2 – About Prof. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis’ Academic Courses and Seminars

Academic Courses Offered at the Eastern Mediterranean University (1994 – 1996)

https://megalommatiscomments.wordpress.com/about-prof-muhammad-shamsaddin-megalommatis-courses-and-seminars/

• All courses are semester courses in English

After a speech given at the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce

Explorations at Eski Sumatar, Urfa, SE Turkey (along with the Palestinian Architect Ehab Shamsaddin Khalil, then student in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus)

HIST 202. Ancient History of the Middle East (the beginning of the civilization in Sumer and Elam, the early dynasties of Sumer, the Empire of Akkad, its decline and fall)

HIST 202. Ancient History of the Middle East (the Guti and the Neo-Sumerian periods in Mesopotamia)

HIST 202. Ancient History of the Middle East (the Ancient Assyrian and Babylonian times)

HIST 206. World History

HIT 101. History of Mathematics in the Antiquity (Numbers and numeration systems of all the major peoples of Oriental and Classical Antiquity)

HIST 104. Modern History of Cyprus

PHIL 201. History of Religions and Mythology (Ancient Sumerian, Elamite, Assyrian and Babylonian religions and myths: Enuma Elish, Adapa, Gilgamesh, Etana, the Flood, Ishtar’s Descent to the Nether World, etc)

PHIL 201. History of Religions and Mythology (Ancient Egyptian religion: the Heliopolitan, the Hermupolitan, Memphitic, and the Theban religious systems, myths and ideologies, and the Amarna Monotheism // the religious – ideological syncretism of the Egyptian Late Antiquity: Isidism, Osiris, Hathor, Horus, Thot, and Anubis cults, Gnosticisms, Hermetism, Diffusion of Egyptian cultic – religious – philosophical systems throughout the Roman Empire)

PHIL 201. History of Religions and Mythology (Ancient Hittite religions and myths: Ullikummi, Illuyankas, Telipinus; other Ancient Anatolian religious and mythological systems: Hatti, Luwian, Urartu, Neo-Hittite, Phrygian, Lydian, Carian, Lycian, Cappadocian)

PHIL 202. History of Religions and Mythology (the Evil in Ancient Oriental Religions, Cults, Mythologies and Philosophies)

LIT 101. Ancient Literatures (Analytical study of the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic text Expedition to Punt by Queen Hatshepsut that narrates an Egyptian expedition to the Red Sea and Horn of Africa coasts around 1475 BCE)

LIT 133. Travel Literature (Analytical study of A. the Egyptian Hieratic text known as the Adventures of Wenamun that narrates an Egyptian priest’s trip to Phoenicia / Lebanon by 1075 BCE and B. the Periplus of Hanno, King of the Carthaginians, an Ancient Greek translation of the original Carthaginian – now lost – text that narrates that king’s expedition to the Western coast of Africa down to today’s Sierra Leone by 450 BCE)

LIT 102. Ancient Literatures (Analytical study of the Periplus of the Red Sea, an Ancient Greek text of the 1st century CE, written by an unknown Egyptian captain and merchant, that narrates details concerning the commerce, the navigation, the geography and the political structures throughout a vast area encompassing the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and Indochina)

GRE 01. Introduction to Greek language

Explorations at Hasankeyf, SE Turkey

NOTE: See university certification on this topic in two separate jpeg attachments

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Activities at Fatih University (1996 – 1997)

In Istanbul

As I was hired before the official inauguration of the university by Pres. Suleyman Demirel end November 1996), I mainly participated in the general planning of the university and of the Faculty of Humanities. I did not stay longer than a semester, and I did not conduct any courses.

