Semester:
Offered:
Christina Maranci
This class will explore the visual and material cultures of historical Armenia from the ancient to modern periods. The images, artifacts, and monuments surviving from this region represent, as a whole, a distinctive and complex tradition that can be approached from many directions. Topics we will study include the archaeology of the Armenian highlands, the role of images in Armenian church, the technology of the dome, Zoroastrianism in Armenia, the making of Armenian manuscripts, and the sundial. We will explore how Armenian culture interacts with a great diversity of traditions, including classical antiquity, the Ancient Near East, Sasanian and Islamic Iran, and the Byzantine empire. We will also investigate the transfer of ideas and forms from East Asia and from Europe, and the relations between Armenia and neighboring cultures of the Caucasus.