2025-2026

This course completes an introduction to the hieroglyphic writing system, vocabulary and grammar of Middle Egyptian, the 'classic' phase of the Egyptian language developed during the Middle Kingdom (circa 2025-1773 BCE) and used until the disappearance of hieroglyphs over two thousand years later. It also begins an introduction to ancient Egyptian culture and society through a close reading of its 'classic' literature.

The purpose of this three-quarter sequence is to enable the student to read Syriac literature with a high degree of comprehension. The course is divided into two segments. The first two quarters are devoted to acquiring the essentials of Syriac grammar and vocabulary. The third quarter is spent reading a variety of Syriac prose and poetic texts and includes a review of grammar.

This course is an introduction to Arabic linguistics, the scientific study of language and its structure.

Colloquial Egyptian Arabic Language and Culture

The seminar offers an exploration of religion and literature at the Neo-Assyrian court in the 8th and 7th c. BCE, through selected readings from the original cuneiform texts (in copy and photograph) in three different genres of textual production: 1) Hymns to the Gods; 2) Elegiac Poetry produced by court scholars for the enjoyment and benefit of the Assyrian king and other members of the court; and 3) Queries to the Sun-God that were produced by court diviners as part of the daily activities of the Assyrian state. By exploring in parallel literary genres that are traditionally studied independently, the course offers a unique approach to the way Assyrians conceived the relationship between the human and divine realms in the conduit of military, political and social life.

In this course we will read Hittite cuneiform texts that refer to the Mycenean Greeks and their civilization. The goal of this course will be for students to gain a better understanding of the historical interactions between the Hittites, the Myceneans, and the other populations of Late Bronze Age western Asia Minor, and to prepare them to incorporate Hittite textual evidence into their own historical research on this region.