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Academic Courses Offered at the Somali International University (July 2013 – August 2014)

• All courses are semester courses in English

At an event organized by SIU – September 2013

History of Africa until the arrival of Islam

Ancient History of the Orient I (3250 – 539 BCE)

History of Pre-Islamic Somalia

Introduction to Political Philosophy

With my Somali students

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COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE TITLE: HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT ORIENT I

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Class times & Location:

Course Website:

Instructor Information: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

Office & Office Hours: Saturdays 2 – 4 pm, Sundays 2 – 4 pm, Thursdays 3 – 4 pm

——————————————–

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The present course offers a non-colonial, non-Western, non-Euro-centric History of Orient until the rise of Achaemenid Iran (539 BCE). Covering almost three millennia of History of the Orient free of Orientalist biases, the course reflects an effort to reconstruct the History of Ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq), Anatolia (Turkey), Canaan (Syria – Palestine), Egypt, Sudan, Northern Africa, Yemen, Iran, Caucasus and Central Asia, as per the values, the virtues, the principles and the concepts of the indigenous civilizations, which were the first in World History and impacted all the rest, particularly the later and peripheral cultures of the Etruscans, the Greeks and the Romans.The course encompasses Sumer, Elam, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, the Hurrians, the Hittites, the Hatti, the Luwians, the Urartu, the Phrygians, the Lydians, the Canaanites, the Aramaeans, the Phoenicians, the Sea Peoples and particularly the Philistines, the Hebrews, the Egyptians, the Sudanese Kushites (also known as Ethiopians), the Abyssinians (who are unrelated to Ethiopians), the Carthaginians, the Berbers, the Yemenites, the Somalis, the Medes, and the peoples of Central Asia.

RESOURCES

HISTORICAL SOURCES:

Selection of Sumerian economic documents

Inscription of Umma and Lagash

The Birth of Sargon

Victory Stele of Naram Sin of Akkad

Texts of the Pyramids

The Malediction of Akkad

EnumaElish

Gilgamesh

Selected Neo-Sumerian texts

The Laws of Hammurapi

Excerpts from the Hittite imperial records

Ullikummi

Telipinus

Selected Hurrian texts

Selected texts from Ugarit

Etana

The Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World

Expedition to Punt

The Campaigns of Thutmose III

The Stele of Dream of Thutmose IV

The Book of the Caves

The Book of the Hours

Hymns of Akhenaten

The Campaigns of Ramses III against the Sea Peoples

The Adventures of Wenamun

The Annals of Shalmanaser III

The Annals of TiglathPileser III

The Annals of Sargon (Sarrukin) of Assyria

The Annals of Sinakherib

The Annals of Assurbanipal

Selected Phoenician inscriptions

Selected Aramaean inscriptions

Selected Carthaginian inscriptions

The Periplus of Hanno

The Chronicle of Nabukadnezzar

Jonas (selected text from the ‘Old Testament’)

Tobias (selected text from the ‘Old Testament’)

Selected Elamite texts

Selected Urartu texts

Selected Yemenite inscriptions

Selected Libyan – Berberic inscriptions

Herodotus on Egypt (excerpts from his book ‘Histories’)

Herodotus on Babylon (excerpts from his book ‘Histories’)

TEXTBOOK: History of Ancient Orient until the rise of Achaemenid Iran (3250 – 539 BCE), by Muhammad ShamsaddinMegalommatis

ONLINE RESOURCES: A great number of online resources will be used in class and diffused electronically to students at the end of each course.

COURSE COMPONENTS

EXAMS: A certain number of quizzes and exams will test students’ interest in, and understanding of, the materials discussed in class. In addition to the aforementioned, the students will have to take the mid-term and the final exam.

IN-CLASS EXERCISES: Throughout the semester, oral exercises may take place as students are expected to be prepared to discuss issues relevant to the course for which online documentation is offered beforehand. For these oral exercises, the students are requested to make substantive comments, develop of strong sense of criticism, and participate vividly.

ASSIGNMENTS: Each student will be assigned a course-related topic to study in-depth and duly elaborate into a brief essay with the help of the instructor.

GRADING

Percentage Points

In-Class Exercises / Participation 10% 50

Assignments 20% 100

Exams 40% 200

Final Exam 30% 150

TOTAL POINTS————————————————————500

NOTE:

Assiduity and participation in class discussion is highly evaluated, whereas absence affects the final grade.
Due dates for assignments are non-negotiable, whereas late delivery is penalized.
Assignments are preferably submitted electronically; they have to be in the format agreed upon (Word doc, Pdf or Powerpoint).

CLASSROOM POLICIES

ClASSROOM BEHAVIOUR

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the provisions concerning academic integrity and anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy.

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND APPEALS

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the entire section Attendance Policy, and more specifically the sub-section on Appeals.

