Once studied for the light it could shed on the world of the Old Testament, the ancient Near East has now emerged from the sidelines as the fountainhead of modern civilisation. It was in the ancient Near East more than 5000 years ago that people first learned to live in cities, invented writing and developed the first high civilisations. Though the origins of humanity's spiritual and intellectual adventure were once sought in the Bible and in Greece, the fascinating discoveries of Near Eastern archaeologists over the last 150 years have revealed the crucial roles played in forming our common heritage by the peoples of the Ancient Near East, especially the Sumerians, the Babylonians and the Hittites. The three-year degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies has been formulated to take advantage of the unique opportunities offered by London, the home of the largest group of specialists in the various branches of Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Europe. Not only do many different academic departments of the University of London employ teachers in these fields, but Bloomsbury also houses the British Museum, with its collections of Near Eastern antiquities unrivalled in the world. The Ancient Near Eastern Studies degree is taught jointly with University College London (UCL). It provides a multi-disciplinary introduction to the ancient Near East, its languages, history, cultures and archaeology, while also offering final-year students the opportunity of specializing in their field of interest.

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