AA4008 The World of the Ancient Indian Ocean

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Available to General Degree students with the permission of the Honours Adviser.

Planned timetable

TBC

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr A C Kelley

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Anna Kelley

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

Studies of Roman long-distance trade have traditionally centred on its relationship with India. However, the Indian Ocean represented an expansive trade system, in which Rome was but a single player. This module will give a broad overview of the communities that sustained this system and the goods they were trading. It will interrogate how different social networks (mercantile, religious, kinship) became intertwined in the Indian Ocean littoral in the first centuries CE, and how these relationships were maintained. Throughout the semester, it will explore the important trade entrepots and their people through the texts and material culture they left behind. Important issues to be considered will be the movement of people vs. the movement of things; conceptions of race, ethnicity, and the ‘other’; the role of central governments in maintaining this system; the legacies of these contacts; periodization; and the limitations of the evidence.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

AS STATED IN THE SCHOOL OF CLASSICS UNDERGRADUATE HANDBOOK.

Assessment pattern

Coursework - 100%

Re-assessment

Written exam - 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 2-hour seminar (X11 weeks)

Intended learning outcomes

  • Identify and analyse a range of source material that builds a picture of Indian Ocean trade contacts.
  • Describe and evaluate modern theories of ancient connectivity and how these have been used in reconstructions of ancient economies.
  • Discuss the significance of non-Mediterranean landscapes in understanding the ancient world.
  • Critically evaluate the importance of the Indian Ocean system and cross-cultural contacts to the Roman Mediterranean.
  • Construct coherent arguments for how the movement of people and things shaped the ancient world integrating text and archaeological evidence.