An opportunity to discover one of the most dynamic, yet little known cultures of the ancient world developed within the area of Nubia ( modern North Sudan) from the Palaeolothic times up to the advent of Christianity is given through an new innovative online programme which runs for free.

“The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Nubia” is an online course given by archaeologist Peter Lacovara, Senior Curator of ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, US. It is available to everyone interested in attending it through Coursera, an educational platform which offers free courses on a variaty of fields given by renowned scholars based in a number of Univesities worldwide.

The class is a combination of video lectures from five to 20 minutes in length with images of sites and objects along with maps and plans. There will also be some film clips as well. There will be homework-style quizzes to help students measure learning and explore the materials in more depth. There are several extra credit options, and there will be a final exam at the end of the course.

Through the course, prospective students will explore the geography and archaeology of Nubia, Egypt’s neighbor to the south and home to a series of remarkable and innovative civilizations. This is done through examining archaeological evidence on the birth and development of the art and architecture of these cultures that flourished along the Nile Valley.

Course Syllabus

Unit 1: Lost Land Emerging: The Geography of Nubia

Unit 2: Raiders of the Lost Art: The Exploration of Nubia

Unit 3: In the Beginning: Pre-history to The A-Group/ 9000 BC- 2800 BC

Unit 4: Alphabet Soup: The ‘B-Group’ to the C-Group and Pan-Grave Cultures/ 2800 BC – 1500 BC

Unit 5: The City and the Kingdom: The Kerma Culture/ 2800 BC -1500 BC

Unit 6: The Empire Strikes Back: Nubia during the New Kingdom occupation/1500 BC – 900 BC

Unit 7: Nubian Renaissance: Egypt and Nubia during Twenty-fifth Dynasty/ 725-665 BC

Unit 8: Pyramids, pyramids: The Art and Archaeology of Napatan Nubia/ 665 BC – 300 BC

Unit 9: The Southern Strategy: The Art and Archaeology of Meroitic Nubia/ 300 BC – AD 350

Unit 10: The Long Twilight: Art and Archaeology of Post-Meroitic Nubia/AD 350 – AD 500

The course duration is given as of eight (8) weeks, while successful attending requires approx. 3-4 hours of work / week.

Important Info

Online lectures (in English, with English subtitles available) will begin from the 30th of April 2014. To attend, you must sign up at the Coursera platform (https://accounts.coursera.org/signup).

For additional info follow the link, http://tinyurl.com/mp6zzh2