Spring

This is the third in a three-quarter sequence that covers the basic grammar and cuneiform writing system of the Hittite language. It also familiarizes the student with the field’s tools (i.e., dictionaries, lexica, sign list). Readings come from all periods of Hittite history (1650 to 1180 B.C.).

This course is the third quarter of the annual introductory sequence to the Babylonian language and the Cuneiform script. After covering the grammar in the first two quarters, students will further their mastering of the Classical and Late Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian and the associated monumental and cursive scripts by reading through a varieties of text genres: Letters, Royal Inscriptions, Legal Texts, and excerpts of Literature. 

The idea that gods curse an offender is deeply rooted in Mesopotamian society. In this course, we will explore the origin and composition of curses, their applications in different textual genres, and the consequences of living in a world of curses. We will read different text genres from different periods, including the epilogue of the Codex Hammurabi, royal inscriptions, treaties, contracts, and literary texts and rituals. An introduction to the different genres and dialects eases the participants into the material, which will be read and analyzed in detail. The participants trained in comparative textual analysis and argumentation, and they practiced translating complex Akkadian texts.

Selected texts from the Middle Aramaic period (c. 200 BCE-200 CE) are read with special attention to the historical development of the grammar of Aramaic during this time period.

The course is aiming to enable students to reach a reasonable level of proficiency in the Armenian language. The curriculum is heavily based on real life situations. Each class session includes a healthy balance of real-life like conversations (shopping, placing an order in a restaurant, asking directions, talking with natives, getting around in the city, banking, etc.), readings (dialogues, jokes, stories, news, etc.) and writings (essays on selected topics, filling forms, etc.). The students can also communicate in Armenian well beyond basic needs about the daily life and obtain some level of fluency in their professional interests. This sequence covers a wider-range vocabulary and more complex grammatical structures in modern formal and colloquial Armenian.

This three-quarter sequence focuses on the acquisition of basic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in modern formal and spoken Armenian. The course utilizes the most advanced computer technology and audio-visual aids enabling students to master the alphabet, a core vocabulary, and some basic grammatical structures in order to communicate their basic survivor’s needs in Armenian, understand simple texts and to achieve a minimal level of proficiency in modern formal and spoken Armenian.

This course provides an introduction to the form of ancient Egyptian written and presumably spoken in the Egyptian New Kingdom (circa 1550-1069 BCE), in which literary and administrative texts and letters were written during the Egyptian Empire.

This course provides an introduction to the hieroglyphic writing system, vocabulary and grammar of Old Egyptian, the phase of the Egyptian language used during the Old Kingdom (circa 2686-2181 BCE). It also provides an introduction to the culture and society of Egypt's 'Pyramid Age' through a close reading of monumental texts from private tombs, royal and private stelae, administrative decrees, economic documents, and Pyramid texts. Some attention is given to Old Egyptian texts written in cursive Hieratic.

Reading of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts

This course surveys the archaeology and history of the Levant from the end of the Bronze Age around 1100 BCE to the Roman conquest of the region in 64-63 BCE.