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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU)

4.8
stars
748 ratings

About the Course

Discover the mighty kingdom of Assyria, which came to be the world’s first great empire three thousand years ago. From the 9th to the 7th centuries BC, during the imperial phase of Assyria’s long history, modern day northern Iraq was the central region of a state reaching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, and incorporating what is now Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as half of Israel, and wide parts of south-eastern Turkey, and Western Iran. In its geographical extent, this state was unprecedentedly large, and the distinct geography of the Middle East, with deserts and high mountain ranges, posed challenges to communication and cohesion. What were the mechanisms that kept the Empire running? This course explores the methods the Assyrian government employed to ensure unity and maintain loyalty across vast distances, using traditional as well as innovative strategies. Some of these imperial techniques have marked parallels in the ways modern multi-national corporations are operating, others will strike you as profoundly alien. This course focusses on how the Assyrians organised their empire by analysing key aspects, namely: · The CEO – the king, a religious, political and military leader, who is charged to govern by his master, the god Assur; · Home Office – the royal palace in the central region and the royal court that form the administrative centre of the state; · The Regional Managers – the governors and client-rulers to whom local power is delegated; · Human Resources – the Empire’s people are its most precious assets, its consumers and its key product, as the goal of the imperial project was to create “Assyrians”; an approach with lasting repercussions that still reverberate in the Middle East today; and finally · The Fruits of Empire – it takes a lot of effort, so what are the rewards? When we explore these topics we will contextualise them with information about the lives led by ordinary Assyrian families. Taking this course will provide you with an overview of the political, social, religious, and military history of the world’s first superpower. It will give you insight into the geography and climatic conditions of the Middle East and contribute to your understanding of the opportunities and challenges of that region. It will present you with a vision of the Middle East at a time when its political and religious structures were very different from today....

Top reviews

SS

Jan 15, 2021

This was my first MOOC and I fully enjoyed every aspect. The knowledge level of the instructors was evident as was their commitment to their students and the varied formats were consistently engaging.

LF

Jan 27, 2021

The variety of presentations of a vast amount of knowledge made it engaging. Dr. Radner herself was engaging! The course provided a deep look into a civilization that is a bedrock to the modern world.

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251 - 275 of 301 Reviews for Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way

By Micah A

Dec 14, 2022

Great Course.

By Samuel G

Jun 18, 2020

Great course!

By Anselmo C

May 29, 2021

Best course!

By Mohannad A

Feb 13, 2021

Great course

By Mauricio Q

May 9, 2020

Excellent!!!

By Michael S

Nov 21, 2019

Learned alot

By Jean R

Dec 4, 2020

Excellent.

By miri m

Jan 25, 2021

Excelente

By Ale V

Sep 23, 2020

Excelente

By Inam A

Sep 20, 2020

Great!!!

By mansi g

Dec 20, 2018

its easy

By Julie B

Apr 13, 2019

T

By Ajay S

Apr 26, 2018

I have absolutely enjoyed this course on Ancient Assyrian Empire. The lessons were rich in content, its' presentation of a very high order. Professor Karen Radner is objective, scholarly, and cheerfully unbiased in evaluating one of the most influential civilisations in Human History. The supplementary material to the lectures and question-answer videos, had the learner wishing for more. But to anyone interested in Ancient world and its most dramatic age, I enthusiastically recommend it as a 'Must Do' course.

Ajay Sinha.

By José L U

Dec 11, 2022

My impression of the course is quite good as I have learned a lot about the Assyrian Empire and about issues I did not know. But I was disappointed that at the end of the course I did not have the certificate of having done the course.

Mi impresión del curso es bastante buena pues he aprendido mucho sobre el Imperio Asirio y sobre cuestiones que desconocía. Pero me ha decepcionado que al finalizar el curso no haya contado con el certificado de haber realizado dicho curso.

By Lowell N

Mar 15, 2021

I enjoyed learning about a part of history I knew nothing about. The history is a bit dry at times but they used lots of different methods of instruction to keep it interesting. I especially enjoyed the white-board history lessons! I would have liked to learn more about the archeological basis of the history that was presented, this was occasionally referred to but would have liked to have understood more how the have built the historical picture.

By Caelyn M

Apr 5, 2022

I really wish I could give 4.5 stars. This was a really delightful course. Wonderful videos, engaging lecturers, lots of different ways to engage with the material, I really learned quite a bit!

But there were little issues here and there, some link rot, some weird whitespacing in the quizzes and a duplicated reading that was literally titled 'Copy of'. So, one star off my rating.

By Ramon v O

Jan 16, 2022

Perfect course by Karen Radner. A lot of information, and educated and teached very well, in a clear and understandable way.

Only downside, and this is not the fault of Karen, is that the program (on internet and app) sometimes is lost, and the grades shown, don't compare with the material you are graded with.

Course is highly recommended.

By Syed H A

Dec 19, 2018

I think this course is very well designed for the beginners in assyriology. Karen Radner & others have been excellent in their delivery of all important aspects of the Assyrian empire - from religion to culture, family to army and from internal & external influencers of this empire!

By Thomas d S

May 4, 2021

Dank course. Loved the fish coat dudes. The expert opinions were also great--it was neat to hear from a variety of academics studying these topics. I would've liked to learn more about Assyrian deities and mythology though, even if lots of it was just copy pasted from Babylon.

By Christopher J M

Feb 6, 2021

It was a fun and interesting course. There were many tests and sometimes they have been a bit specific andI will not remember the details of names and dates right after taking them. So, even though the tests were good, they may have focused on themes a bit more than facts.

By char M

May 18, 2020

Karen is very knowledgeable, and mostly engaging. At first, I thought the student question and answer was not valuable, but I was wrong! Some of the most interesting tidbits came here. The experts section was not useful. Have one speak on his area of expertise.

By Giel B

Sep 18, 2022

well-organized, clear, very interesting, great choice of subjects; added value of contributions of other experts doubtful; suggestion: more pictures of artwork, archeological remains etc with explanation about origin, meaning and discovery.

By Richard S

Feb 14, 2021

The course was an interesting overview of a small but very important time and place history. I found the material interesting and the level of detail was what right for me.

By Hunter J

May 13, 2023

Really enjoyed it! I wish there could've been a bit more content on Assyrian religion(s) and how Assyria affected its neighbors throughout the period discussed tho