Thank you, Professor Radner. I thoroughly enjoyed this course!

I recently had the pleasure of spending the first year of my MA program at the University of Toronto with Professor Heather Baker. She introduced the Mesopotamian and Assyrian history in such a remarkable way; I was truly captivated. Your course was a fantastic review of the Assyrian Empire. I appreciated the Q and A videos as well as "Ask the Experts". Thank you for an amazing course and I have benefitted greatly from the content you presented.

So grateful that I came across this course ! I first discovered the Assyrian empire when I visited the British Museum and the Louvre. I was fascinated by the details in the frescoes, the huge sculptures and " Lamassu " but never took the time to learn more about their History. Now, thanks to this course, I have learnt so many things that I want to go back straight away to the museums and take my time to look closer at all the beautiful and well preserved works they left us. Thank you!

I really enjoyed this course. It provided a great overview of the Assyrian Empire. The various modules were interesting and engaging. Karen Radner enthusiasm about the topic really kept me captivated and I always enjoyed the expert opinions. The only thing that I think would have been good to go in to in more detail would have been warfare. There wasn't a lot of information on how the Assyrians actually expanded their empire. It is briefly mentioned in one of the modules how they perfected siege warfare, but then it is never further explored. I found this a bit disappointing and wished that there was one more module that would have looked at the military aspect in more detail. Apart from that I really recommend the course.

Highly enjoyable course which covers the historical events and kings of Assyria but also goes into depth on other, less well-known or well-covered topics like what could be considered a luxurious good; what role did women play in the empire etc. I felt that it went into enough detail without being overwhelming to a new student of Assyriology. I like that it mixed historical background with the cultural background each week rather than just focusing on one per week as this way, I felt it was easier to get through the topics I wasn't as interested in. Overall, the course was well put together, accessible and led by enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable lecturers.

My preconceptions of the roots of civilization were challenged in this course - the instructor and interviews with other experts broadened my mind and left me wanting to learn more. I recommend this course as a way to organize a further investigation into this exciting period in the origins of what it means to be human. I went from no knowledge of this period in time to a new understanding of the framework of historical events - a framework from which I can start filling in the details of what interests me most - language and culture of ancient Mesopotamia.

Many thanks to Professor Dr. Karen Radner whose dedication, commitment and understanding of her subject shows in every video, and in all the study material she has so carefully prepared for us. Thanks also to all those other archaeologists who kindly gave their time and shared their ideas and experiences with us. It was more like being at a summer school, really it was. And particular thanks to Denise Bolton, whose conversations with Dr Radner added another, very valuable dimension to the study program. I've enjoyed every moment. Thank you all so very much!

An excellent course ! Organized and presented in an interesting and very informative manner. It provided a good introduction to a fascinating topic which I knew very little about. Professor Radner presents the material through a variety of teaching methods that helps maintain interest throughout the course. She never presumes pre-knowledge of this subject or related subject areas by the students and utilizes language easily understood by non-practitioners. Thank you for such an enjoyable and rewarding experience !

I realize that a course like this and ancient subject matter are not for everyone, but I enjoyed it and appreciate the rare opportunity to learn about one of the great empires of the ancient world. I had learned about Assyria previously only as it related to the Old Testament of the Bible, but now I have so much more background and context, and indeed some of my previous assumptions and "learnings" have been challenged in a very good way. I hope there are more courses like this on Coursera! Thank you Dr. Radner!

I think people will be enchanted in many ways with this course: the knowledge of Ms. Radner, the organizition of the videos, the varied approaches in lessons, the integration with a lot of experts all around the world been asked about "daily" subjects (if they were an Assyrian haha), the company of Ms. Bolton, but mainly the excitement of Ms. Radner with everything on those topics! That makes you feel glad about accompaining this course studying this interesting People and sad about leaving it.

A great range of information, fascinatingly organised and interestingly presented. Just a couple of suggestions: the interviews would be better as true dialogues - at times it sounds like a question is just dropped in to allow the ongoing talk to continue. Also, it would be nice to see a real artefact or two, and to explore a small detail in greater depth - perhaps a line from the Babylonian chronicles and so on. Really pleased to have done it though.

This has been such an interesting and rewarding course. Karen Radner's lectures are detailed but easy to follow and rich in information. Her delivery is excellent. Her conversational pieces with the interviewer are also informative. I learned a lot and enjoyed it so much I feel that I want to know more so I will engage in some research of my own to continue building my understanding of this extraordinary period of history.

Fantastic course! Great teachers! I learned so much about the Assyrians, empire-building (It seems that they had the same problems as any latter empire - food, maintaining order, status building, infrastructure, communication). They seem to have had respect for new ideas and to have been innovative.

The course itself was fun, with the interviews and the animations...

Please make one about Babylon now or about Mesopotamia.....

A nicely presented course. It has a strong focus on the culture and life in the Neo-Assyrian empire, interweaving that with the history of the empire and the kings. A student completing the course should take away a sense of what that empire was, how it fits in to the larger history, and the important ideas and systems that it contributed to our own world today..

I initially enrolled on this course just because at a casual glance, I thought it 'might be interesting.' Within the first video I was absolutely hooked! The subject matter in itself is fascinating, and it is engagingly presented in a variety of ways. 'Interesting' is an understatement, and I would definitely recommend this course to anyone considering it.

Neo Assyrian history made engaging and accessible! The combination of different learning methods (lectures, armchair 'chats', ask the experts, supplementary reading and resources) helped in creating a rounded, memorable learning experience. So looking forward to more from Karen Radner, Denise Bolton and team!

I loved this course. I found Professor Dr. Karen Radner extremely knowledgeable, and easy to listen to and follow. My only regret was that the course was so short. I would like (and willingly pay for) a full semester course that covered the Kings, their palaces and their campaigns in more detail.

Bill Whelan

Professor Radner is fueled by passion and it truly shows in every single lecture. Her energy alone excited me for each new lesson! I took the class due to history being one of my weaker subject areas, and upon completing this course I have found a new interest and appreciation for it!

I enjoyed the journey with Prof. Radner. I was inspired, entertained, and really fascinated. My knowledge was practically zero on the subject at the start of the course. I wish we could continue. There was never a dull moment. Thank you so much!

The best online history course so far! The teacher is excellent and very inspiring person. I'm history teacher and this course inspired me to further explore this topic, to find other books and videos about history of Assyria and Mesopotamia.

Very interesting course, complete new material for me, I really enjoyed the script and art and will visit the British Museum as soon as possible to see the sculptures by myself. My dream: join an excavation in that area. Thank you so much.

This was an amazing, engaging course. It provided me with unexpected insights on the operations of an ancient empire that will inform the manner in which i organize my own affairs for the foreseeable future. Highly recommend!

An excellent, well presented and researched course which only makes us anticipate keenly further related courses on Babylonia and Mesopotamia. Something on Ancient Hittite and Persian civiisations would also be very welcome.

i wish to thank to Prof. Dir. Karen Radner all the work and knowledge shared through the course. Has been original, funny and so interesting. i probably i will see again many videos to memorize some things.

Thank you!

I throughly enjoyed this class. Ms. Radner was interesting, funny, informative and down to earth. Loved the artistic presentations she did. I would definitely take another of her classes. She made the class!

Karen Radner's lectures and the "Talking about ..." discussions were very interesting, but I especially liked the cartoon character drawings used to describe the events that happened in the Assyrian empire.