Winter

In this course, every week, we read the most famous poem by a canonical poet in class and translate it as a workshop. The poems will range from classical Persian to pre-modern to modern Persian. We will discuss the linguistic and poetic subtleties of each one of these poems. We will also discuss the changes in the language throughout the centuries covered. The instructor will post on Canvas several references on translation and Persian poetry that might be of use. The class discussions will all be in Persian. For the final project, you choose a poet from any period in the millennium and write a paper on their poetry and give a sample translation of 10-20 lines. 

Your methodology and approach to the text can vary according to your major and interest. You will present your paper during the final week.

The Guide of the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides (1138-1204, Islamic Spain and Egypt), in the original Arabic and its many translations, is–few would argue–the most important and influential book in the history of Jewish thought. Since its completion by 1191, it has been and continues to be the foundational work in the Jewish philosophical, and philosophical-exegetical, tradition. It has also been at the center of controversy, subjected by Jewish and non-Jewish opponents of philosophy to critique, bans, censorship, even public burning.
From the time of its first publication until today, the Guide has remained the standard framework for any Jewish rationalism. Its organization of philosophical-theological subjects, from divine attributes and the nature of God to the origin of the world, prophecy, providence, the problem of evil, the nature of law and ethics, and the purpose of humanity, continues to define the scope of Jewish philosophy and theology, while its method of reading the Bible allegorically frames any attempt to spiritualize scripture and tradition. It has been influential also in medieval and early modern Muslim and Christian thought, and has been at the center even of modern debates about esotericism, skepticism, the relation between philosophy and religion, and the role of commentary and literary genre in philosophy.

There is the possibility of an extra reading session for advanced students with background in Arabic and/or Hebrew.

This course introduces students to the main genres of classical Arabic literature (in English translation), including Arabic poetry, the Qur’an, Arabian Nights and folk epics, humanistic prose (adab), encyclopedias, wonder literature, and philosophical writings. Students will engage with both modern scholarship on Arabic literature and primary texts originating from diverse locations such as Cairo, Baghdad, Granada, and the Arabian Desert, spanning the 6th to the 19th century. These works were composed by rulers, outcasts, merchants, enslaved women, and intellectuals. The course has two primary goals: first, to introduce students to the broad history of Arabic literature; and second, to familiarize them with the main approaches scholars have taken to these classical texts over the last two centuries.
 

No Arabic is required.
 

This course introduces the last native language of Egypt, which was in common use during the late Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods (fourth to tenth centuries CE). Grammar and vocabulary of the standard Sahidic dialect are presented in preparation for reading biblical, monastic, and Gnostic literature, as well as a variety of historical and social documents.

For most of the duration of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC), the ancient Egyptians were able to establish a vast empire and becoming one of the key powers within the Near East. This course will investigate in detail the development of Egyptian foreign policies and military expansion which affected parts of the Near East and Nubia. We will examine and discuss topics such as ideology, imperial identity, political struggle and motivation for conquest and control of wider regions surrounding the Egyptian state as well as the relationship with other powers and their perspective on Egyptian rulers as for example described in the Amarna letters.

In this course, we will read the Sumerian mythological narrative known by its modern title “Dumuzi’s Dream.” Judging by the numerous manuscripts preserved from the Old Babylonian period, it was a popular text in scribal education. We will practice reading from copies, photos, and original cuneiform tablets, as five manuscripts are housed at the Oriental Institute Museum and available for hands-on study. Based on close engagement with the individual manuscripts, we will discuss the principles of textual criticism and how to prepare an eclectic text, as well as a text edition. Besides philological issues, we will also address broader questions during classroom discussions, such as: Can we use such literary texts to reconstruct Sumerian mythology? How does this text relate to other literary compositions revolving around the divine couple Innana and Dumuzi, and how does it relate to non-literary text corpora? In how far can we determine its function, both within scribal education and beyond? Can we actually apply the term ‘literature’ to the Sumerian textual legacy?

This course explores the rich body of literature surviving from ancient Egypt, covering texts spanning ca. 2500 BCE–100 CE. We will read texts in English translation from a variety of genres—from adventure tales, to love poetry, to autobiographies and the Book of the Dead—asking throughout the quarter how the ancient Egyptians understood the concept of literature, how translation affects our experiences of the texts, who the authors and audiences were, and how the texts relate to their social, historical, and cultural contexts. We will also explore how literary conventions changed over time and what they reveal about broader societal shifts in ancient Egypt.