Bloomsbury Summer School in Europe
Fascinated by ancient civilisations?
We offer anyone with any level of knowledge, inspiring short courses on ancient Egypt and other areas of the ancient world.
2025 BSS in Paris Course Itinerary
Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 May
PERSEPOLIS, PALMYRA, AND PARIS: DISCOVERING THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST AT THE MUSÉE DU LOUVRE
Course Director: Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (Cardiff University)
Day 1:
- Late afternoon / evening arrival to Paris*
- Optional meet-and-greet at local café / bar (self-funded)
Day 2:
- Lecture 1: The Lure of the East: Collecting and performing Near Eastern antiquity
Paris, like London and Berlin, was one of the great nineteenth century European capitals, and as with London and Berlin, Paris became a centre for the study of the ancient Near East and a hub for the Orientalist craze that swept through the arts.
- Lecture 2: Sumer and Akkad
- Walk / take Metro from lecture location to local café for lunch (self-funded) and then on to the Louvre
- Guided tour through the Ancient Near East collections
- Free time
- Welcome Dinner at local restaurant (alcohol not included)
The first civilisation to arise in Mesopotamia was that of Sumer whose great cities crowded together in southern Iraq. Later Akkadian speaking communities grew in size and influence in Syria (Mari), in south western Iran (Elam), and northern Mesopotamia, among whom were the Babylonians.
Day 3:
- Lecture 3: The Age of Empires: Collecting and performing Near Eastern antiquity
- Lecture 4: Iranian Imperialism
- Walk / take Metro from lecture location to local café for lunch (self-funded) and then on to the Louvre
- Guided tour through the Ancient Near East collections
- Free time
- Optional social gathering at local café / bar (self-funded)
Under the Kassite Kings of Babylon, Mesopotamian culture flourished, but eventually a new power arose that threatened the ancient kingdom: Assyria. The Sargonid period (Eighth to Sixth Centuries BCE) saw the apex of the Assyrian empire until it, too, was brought low under the resurgent power of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.
Iranian peoples conquered and ruled much of the Near East for a thousand years. The Achaemenid empire of Cyrus the Great, Darius, and Xerxes, was unparalleled in size or wealth, but later Persian empires of the Parthians and the Sassanians had to fight for territory with the Romans of the west.
Day 4:
- Free day or optional group activity
- Travel home / commence onward journey*
* Participants are responsible for their own travel to and from Paris and their accommodation in Paris. Please find our recommendations here. Also note that Prof. Llewellyn-Jones and Dr Piquette will travel by Eurostar on the afternoon on Thursday 15 May and will advise participants ASAP which train to book should they wish to join us.
