The Levant was ruled by colonial powers during most of its documented history. The constant encounters with foreign agents—soldiers, officials or settlers from the empires or other groups that came to the Levant under the Empires’ auspice or command (such as deportees)—brought about major changes in the local society. Such changes are visible in local social structure, practices, ideology, religion, and collective identity. In this course we will study various aspects of colonial encounters, from the Levant and beyond, and we will deal with the impact of modern colonialism on modern archaeological scholarship.