OUTLINE 18-WEEK COURSE: SEMESTER

History of Orient until the rise of Achaemenid Iran (3250 – 539 BCE)

Week	Course (with reference to the manual’s chapters)	Historical Sources& Bibliography
1	Introduction to History, Historiography, Humanities, Discipline of History, Hellenism, Orientalism, Afro-centrism and Greco-Romano-centrism	Martin Bernal’s Black AthenaEdward Said’s Orientalism
	Chapter 1. Nations, Civilizations, and Lands between the Mediterranean and China – Southeast Asia; Terms, Orientalist disciplines
2	Chapter 2. The Neolithic and the 4th Millennium BCE in the Orient (Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Canaan, Iran, Central Asia, India, Egypt, and the Atlas)
	Chapter 3. The rise of Sumer and Elam – the first cities-states and the first writing systems (end of the 3rd millennium – beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE)	Sumerian / Elamite economic documents
3	Chapter 4. The Ancient Kingdom of Egypt	Texts of the Pyramids
4.	Chapter 5. The rise and the fall of the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia – the first Semitic state	Imperial texts of Sargon and Naram Sin of AkkadThe Malediction of Akkad
5	Chapter 6. The rise of the Neo-Sumerian states in Mesopotamia, the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, and the Kerma Kingdom of Sudan	EnumaElishGilgamesh Neo-Sumerian texts
6	Chapter 7. Ancient Assyrian and Ancient Babylonian Kingdoms	The Laws of Hammurapi
7	Chapter 8. Hatti, Luwians, and Indo-European Hittites in Anatolia	Ullikummi / Telipinus
	Chapter 9. Canaan in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE and Ugarit	Selected texts from Ugarit
8	Chapter 10. Kassite Babylonia, Middle Assyria, Elam, Mitanni and HanigalbatHurrian Kingdoms	Selected Hurrian textsEtana The Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World
9	Chapter 11. The New Kingdom of Egypt and its expansion in Canaan and the Sudan	Expedition to PuntThe Campaigns of Thutmes III The Stele of Dream of Thutmes IV The Book of the Caves The Book of the Hours Hymns of Akhenaten
10	Chapter 12. The Hittite Empire, the Achaeans, Troy and the Pelasgian confederation	Excerpts from the Hittite imperial records
11	Chapter 13. The Sea Peoples, the Aramaeans, and the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (12th to 9th c. BCE)	The Campaigns of Ramses III against the Sea Peoples
12	Chapter 14. Urartu, Neo-Hittite Kingdoms, Aramaean Kingdoms, Babylonia, Elam, Yemen, Phoenicians, Hebrews and the expansion of Assyria	The Annals of Shalmanaser IIIThe Annals of TiglathPileser III Selected Phoenician inscriptions Selected Aramaean inscriptions Selected Carthaginian inscriptions The Periplus of Hanno Selected Elamite texts Selected Urartu texts Selected Yemenite inscriptions
	Chapter 15. Post-Rammesside Egypt, the NapatanKingdom of Kush (Ethiopia), and Carthage down to the Assyrian and Persian invasions of Egypt	The Adventures of WenamunSelected Libyan – Berberic inscriptions Herodotus on Egypt (excerpts from his book ‘Histories’)
13	Chapter 16. The Sargonid Empire of Assyria (722 – 609 BCE)	The Annals of Sargon (Sarrukin) of AssyriaThe Annals of Sinakherib The Annals of Assurbanipal Jonas (selected text from the ‘Old Testament’)
14	Chapter 17. Nabonid Babylonia (625 – 539 BCE)	The Chronicle of NabukadnezzarTobias (selected text from the ‘Old Testament’) Herodotus on Babylon (excerpts from his book ‘Histories’)
15	Chapter 18. The Medes, the Azeris/Atropatenes, the Persians and the other nations of the Iranian plateau in the 1st half of the 1st millennium BCE
	Chapter 19. South Balkan, Aegean civilizations from the Neolithic to the Iranian invasion
16	Chapter 20. Sumerian – Assyrian / Babylonian Civilizations, Religions, Literatures and Languages
	Chapter 21. Egyptian – Kushitic / Sudanese Civilizations, Religions, Literatures and Languages
	Chapter 22. Anatolian & Hittite Civilizations, Religions, Literatures and Languages
	Chapter 23. Canaanite – Phoenician, Aramaean, Hebrew Civilizations, Religions, Literatures and Languages

