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The Land of Israel / Palestine Through the Ages

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The Land of Israel / Palestine Through the Ages University of Michigan Department of Near Eastern Studies Prof. Eliav Fall 2016 Thayer Academic Bldg., room 4151 M/W 2:30-4 Office: 647-4638; Cell: (734) 678-2510 Email: [email protected] Office hours: Wed.. 4-5 THE LAND OF ISRAEL / PALESTINE THROUGH THE AGES The territory called by contemporaries either the Land of Israel or Palestine has played a unique role in both Western and Near Eastern civilizations. To this day it is a volatile region suffused with conflict and violence, which plays a pivotal role in American politics and global affairs. At the same time, it is the bedrock of some of the highest cultural and religious achievements in human history. This course aims to unpack this seemingly incomprehensible contradiction, to study the history of Israel/Palestine, and to explore the ancient roots of modern contentions. We will outline the historical process and analyze the various factors (political, economic, cultural, etc.) which shaped it; we’ll get acquainted with both the nations that ruled the land and the people that inhabited its cities and villages. Sometimes we’ll be following the route of bloody battles. At others, we’ll be focusing our attention on individuals and groups who produced some of the great masterpieces of all time. This course also fulfills the Race & Ethnicity Distribution Requirement; and so, the precarious story of this land will here serve also as a laboratory to examine the interrelation between race, ethnicity, and religion across three millennia. The classroom of this course is designed as a modern, 21st century learning environment that will challenge your senses and mind from multiple directions. Slides, video-clips, museum visits, and other electronic resources will hopefully combine for a unique experience of modern people seeking to understand the past. Learning Tools Text book: M. Avi-Yonah (ed.) A History of Israel and the Holy Land. (out of print; available on Canvas). Avi-Yonah’s book, although an excellent text-book for our topic is nevertheless quite biased toward the Zionist, traditional narrative of the land’s history. As such, the book represents the difficulties embodied in studying the history of a territory which is in the midst of a current conflict between two nations. Keep this in mind when you use this book; use caution and critique. In class and with the help of the reading material in the course pack we will strive to complicate and problematize the story presented by Avi- Yonah. 2 Electronic Course Pack; available on line at - https://www.lrc.lsa.umich.edu/eliav/israel-palestine/ The course pack is a central piece of this class’s intellectual experience. It is a manifestation of my view that sees recorded history as the often one-sided written product of society’s “winners,” thus requiring the historian to present a more complete and complex picture than that offered by any particular resource, whether ancient or modern. To achieve this goal, the course pack encompasses a wide variety of ancient sources – archaeological, artistic, cartographic (maps), and epigraphic, in addition to the more traditional literary documents. This combination is meant to lay the groundwork for a highly challenging interdisciplinary learning opportunity which on one hand could be very rewarding but on the other requires careful and thorough preparation. Pay close attention to this feature of the course; it will be introduced and discussed more thoroughly by the section leaders. Slides (available on line at - https://www.lrc.lsa.umich.edu/eliav/image-database/): Every lecture will be accompanied by a series of slides. These visual items are not meant to just illustrate the lecture, but rather they are an integral part of the learning material, both the pictures themselves and the information associated with them. Every Monday there will be a short quiz on the slides from the previous week. Most (but not all!) of the slides taught in class can be accessed through the course slide database. Use this tool to help you prepare for quizzes and exams and to expand your knowledge. The Kelsey Museum Experience (http://www.lrc.lsa.umich.edu/eliav/kelsey/ ) : This class also involves a unique way to study the past – through real objects that were created by ancient people. You will hold them in your own hands, examine and analyze them, and draw your own conclusions about what they can teach us about the individuals, societies, and cultures that produced them. This is as close as you will ever get to communicating with the long gone civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean. Two exercises and a short paper will emerge from this experience (more detail and instructions will come from the GSIs in section). Schedule and Readings AY = Avi-Yonah; # course-pack Readings Sep. 7 Introducing the course Sep. 12 Introduction – The Geographical Setting - Video #1 - # 1-4 Sep. 14 History begins in the Present (1) – the Current Situation in Israel and Palestine 3 Sep. 19 History begins in the Present (2) – the Current Situation in Israel and Palestine Sep. 21 History without Words: From the Pre-History of the Land to the Dawn of History - AY: 9-35 - #5-10 Sep. 26 Conquering or Settling in Peacefully: Archaeology, Bible, and Modern Scholarship - #11-16 - AY: 36-65 Sep. 28 From Tribal Societies to Monarchies – The Philistines, the Israelites, and their Neighbors - #17-21 - AY: 66-75 - Video #2 Oct. 3 NO CLASS – ROSH HASHANAH Oct. 5 Jerusalem in the First Temple Period - Images of Session 6 Oct. 6 Make up class (7-8 PM at Rackham Auditorium): Attending the lecture by Bart Ehrman on the Historical Jesus Oct. 10 In the Shadows of the Eastern Super-Powers (I): The Northern Israelite Kingdom - #22-29 - AY: 75-94 Oct. 12 NO CLASS – Yom Kippur Oct. 13 Make up class (7-9 PM at Angell Hall, Aud D): In the Shadows of the Eastern Super-Powers (II): The Southern Judaean Kingdom - #30-34 - AY: 94-109 4 Oct. 17 FALL BREAK Oct. 19 The Persian Rule and the Judaean-Samaritan Conflict - #35-41 - AY: 109-113 Oct. 24 Turning West – The Hellenistic Period - AY: 109-125 - #42-45 Oct. 26 The Rise and Fall of the Maccabean State - AY: 125-143 - #46-49 Oct. 31 The Early Roman Period: From Herod to the Great Revolt - AY: 143-151, 160-167 - #50-53 - Video #3 Nov. 2 Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the Second Temple Period - Images of Session 13 Nov. 7 Jesus and the Birth of Christianity - Gospel of Mark (on C-Tools) - Images of Session 14 Nov. 9 The Later Roman Period - Political & Social History - AY: 151-179 - #54-64 Nov. 14 Byzantine Palestine - AY: 179-193 - #65-69 5 Nov. 16 From Cross to Crescent – The Islamic Conquest - AY: 194-209 - #70-75 - Video #4 Nov. 21 Jund Urdunn and Jund Filastin – The Land as Part of the Early Islamic Empires - AY: 209-234 - #76-78 Nov. 23 The “Jerusalem Kingdom” of the Crusades - AY: 235-249 - #79-83 - Video #5 Nov. 28 From Saladin to Baybars – Drawing the Crusades “back to the Ocean” - AY: 249-271 - #84-86 Nov. 30 The Mamluks - AY: 272-283 - #87-90 Dec. 5 The Ottomans - AY: 283-322 - #91-94 Dec. 7 The British Mandate - AY: 323-331 - #95-100 Dec. 12 1948-2014: Two Generations of Israeli-Palestinian Conflicts - AY: 332-359 - #101-105 6 Assignments and Requirements Apart from regular well-prepared attendance at lectures, makeup classes (on October 6th and 13th) and discussions, all of which is taken for granted, the requirements for the course include the following: - Short response assignments – opening aquintance essay and response paper tomake up sessions. - Section written assignments – “Yellow Questions” and Kelsey excersises/labs. - Weekly Quizzes on slides (beginning of Mon. Class). - A midterm exam (can be taken on one of two option dates: Nov. 1st or 2nd, 7:15-9:15 PM) on (a) dates, names and places; (b) Yellow Questions; (c) Slides; (d) one short essay-type question. Review sheet will be provided. - One short paper (5-7 pages) on the Kelsey Experience; due on Dec. 2nd, by 5 PM. Submitted electronically. - A final take-home exam consisting of 4 essay questions covering the entire course; taken at your own time with all material open. Due on Wednesday, Dec. 21st, by 5 PM. Submitted electronically. Grading will be based on: (1) Participation in and preparation for discussion sessions (10%) (2) Section written assignments (10%) (3) Short response assignments (5%) (4) Weekly Quizzes (10%) (5) Midterm exam (25%) (6) Short paper (10%) (7) Final exam (30%) GRADE SCALE: (The number represents minimum % for the grade; there will be no rounding up): Grade Minimum % A+ 98 A 93 A- 90 B+ 87 B 83 B- 80 C+ 77 C 73 C- 70 D+ 67 D 63 D- 60 E 50 F 40 7 ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: All aspects of academic integrity are highly respected and strictly enforced in this class. Violations (such as, but not limited to plagiarism, copying and pasting from electronic sources with out a reference, offering answers that are not your own in exams and quizzes) will be penalized with (1) a zero grade in that portion of the course (copying in a quiz will be penalized with a zero in the entire quiz portion of the course) and (2) a report to the to the Dean of Students, which may lead to further penalty. A second offense will generate a failing grade in the course. .
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