Lost civilizations, discovered worlds. Among our great fascinations have long been the stories of the people, cultures and artifacts lying buried and unknown until unearthed by archaeologists.
Join us as we begin an exciting new 92U class in collaboration with Reaktion Books, distinguished UK publisher of the acclaimed series Lost Civilizations. We’ll explore some of the great civilizations of the ancient world, looking at how their vanished cultures, art and history have been rescued from oblivion.
Students will come away with new insights into these lost worlds and their relevance to us today from the renowned scholars and experts who wrote the books dedicated to each topic.
June 8: The Sumerians, with Paul Collins, author of The Sumerians and University of Oxford Ashmolean Museum curator
The Sumerians are widely believed to have created the world’s earliest civilization from roughly 3500 to 2000 BCE, and credited with the invention of cities, writing, and the wheel, thereby holding an ancient mirror to our modern world. But is this picture correct? Paul Collins reveals how the idea of a Sumerian people has been assembled from archaeological evidence uncovered in Iraq and Syria and reconstructed – even invented – by those who unearthed it. What do we really know?
This class will be recorded for later viewing by patrons.
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