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COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE TITLE: HISTORY OF AFRICA UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF ISLAM

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Class times & Location:

Course Website:

Instructor Information: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

Office & Office Hours: Saturdays 2 – 4 pm, Sundays 2 – 4 pm, Thursdays 3 – 4 pm

——————————————–

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The present course offers a non-colonial, non-Western, non-Euro-centric History of Africa before the arrival of Islam, reflecting true facts, focusing on events proportionally, and introducing the students to an outline of ancient African faiths, concepts and world views. On the basis of historical texts, the course makes the student familiar with the major cities, monuments, sites, persons, and historical events in Ancient Egypt, Kush (Ethiopia: Sudan), Carthage, and Somalia. The course offers a comprehensive list of the dimensions of African impact on the formation of the European civilizations, and highlights the diffusion of African cults, religions, faiths, concepts, ideologies and philosophies across the European provinces of the Roman Empire. In addition, the course presents a diachronic table of Afro-Asiatic interactions at the political, commercial, cultural and religious levels.

RESOURCES

HISTORICAL SOURCES:

Texts of the Pyramids

The Narration of the Shipwrecked

Expedition to Punt

Divine Birth and Coronation Inscriptions of Hatshepsut.

The Campaigns of Thutmose III

The Stele of Dream of Thutmose IV

A selection of Tell Amarna Letters

Hymns of Akhenaten

The Campaigns of Ramses III against the Sea Peoples

The Adventures of Wenamun

A selection of Carthaginian inscriptions

Darius Stele at Suez

The Periplus of Scylax of Caryander

The Periplus of Hanno

Excerpts from Herodotus’ History

Aramaic Ostraca from Elephantine

Plutarch, Life of Alexander

Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of Jews, Book XII(on the Septuagint)

The Rosetta Stone

A selection from the texts of Nag Hammadi

Poimandres

Strabo, Geographica (Book XVII)

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica

Dio Cassius, HistoriaRomana

Selection of IsiacAretalogies

Acts of Apostles, An Ancient Sudanese Prince becomes Christian

The Periplus of the Red Sea

Ptolemy the Geographer

PistisSophia, and excerpts from Manichaean texts

The Stela of Adulis (CosmasIndicopleustes)

AmmianMarcellin

PomponiusMela

Heliodorus,Aethiopica

Selection of Coptic texts

Selection of Nobatian, Makurian inscriptions

TEXTBOOK: History of Africa until the Arrival of Islam, by Muhammad ShamsaddinMegalommatis

ONLINE RESOURCES: A great number of online resources will be used in class and diffused electronically to students at the end of each course.

COURSE COMPONENTS

EXAMS: A certain number of quizzes and exams will test students’ interest in, and understanding of, the materials discussed in class. In addition to the aforementioned, the students will have to take the mid-term and the final exam.

IN-CLASS EXERCISES: Throughout the semester, oral exercises may take place as students are expected to be prepared to discuss issues relevant to the course for which online documentation is offered beforehand. For these oral exercises, the students are requested to make substantive comments, develop of strong sense of criticism, and participate vividly.

ASSIGNMENTS: Each student will be assigned a course-related topic to study in-depth and duly elaborate into a brief essay with the help of the instructor.

GRADING

Percentage Points

In-Class Exercises / Participation 10% 50

Assignments 20% 100

Exams 40% 200

Final Exam 30% 150

TOTAL POINTS————————————————————500

NOTE:

Assiduity and participation in class discussion is highly evaluated, whereas absence affects the final grade.
Due dates for assignments are non-negotiable, whereas late delivery is penalized.
Assignments are preferably submitted electronically; they have to be in the format agreed upon (Word doc, Pdf or Powerpoint).

CLASSROOM POLICIES

ClASSROOM BEHAVIOUR

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the provisions concerning academic integrity and anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy.

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND APPEALS

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the entire section Attendance Policy, and more specifically the sub-section on Appeals.

