Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
NELC-250-401, Cross Listed with: COML-380-401/JWST-255-401/RELS-224-401/NELC-550-401
The Bible in Translation: Genesis
TR-4:30-6:30
Jeffrey Howard Tigay
BFS Sector IV and CCA
Please note that starting from March 2 through the end of the semester it will be necessary to go until 6:30 in order to accommodate oral reports which are an essential part of the course.
This course is a careful textual study of the book of Gene¬sis in the light of modern scholarship, including archaeology, ancient Near Eastern documents, and literary criticism. Topics covered will include the Biblical accounts of the origins of the physical world and living things, of the human race, and of the Israelite people. Episodes such as the Garden of Eden, the sin of Adam and Eve, Cain’s murder of Abel, Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, God’s call to Abraham, Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, Jacob and his family, and Joseph in Egypt, will be studied in depth, and the impact of Genesis on Judaism and Christianity, Western civilization and American culture will be explored.
NELC-342-401, Cross Listed with: NELC-642-401
Introduction to Mesopotamian Literature
T-1:30-4:30
Stephen J. Tinney
Syllabus
BFS Sector III and CCA
Ancient Mesopotamian literature is among the oldest and longest lasting in the world, starting near the Ancient Mesopotamian literature is among the oldest and longest lasting in the world, starting near the beginning of the third millennium BCE and continuing, reduced and mutated, past the turn of the era into late antiquity. This course takes the traditional broad view of literature held by Mesopotamianists and examines it in all of its facets. From the birth of narrative in early royal inscriptions to the latest known Greek paraphrases of the core myths, we will read in translation all genres of Mesopotamian literature, not only myths and epics, but also historiographic texts, rituals, magical incantations, wisdom literature, hymns of praise and liturgical laments, omens and a number of compositions which defy categorization. Students will develop a sensitivity to Mesopotamian literary devices and protocols as well as the means to situate Mesopotamian textuality within its ancient cultural and modern critical contexts. No prior knowledge of Mesopotamian culture is required.