A Few Websites
- ETANA: Electronic Tools and Ancient Near East ArchivesMajor texts and other materials on the history and culture of the Ancient Near East.
- Find a DigGuide to excavation sites from the Biblical Archaeology Society.
- Introduction to ArchaeologyBrief overview from the Archaeological Institute of America.
Print Sources
The books listed below can give you good background information. Be sure to look at the lists of references at the ends of the entries, too!
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East by Call Number: DS57 .C55 1995 -- Fine Arts (3rd floor)Publication Date: 1995-06-01This 4-vol. set examines the cultures of the ancient Near East from the Bronze Age (3200 B.C.E.) to the Hellenistic era (325 B.C.E) and describes the archaeology and the history of each subregion. Languages, religious life, governments, peace and war, commerce and agriculture, and the visual and performing arts are covered.Dictionary of the ancient Near East by
Call Number: DS56 .D5 2000 -- Reference (2nd floor)Publication Date: 2000"Architecture, literature, economics, labor, religion, and society are all extensively treated, as are such subjects as crime, dreams, drunkenness, shipwrecks, and sexual behavior (and misbehavior). Each entry, written by a scholar of international standing, includes up-to-date bibliographic references. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans of major sites." (Publisher summary)Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East by
Call Number: DS56 .O9 1996 -- Fine Arts (3rd floor)Publication Date: 1996"The encyclopedia encompasses prehistory through the Crusades, with presentation of sites at its core (about 450 of the 1,100 entires are site reports); this is the first time that site reports of the archaeology of the entire Near East have been brought together in a single work." (Publisher summary)
Maps
The Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land is an online atlas to sites in the Middle East from prehistoric times to the early 20th century. 
It includes maps (which can be animated) for archaeological periods and empires, a database for site information, and much else.
Because of the way the site is designed, a wide monitor is very helpful!
A preliminary set of placemarks (ANE.kmz) for Google Earth of a selection of the most important archaeological sites in the Ancient Near East can be downloaded here (as an alternative try right-click or ctrl-click).
ANE.kmz works with Google Earth, which has to be downloaded (free atearth.google.com). When opened inside Google Earth, ANE.kmz gives, to the left, an alphabetic list of ancient sites and, to the right, on the satellite photo the same sites marked. For the moment, there are some 2500 sites with modern names; among them some 400 have ancient names. Additions of more sites are planned.