https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/L_GOBAGES102Acquiring a working knowledge of the ancient history of the Middle East and the Greek world and their interrelationship through time.In this course we approach the globalizing worlds of ancient Western Asia, Egypt, and Greece from a non-Eurocentric perspective. From the late 4th to late 2nd millennia BCE we witness the emergence of complex societies using script in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and the rise of expanding, territorial states in Mesopotamia, followed by competing super-powers in Anatolia, Syria and Egypt. After a temporary breakdown in smaller entities we find that during the first millennium BCE a sequence of empires were carved out by Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. In about the same period, we can follow the evolution of the Greek city-states, notably Sparta and Athens, which eventually clashed with the Persian empire. The struggle for hegemony in the Aegean world between some of the larger Greek city states and the emergence of the Macedonian kingdom as the hegemonic power form the prelude to Alexander the Great conquering the Persian Empire. After his death this broke down into smaller empires ruled by Macedonian dynasties in Egypt and Western Asia until their demise as the result of the emergence of such new powers as the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic which, evolving into the Imperium Romanum, conquered the Mediterranean world at the close of the first millennium BCE. But ancient history is not just a succession of states and empires: in this course we also look at more structural aspects of the societies under consideration, including economic and social relations, class conflicts, political and religious institutions, and developments in warfare.Lectures, seminars.Written examination. A resit takes place in the next period.For students of the History and International Studies track: L. de Blois & R.J. van der Spek, An Introduction to the Ancient World. Third edition, London & New York: Routledge 2019. For students of the Geschiedenis track: L. de Blois & R.J. van der Spek, Een kennismaking met de oude wereld, Bussum: Coutinho 2017.Obligatory for first year students of Geschiedenis and History & International Studies, as well as for students studying Classics as part of an UvA double degree programme. Recommended for other students with a serious interest in ancient history. Part of the Culture of the Ancient World minor programme.This course is part of the regular first year bachelor programme. The language of the lectures is English, the language of the seminars either English (for students of the History and International Studies track) or Dutch (for students of the Geschiedenis track).