OUTLINE 18-WEEK COURSE: SEMESTER

History of Africa until the Arrival of Islam

Week	Course (with reference to the manual’s chapters)	Historical Sources&Bibliography
1	Introduction to History, Historiography, Humanities, Discipline of History, Orientalism and Afro-centrism
	Chapter 1. Saharan Prehistory from Atlas to Egypt and the Sudan
2	Chapter 2. Ancient Egyptian Kingdom	Texts of the Pyramids
3	Chapter 3. Middle Egyptian Kingdom, the Kerma Kingdom in Sudan, and the Hyksos	The Narration of the Shipwrecked
4	Chapter 4. New Egyptian Empire and the Kingdom of Somalia – Punt	Expedition to PuntDivine Birth and Coronation Inscriptions of Hatshepsut. The Campaigns of Thutmose III The Stele of Dream of Thutmose IV A selection of Tell Amarna Letters Hymns of Akhenaten
	Chapter 5. The Sea Peoples and Egypt	The Campaigns of Ramses III against the Sea Peoples
5	Chapter 6. Post-Rammesside Egypt and the rise of the Kingdom of Kush (Ethiopia: Sudan)	The Adventures of Wenamun
	Chapter 7. Canaanite –Phoenician Colonies in the Mediterranean and Carthage	A selection of Carthaginian inscriptions
6	Chapter 8. Egypt under the Assyrians; the last dynasties; Egypt under the Persians	Darius Stele at SuezThe Periplus of Scylax of Caryander Aramaic Ostraca from Elephantine
7	Chapter 9. Egyptian Impact on the formation of Ancient Greece	Excerpts from Herodotus’ History
	Chapter 10. Phoenician – Carthaginian Impact on the formation of Ancient Greece and the democratic political system
8	Chapter 11. The end of Napatan Kush and the rise of Meroe in Ancient Sudan (Ethiopia)
9	Chapter 12. Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies in Egypt	Plutarch, Life of AlexanderFlavius Josephus, Antiquities of Jews, Book XII (on the Septuagint) The Rosetta Stone
10	Chapter 13. The Carthaginian explorations of Western Africa; the Punic Wars	The Periplus of Hanno
11	Chapter 14. Roman Egypt	A selection from the texts of Nag HammadiPoimandres Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica Dio Cassius, HistoriaRomana Pistis Sophia, and excerpts from Manichaean texts Pomponius Mela
	Chapter 15. The trade between East and West in the Roman times, Somalia, and the East African coast	Strabo, Geographica (Book XVII)The Periplus of the Red Sea
12	Chapter 16. Religious, philosophical, esoteric, ideological, artistic, literary syncretism in the Late Antiquity	Selection of IsiacAretalogies
13	Chapter 17. The Diffusion of Egyptian Religions, Faiths, Concepts, Philosophies, & Ideologies in the Mediterranean and across Europe
14	Chapter 18. Christianity in Africa	Acts of Apostles, An Ancient Sudanese Prince becomes ChristianAmmian Marcellin
15	Chapter 19. Alexandria-based explorations of Africa; Ptolemy the Geographer and Africa	Strabo, Geographica (Book XVII)Ptolemy the Geographer
16	Chapter 20. The Meroitic Kingdom of Ethiopia and the Axumitic Kingdom of Abyssinia	Heliodorus, AethiopicaThe Stela of Adulis (CosmasIndicopleustes)
	Chapter 21. Christian Ethiopian (Sudanese) States: Nobatia, Makuria, Alodia, and Abyssinia	Selection of Coptic textsSelection of Nobatian, Makurian inscriptions

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COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE TITLE: HISTORY OF PRE-ISLAMIC SOMALIA

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Class times & Location:

Course Website:

Instructor Information: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

Office & Office Hours: Saturdays 2 – 4 pm, Sundays 2 – 4 pm, Thursdays 3 – 4 pm

——————————————–

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The present course encompasses all Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, and Latin historical sources, i.e. texts pertaining to the land of Somalia, notably the Expedition to Punt by Queen Hatshepsut (written ca. 1475 BCE), the Periplus of the Red Sea, and Ptolemy’s Geography. It involves extensive study of, and viewpoints on, the texts and the related bibliography. The identification of the land of Punt with Somalia is confirmed through approaches of theoretical – cosmological, religious – political, and natural – commercial – navigational dimension. Through study of the Periplus of the Red Sea, the course highlights the importance of Somalia (named as ‘The Other Berberia’ for the northern coast up to RasAsiir and as ‘Azania’ for the eastern coast down to Darussalam) in the trade between Rome, Alexandria, India, Central Asia, and China for the period 30 BCE – 622 CE. How well known Somalia was toRoman and Alexandrian scholars and geographers is revealed through the study of all excerpts of Pliny’s Natural History and Ptolemy’s Geography that concern the Horn of Africa country. An overview of CosmasIndicopleustes’ Christian Topography helps us realize what was known of the Horn of Africa to the merchants and the academics of Eastern Mediterranean 50 years before the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

