The Ancient Near East and the Foundations of Europe

The contributions of this Melammu workshop address an issue fundamental for the Melammu project: the investigation and illustration of the many and profound links between the Ancient Near East and European and Western cultures. The reversing of the scholarly paradigms that separated Near Eastern and Classical studies received particular impulse since the 1980s and researches have been devoted primarily to identify imports and influxes going from east to west and progressively developed to contribute to identifying the chronologically multi-layered and multidirectional contacts and relations. Due to its complexity this research perspective requires to take into consideration methodologies elaborated in different sectors of historiographic research and to keep open the dialogue with the historians of other periods and areas. The various points of view chosen by the participants touch research perspectives, methodological problems, and also the position and role of the Melammu approach vis-a-vis the past and present epistemological scenario.