This is an experiential course that asks what it would have been like for people in the ancient Near East as their world underwent the profound changes wrought by domestication, farming, urbanism, and state formation. We focus on the sensory experiences of the body, and their effect upon the mind, by reconstructing and using spaces and objects that have come to define the archaeological periods from 10,000 to 2500 BCE. From circular communal buildings and the constraints and possibilities they offer, to replastering skulls and making hand-held figurines, to the performance of a ritual text, we link traditional teaching with walking a mile in ancient footwear. Participation in this course requires an active imagination and a willingness to get physical.