RESOURCES

HISTORICAL SOURCES:

Expedition to Punt, by Queen Hatshepsut (text and representations from Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el Bahri, Luxor West – Egypt)

Periplus of the Red Sea (Periplus tis ErythrasThalassis), by anonymous author

Natural History (Naturalis Historia), by Pliny the Elder

Geography (Geografiki Hyphigesis), by Ptolemy the Geographer

Christian Topography (Hristianiki Topografia), by Cosmas Indicopleustes

TEXTBOOK:History of Pre-Islamic Somalia, by Muhammad ShamsaddinMegalommatis

ONLINE RESOURCES: A great number of online resources will be used in class and diffused electronically to students at the end of each course.

COURSE COMPONENTS

EXAMS: A certain number of quizzes and exams will test students’ interest in, and understanding of, the materials discussed in class. In addition to the aforementioned, the students will have to take the mid-term and the final exam.

IN-CLASS EXERCISES: Throughout the semester, oral exercises may take place as students are expected to be prepared to discuss issues relevant to the course for which online documentation is offered beforehand. For these oral exercises, the students are requested to make substantive comments, develop of strong sense of criticism, and participate vividly.

ASSIGNMENTS: Each student will be assigned a course-related topic to study in-depth and duly elaborate into a brief essay with the help of the instructor.

GRADING

Percentage Points

In-Class Exercises / Participation 10% 50

Assignments 20% 100

Exams 40% 200

Final Exam 30% 150

TOTAL POINTS————————————————————500

NOTE:

Assiduity and participation in class discussion is highly evaluated, whereas absence affects the final grade.
Due dates for assignments are non-negotiable, whereas late delivery is penalized.
Assignments are preferably submitted electronically; they have to be in the format agreed upon (Word doc, Pdf or Powerpoint).

CLASSROOM POLICIES

ClASSROOM BEHAVIOUR

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the provisions concerning academic integrity and anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy.

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND APPEALS

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the entire section Attendance Policy, and more specifically the sub-section on Appeals.

OUTLINE 18-WEEK COURSE: SEMESTER

History of Pre-Islamic Somalia

Week	Course (with reference to the manual’s chapters)	Historical Sources
1	Introduction to History, Historiography, Humanities, Discipline of History, Orientalism and Afro-centrism
	Chapter 1. The first references to Somalia as Punt in Egyptian Hieroglyphic texts. Ancient Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Punt
2	Chapter 2. Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt and the Expedition to Somalia (Punt)	Expedition to Punt
3	Chapter 3. Deir al Bahari Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and the Second Colonnade Reliefs	Expedition to Punt
4	Chapter 4. Analysis of the text. Theoretical – Cosmological background	Expedition to Punt
	Chapter 5. Analysis of the text. Religious – Political background	Expedition to Punt
	Chapter 6. Analysis of the text. Natural, commercial, navigational background	Expedition to Punt
5	Chapter 7. False identification of Punt: misleading, erroneous, politically-biased efforts
	Chapter 8. Later Egyptian Hieroglyphic references to Punt
6	Chapter 9. How Somalia moved close to Iran and the Mediterranean: the Achaemenid Empire on three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) and the African colonies of Ancient Yemen
7	Chapter 10. Late Antiquity explorers and geographers, the Roman naval expedition to Aden, the rise of the trade between East and West, Somali products exported to Alexandria and Europe, and the Periplus of the Red Sea
8	Chapter 11. The Periplus of the Red Sea – General Description of Comments, Focus on the Red Sea coasts	Periplus of the Red Sea
9	Chapter 12. The Periplus of the Red Sea and the Northern Coastlands of Somalia: The Other Berberia	Periplus of the Red Sea
10	Chapter 13. The Periplus of the Red Sea and the Eastern Coastlands of Somalia: Azania	Periplus of the Red Sea
11	Chapter 14. Analysis of the text. Political background	Periplus of the Red Sea
12	Chapter 15. Analysis of the text. Natural & commercial background	Periplus of the Red Sea
13	Chapter 16. Analysis of the text. Navigational & meteorological background	Periplus of the Red Sea
14	Chapter 17. Pliny the Elder and Somalia	Natural History
	Chapter 18. Ptolemy the Geographer on Egypt and the Sudan	Ptolemy’s Geography
15	Chapter 18. Ptolemy the Geographer on the Red Sea coast and Somalia	Ptolemy’s Geography
	Chapter 18. Ptolemy the Geographer on Abyssinia and other areas of today’s South Sudan and Kenya	Ptolemy’s Geography
16	Chapter 19. CosmasIndicopleustes and Somalia	Christian Topography
	Chapter 20. Ancient History of Eastern Africa – A Comparative View: Egypt, Sudan (Ethiopia), Abyssinia and Somalia

