Between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C., the rulers of Assyria, a small kingdom in what is today northern Iraq, expanded through conquest to dominate the area from Egypt to Iran and created a series of magnificent royal cities adorned with palaces and temples. Paul Collins, a leading authority on the art of ancient Mesopotamia, leads a journey through these palaces to reveal how they were designed to ensure that Assyrian kingship would exist for all eternity. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)