The Near Eastern Civilizations major explores the civilizations of the Near and Middle East through critical analysis of its cultural, literary, artistic, historic, and archaeological evidence. This major offers an interdisciplinary approach across various academic disciplines to provide both a theoretical and a research-based study of societies from prehistoric to modern times. The major offers one of two emphases: Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, Islamic Civilization. The Ancient Near East (Middle East) is considered to be the cradle of civilization, where cities and empires first emerged, agriculture developed, the invention of the wheel made, the first writing systems formed, foundations established in astronomy and mathematics, and discoveries made of ancient literary masterpieces considered to be the roots of Western Civilization. The Islamic Civilization major provides a broad knowledge of the histories, literature, philosophy, religious thought, and legal institutions of Muslim societies. Expanding from the Middle East, the Islamic civilization has had a profound historical impact on practically every part of the world and continues to be an important area of academic inquiry on account of its political, economic, and cultural effects on the international arena.