===============

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY I

—————————————-

Class times & Location:

Course Website:

Instructor Information: Muhammad ShamsaddinMegalommatis

Office & Office Hours: Saturdays 2 – 4 pm, Sundays 2 – 4 pm, Thursdays 3 – 4 pm

——————————————–

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The present course offers a non-colonial, non-Western, non-Euro-centric, non-Americano-centric presentation of the ideas and the ideological systems that led to the establishment of the present political systems. After examining the theoretical systems that instituted the great states of the Antiquity, the course focuses on Ancient Greece and Rome, examining the diverse ideas developed there about the correct government of a city (polis in Ancient Greek); it was within the context of the ideas pertaining to the best possible administration of a city that the term ‘politics’ was then coined. The course evaluates the marginal and ephemeral nature of the political system (and the theory of ‘democracy’) in Ancient Greece and Rome where the Oriental Imperial system of government prevailed (for the former through the rise of the imperial state of Alexander the Great and the kingdoms of his Epigones; for the latter because of the prevalence of Imperium over Res Publica). Following an overview of the Christian and Islamic systems of government and the diverse theories developed in this regard, focus is made on the Renaissance intellectuals’ search for Ancient Greece and Rome, and for their political systems. The course also encompasses the presentation of diverse modern political systems and ideologies,an overview of the major Western philosophers, and a brief examination of the role secret associations like the Freemasonry played in the shaping of modern Western and global politics.

RESOURCES

PHILOSOPHICAL TEXTS:

Plato, The City (Politeia)

Aristotle, The City (Politeia)

Cato the Elder, De agricultura

Cicero, Against Catilina, SomniumScipionis

Seneca, Epistulaemorales ad Lucilium

St Augustine, De Civitate Dei (The City of God)

Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio

Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles

Ibn Khaldun, Kitab ul ibar / Muqaddimah

Tommaso Campanella, La Citta del Sole

Pico dellaMirandola,Oration on the Dignity of Man

Macchiavelli, The Prince

Paracelsus, The Hermetic And Alchemical Writings

Thomas Moore, Utopia

Oliver Cromwell, Dissolution of the Long Parliament

Blaise Pascal, Lettres Provinciales

Charles Louis de Montesquieu, Lettres Persanes

Denis Diderot, Encyclopédie

François-Marie Voltaire, Zadig

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Julie,ou la nouvelle Héloïse

Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure Reason

French constitutional texts

American constitutional texts

Utopian Socialists–Étienne Cabet’s Icaria /Le vrai christianisme suivant Jésus Christ

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Life of Jesus

Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto

Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England

Vladimir IlyichUlyanov, Lenin, The State and Revolution

Leo Trotzky, Terrorism and Coomunism

Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State

TEXTBOOK: Society, Government, ‘Politics’, and Ideologies, by Muhammad ShamsaddinMegalommatis

ONLINE RESOURCES: A great number of online resources will be used in class and diffused electronically to students at the end of each course.

COURSE COMPONENTS

EXAMS: A certain number of quizzes and exams will test students’ interest in, and understanding of, the materials discussed in class. In addition to the aforementioned, the students will have to take the mid-term and the final exam.

