 12 lectures allocated?
Based on these highs and lows, ups and downs, I have settled on a 3.5 review but since Professor Harl is a respected, knowledgeable instructor and always seems to help us understand the big picture better, I am rounding up to 4 stars.
I would recommend this course as an introductory one to those who have little knowledge of the subject. For those that have taken other courses on these civilizations, I would still recommend lectures 9, 11, and 12. Professor Harl is at his best there in setting the overall big geo-political picture for the region.
Date published: 2024-10-11
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Martrw from
Professor who is a master of the domain
This is probably my favorite Great courses that I’ve watched. Professor Harl has an effortless sweeping knowledge of M Mediterranean history between 6000 and 600 BC. In 24 lectures he connected the Mesopotamian civilizations starting at Sumer Egypt Anatolia, Minoan Greece, and the Old Testament Hebrew Kings. I simultaneously watched masterpieces of art of the ancient world which matched up very well.
Date published: 2024-05-27
Rated 5 out of
5
by
MadWho from
Excellent short foundational course
Prof Harl delivers a very sound foundation. As promised, this is the purpose of this course.
While I am familiar with the subject, I very much enjoy and am convinced by Prof Harl's learned opinion. The Bronze Age Collapse analysis is a prime example. An objective appraisal of what is known.
Not the Good Prof's best delivery. But still excellent.
Date published: 2024-03-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
GermanLady from
Intense and fun course
This is a very dynamic, intense and organized speaker. I loved listening to him. I appreciated so much Dr Harl's historic knowledge and sharing it with us all. I really liked all the geographic and other historic pictures, which made these historic past times so much more coming alive. I learned a lot! Thank you for this great course!
Date published: 2023-10-01
Rated 3 out of
5
by
DaGeek from
Informative
I learned much about the early civilizations, how they all built on each other, and how deeply those roots are still in the civilization of our time.
I found the lecturer vaguely bothersome as he had a lot of hmmms and uhhhs. I felt like he did a reasonable job on 11 of the 12 lessons. The lesson on the Hebrews did not come together for me, he just did not seem clear in his own mind where he was going with it.
Not a great course, but I learned some interesting history. I did enjoy the course.
Date published: 2021-12-28
Rated 5 out of
5
by
jhawktlc from
Enjoyable learning!
Hit relevant highlights of so many different cultures, but all w/very human connections. Enjoyed Orof. Hart's presentation.
Date published: 2021-07-06
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Whiskersmom2020 from
Thorough review of early civilizations
As someone with five years of Latin and a college degree in Classical Greek, and quite a bit of study in early Near Eastern civilizations, I must say that the professor is extremely knowledgeable about the period. This is by far the best lecturer so far in the courses I have taken (on all subjects.)
Date published: 2021-05-13
Rated 5 out of
5
by
TheRomanceMystic from
Learned, Unlooked For, More About My own Faith!
This was wonderful. I took this up to learn specifically about the Babylonian empire, research for a book I am writing, and unlooked for learned surprisingly wonderful and new details about the origins of my own faith. Dr. Harl is an energetic, compassionate, and intelligent lecturer with a wry humor and a complete grasp of his topics, all set within a perfect sense of humility. He lacks a shred of the arrogance so typical in academia and never talks down to you. The illustrations and maps were especially helpful in solidifying my understanding of what he discussed. Now, I feel even more confident speaking and writing on this subject. Thank you Dr. Harl, and Great Courses!
Date published: 2021-02-05
Overview
About
Dr. Kenneth W. Harl is Professor of Classical and Byzantine History at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he teaches courses in Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader history. He earned his B.A. from Trinity College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Recognized as an outstanding lecturer, Professor Harl has received numerous teaching awards at Tulane, including the coveted Sheldon H. Hackney Award. He has earned Tulane's annual Student Body Award for Excellence in Teaching nine times and is the recipient of Baylor University's nationwide Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers. In 2007, he was the Lewis P. Jones Visiting Professor in History at Wofford College. An expert on classical Anatolia, he has taken students with him into the field on excursions and to assist in excavations of Hellenistic and Roman sites in Turkey. Professor Harl has also published a wide variety of articles and books, including his current work on coins unearthed in an excavation of Gordion, Turkey, and a new book on Rome and her Iranian foes. A fellow and trustee of the American Numismatic Society, Professor Harl is well known for his studies of ancient coinage. He is the author of Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the Roman East, A.D. 180-275 and Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700.
01: Cradles of Civilization
The opening lecture introduces the earliest civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates, Nile, and Indus River valleys, which emerge c. 3500-3000 B.C. from Neolithic villages.
33 min
02: First Cities of Sumer
We explore the economic, social, and religious life of the Sumerians, whose mastery of writing and long-distance trade make them the progenitors of the urban civilization of the ancient Near East.
31 min
03: Mesopotamian Kings and Scribes
A look at three classes of people-kings, scribes, and soldiers-illuminates the creation of wider political institutions in ancient Mesopotamia, from the regional kingdoms to the territorial empires of the early and middle Bronze Age.
30 min
04: Hammurabi’s Babylon
We end our survey of Mesopotamian civilization in the Bronze Age with an examination of the career and kingdom of Hammurabi, King of Babylon, who establishes the cultural underpinnings of Mesopotamian civilization thereafter.
31 min
05: Egypt in the Pyramid Age
We begin three lectures on Egypt with a focus on the so-called early dynastic period and the Old Kingdom, beginning with a look at some of the basic features of early Egyptian civilization and the unique characteristics of the Nile.
31 min
06: The Middle Kingdom
This lecture examines a key period of Egyptian history, which is roughly contemporaneous with the Babylon of Hammurabi, during which Egypt for the first time expands its horizons beyond its own frontiers.
31 min
07: Imperial Egypt
Egypt's monarchy comes to play the dominant role in the Near East until the empire comes to an end with attacks associated with the so-called "Sea Peoples"-invaders coming out of both Libya and the Aegean world.
30 min
08: New Peoples of the Bronze Age
We complete our discussion of the Bronze Age with a look at three areas influenced by the early river valley civilizations: the region known as the Levant, the area that is today Asiatic Turkey, and the world of the Aegean.
31 min
09: The Collapse of the Bronze Age
The great empires of the late Bronze Age fall in the wake of migrations and barbarian invasions usually associated with the advent of iron technology. Though this has been explained as the result of natural disasters, the imperial order did not collapse so much as fragment.
30 min
10: From Hebrews to Jews
This lecture deals with the evolution of a group of Canaanite speakers to a people with a monotheistic faith attached not to a particular place, but to one's perceptions, ethical beliefs, and worship of a transcendent God.
30 min
11: Imperial Assyria
Despite their remarkable reputation for ferocity, the Assyrians do more than forge the first imperial order since the late Bronze Age; they set down many of the foundations upon which the Persians will build their far more successful and larger empire.
31 min
12: The Persian Empire
We conclude the course with a look at an empire that may have had, at its peak, as many as 40 million subjects, and which, in its imperial organization, is perhaps the best-ordered until the age of Rome.
31 min
