Code 15222
Level of study Second Year
Credit value 20
Semester Not currently scheduled, 1&2
A survey of the history of the East Mediterranean from ca 300 to ca 850, tracing the transformation of the Roman world, the emergence of the (Christian) Byzantine Empire, and the rise of Islam. Lectures focus on the lands, peoples, cultures (including material and visual cultures), beliefs and socio-political history of the Late Antique, Byzantine and, to a lesser extent, Islamic worlds to the end of the iconoclast controversy in 843. Seminars focus on key primary sources (in English translation) for the period. Students will be given guidance in the construction of an assessed essay, on a specific topic of their own choice, which will explore an aspect of the course in more detail.