IN-CLASS EXERCISES: Throughout the semester, oral exercises may take place as students are expected to be prepared to discuss issues relevant to the course for which online documentation is offered beforehand. For these oral exercises, the students are requested to make substantive comments, develop of strong sense of criticism, and participate vividly.

ASSIGNMENTS: Each student will be assigned a course-related topic to study in-depth and duly elaborate into a brief essay with the help of the instructor.

GRADING

Percentage Points

In-Class Exercises / Participation 10% 50

Assignments 20% 100

Exams 40% 200

Final Exam 30% 150

TOTAL POINTS————————————————————500

NOTE:

Assiduity and participation in class discussion is highly evaluated, whereas absence affects the final grade.
Due dates for assignments are non-negotiable, whereas late delivery is penalized.
Assignments are preferably submitted electronically; they have to be in the format agreed upon (Word doc, Pdf or Powerpoint).

CLASSROOM POLICIES

ClASSROOM BEHAVIOUR

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the provisions concerning academic integrity and anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy.

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND APPEALS

Students are requested to be well aware of the Academic Policies, particularly the entire section Attendance Policy, and more specifically the sub-section on Appeals.

OUTLINE 18-WEEK COURSE: SEMESTER

Introduction to Political Philosophy I

Week	Course (with reference to the manual’s chapters)	Texts
1	Chapter 1. States, Empires, Cities-States and Ideologies in the Antiquity
2	Chapter 2. How should the states be governed? Religion & Government in the Antiquity
3	Chapter 3. Impossibility to separate Religion and Politics
4	Chapter 4. The Theory of the Oriental Despotism
	Chapter 5. The Ancient Greek city-state, the ‘Politics’, and the formation of the Political Philosophy
5	Chapter 6. Plato as Political Philosopher, and the Quest for the Ideal State	Plato, The City (Politeia)
6	Chapter 7. Aristotle as Political Philosopher, and the Quest for the Perfect State	Aristotle, The City (Politeia)
7	Chapter 8. Cicero, Seneca, and Roman Political Philosophy	Cato the Elder, De agriculturaCicero, Against Catilina, SomniumScipionis Seneca, Epistulaemorales ad Lucilium
	Chapter 9. The Prevalence of the Oriental Imperial System over ‘Politics’ in Greece and Rome
8	Chapter 10. St. Augustine and the Christian Quest for the Ideal State	St Augustine, De Civitate Dei (The City of God)
9	Chapter 11. Western Christianity and Feudalism, Eastern Christianity and the Oriental Imperial System	Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De AdministrandoImperio
	Chapter 12. Thomas Aquinas as Christian Political Philosopher, and the Model of the Perfect Christian Citizen	Summa contra Gentiles
10	Chapter 13. Early Islamic Society and Government at Madina and the Prevalence of the Oriental Imperial System in the Islamic Caliphate	IbnKhaldun, Kitabulibar / Muqaddimah
11	Chapter 14. Renaissance Political Philosophers, and the Search for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Concepts	Tommaso Campanella, La Citta del SolePico dellaMirandola,Oration on the Dignity of Man Macchiavelli, The Prince Paracelsus, The Hermetic And Alchemical Writings Thomas Moore, Utopia
12	Chapter 15. Cromwell as Lord Protector and His Concept of Government	Oliver Cromwell, Dissolution of the Long Parliament
13	Chapter 16. French Philosophers of the 18th century and the Basic Political Concepts of the French Revolution	Blaise Pascal, Lettres ProvincialesCharles Louis de Montesquieu, Lettres Persanes Denis Diderot, Encyclopédie François-Marie Voltaire, Zadig Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Julie,ou la nouvelle Héloïse
14	Chapter 17. Freemasonry & the Basic Political Concepts of the American Revolution	American constitutionaltextsFrench constitutionaltexts
15	Chapter 18. Political Theories and Ideologies during the 19th c.	Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure ReasonGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Life of Jesus
	Chapter 19. Utopian and Early Socialist Philosophers	UtopianSocialists–Étienne Cabet’sIcaria /Le vrai christianisme suivant Jésus Christ
16	Chapter 20. Marxism – Leninism and the Theory of Scientific Socialism	Karl Marx, Communist ManifestoFriedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England Vladimir IlyichUlyanov, Lenin, The State and Revolution Leo Trotzky, Terrorism and Coomunism Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State