Bloomsbury Summer School

Fascinated by ancient civilisations?

Monday 7 July to Friday 11 July

Course Director: Dr Christoph Bachhuber (University of Oxford)

To be held in person at UCL Institute of Archaeology (31 - 34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY UK) and livestreamed online.

Monday 7 July

10:45* – 11:00
Participants gather in BSS Common Room on 6th floor / Students login to Zoom

11:00 – 11:30
BSS Director’s Welcome Address

11:30 – 13:00
1. Introductions and Aims / Epic Discovery of the Hittites (Part 1)

Welcome Lunch in BSS Common Room (14:00 Short optional tour of UCL with the Director)

14:30 – 15:45
2. Epic Discovery of the Hittites (Part 2)

16:15 – 17:30
3. Histories of Decipherment: Unravelling the languages and scripts of the land of Hatti

17:30
Non-BSS event: Get together with fellow students for dinner at Poppadom Indian Kitchen in the Tavistock Hotel

Tuesday 8 July

10:00 – 11:15
4. A Prehistory of the Hittites

11:45 – 13:00
5. Interactions between Assyrians and locals in the trading enclave at Kültepe (Assyrian Kaneš)

14:15 – 15:30
6. Hittite Origins (Part 1); Hattusa: Introduction and Tour (Part 2)

16:00 – 17:15
7. Hittite Cities

17:15 – 18:30

**BSS Social on Common Room balcony

Wednesday 9 July

10:00 – 11:15
8. Hittite Religion: The ‘Thousand Gods of Hatti’ and the cultic landscapes of the Land of Hatti

11:45 – 13:00
9. The Hittites Among the Cosmopolitan Powers of the Late Bronze Age

14:15 – 15:30
10. The Hittites and New Kingdom Egypt

16:00 – 17:15
11. The Hittites Looking West: What does Troy have to do with it?

Thursday 10 July

10:00 – 11:15
12. The Final Collapse of the Hittite State

11:45 – 13:00
13. The Iron Age: Memory of the Hittites in the Assyrian periphery

14:15 – 15:30
14. Iron Age Cities and Urban Life

16:00 – 17:15
15. A Closer Look at ‘Neo-Hittite’ Art and Visual Culture

Friday 11 July

10:00 – 11:15
16. Group 1: British Museum Visit / Group 2: Bronze Age Apocalypse Documentary

11:45 – 13:00
17. Group 2: British Museum Visit / Group 1: Bronze Age Apocalypse Documentary

14:15 – 15:30
18. Behind the Scenes Working on the "Bronze Age Apocalypse" Documentary

16:00 – 17:15
19. The Legacy (and the Future) of the Hittites

17:15 – 19:00
End-of-Course Drinks Party on BSS Common Room balcony and Zoom (you are welcome to invite guests)

*All times are London UK time; Zoom waiting room opens 15 minutes prior to the start; **In-person participants only.

NB: Timetables, once published, are unlikely to change, but remain provisional until the first day of the course.