Spring

More than 6000 cuneiform documents from a single Late Bronze Age site, ancient Nuzi, dating to a period of only about 150 years, yield unparalleled insights into everyday life in the ancient world. This course will use these resources to explore a series of legal and social phenomena, both private and public, including family/status (marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption), judicial process (trials, lawsuits), public corruption, political events, and more.

This course provides undergraduate and graduate students with an introduction to the use of animal bones in archaeological research. Students will gain hands-on experience analyzing faunal remains from an archaeological site in the Near East. The class will address theoretical and methodological issues involved in the use of animal bones as a source of information about prehistoric societies. The course consists of lectures, laboratory sessions, and original research projects using collections of animal bone from archaeological excavations in southeast Turkey. Topics covered include: 1) identifying, ageing and sexing animal bones; 2) zooarchaeological sampling, measurement, quantification, and problems of taphonomy; 3) analysis of animal bone data; 4) reconstructing prehistoric hunting and pastoral economies, especially: animal domestication, hunting strategies, herding systems, seasonality, and pastoral production in complex societies.

The goal of this class is to get an overview of Hittite literature, as “defined” by the Hittites themselves, in the wider historical-cultural context of the Ancient Near East. Some of the most important questions we can ask ourselves in reading ancient texts are: why were they written down, why were they kept, for whom were they intended, and what do the answers to these questions (apart from the primary content of the texts themselves) tell us about — in our case — Hittite society?

This class introduces the student to the grammar and texts of the Hurrian language. In addition we will read a number of representative texts in Hurrian.

The story of Abraham’s (near) sacrifice of his son, Isaac, found in Genesis 22:1-19, is one of the most influential and enduring stories in Western literature and art.  It is part of the living tradition of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and its meaning and implications have been repeatedly explored in the communities defined by these religions, and has, in turn, helped to shape the self-perception of those communities.  This course will consider the multiple perspectives from which this story has been viewed and the multiple interpretations which this story has generated, starting with its earliest incorporation into the Hebrew Bible, moving to its role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and concluding with its influence on modern works.  No knowledge of Hebrew is required.

Selected letters and contracts from the Imperial Aramaic period (c. 600-200 BCE) are read with special attention to the historical development of the grammar of Aramaic during this time period.

The purpose of this three-quarter sequence is to enable the student to acquire a knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar of Classical Hebrew sufficient to read prose texts with the occasional assistance of a dictionary. The first half of the third quarter concludes the study of verb inflection and the second half is spent reading prose narrative texts with specific attention to the grammatical analysis of those texts.

The course aims to consolidate and broadens all four skills in order to help with the transition from easy Hebrew to regular Hebrew.

This sequence deepens and expands the students' knowledge of modern Persian at all levels of reading, writing and speaking. Grammar will be taught at a higher level and a wider vocabulary will enable the students to read stories, articles and poetry and be introduced to examples of classical literature towards the end of the sequence. Introducing the Iranian culture will be continued. Class meets three hours a week with the instructor and (with enough students) two hours with a native informant who conducts grammatical drills and Persian conversation.

This sequence concentrates on modern written Persian as well as modern colloquial usage. Towards the end of the sequence the students will be able to read, write and speak Persian at an elementary level. Introducing the Iranian culture is also a goal. The class meets three hours a week with the instructor and two hours with a native informant who conducts grammatical drills and Persian conversation.