Ancient Near Eastern Language courses

Ancient Near Eastern Language courses (ANEL)

246. (ANEL646) The Land of Sumer: Writing, Language, and Culture. (C) Tinney.

This self-contained course sets the Sumerian language, writing system and use of writing in their social and historical context. The aim is to provide students of ancient history and culture from diverse disciplines with a good grounding in Sumerian culture, familiarity with the Sumerian language and cuneiform writing system and the requisite knowledge for critical assessment of published translations and of the secondary literature. The course is organized as two threads, culture on the one hand and language on the other. The two threads are united by taking examples in the language exercises, vocabulary assignments, etc., as far as possible from the domain of the week's cultural topics. The net effect is to examine the culture both through contemporary secondary literature and through direct contact with elementary primary texts of relevance to the various topics of discussion. The language component of the course will be carried out in a combination of transliteration and cuneiform, with an expectation that all students will gain familiarity with at least the core 80 syllabic signs, and about 100 additional logographic signs.

440. (ANEL640) First Year Akkadian I. (A) Eichler.

Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts.

441. (ANEL641) First Year Akkadian II. (B) Eichler. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 440.

Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts.

460. (AFST460) Middle Egyptian. (E) Silverman.

Introduction to the grammar of Middle Egyptian.

461. Middle Egyptian Texts: Literary. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Silverman. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 460.

This course will deal with those texts of the Middle Kingdom that are written in the classical form of the language. It will include both monumental inscriptions, such as autobiographical stela inscriptions (P. Newberry, BENI HASSAN) and stelae (Seth, LESESTUCKE) as well as narratives in prose (DeBuck, READING BOOK). Religious texts (ibid. and COFFIN TEXTS) will also be studied and analyzed. Distinctions between the grammar of the literary and non-literary genres will be discussed.

462. (AFST462) Middle Egyptian Texts: Non-Literary. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Silverman. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 460.

The course will emphasize non-literary texts dating to Middle Kingdom: letters, reports, medical and mathematical papyri, and dialogues in tombs. The material will in large part be in the hieratic script, except for the tomb inscriptions.

540. Akkadian Literary Texts. (C) Frame. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441/641 (AMES 540).

Readings in Akkadian literary texts from ancient Mesopotamia.

541. Akkadian Historical Texts. (C) Frame. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441/641.

Readings in Akkadian historical texts from ancient Mesopotamia

542. Akkadian Letters. (C) Eichler. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441/641.

Readings in Akkadian letters from ancient Mesopotamia.

546. Intermediate Sumerian. (E) Tinney.

549. Introduction to Hittite. (M) Staff.

Basic grammar and vocabulary. Mastery of cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts.

560. Late Egyptian. (C) Staff. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 460.

Introduction to the grammar of Late Egyptian.

561. Late Egyptian Texts: Literary. (C) Silverman. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 560 (AMES 560).

This course will concentrate on the literary texts of the New Kingdom: Late Egyptian narratives such as THE DOOMED PRINCE, THE TWO BROTHERS, and HOURS AND SETH (Gardiner, LATE EGYPTIAN STORIES) and poetry; (Gardiner, CHESTER BEATTY I and Muller, LIEBESPOESIE). The grammar will be analyzed (Erman, NEUAGYPTISCHE GRAMMATIK and Korostovtzev, GRAMMARIE DU NEO-EGYPTIEN) and compared to that used in non-literary texts (Groll, THE NEGATIVE VERBAL SYSTEM OF LATE EGYPTIAN,NON-VERBAL SENTENCE PATTERNS IN LATER EGYPTIAN, and THE LITERARY AND NON-LITERARY VERBAL SYSTEMS IN LATE EGYPTIAN).

562. Late Egyptian Texts: Non-Literary. (C) Silverman. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 560 (AMES 560).

This course will concentrate on the translation and grammatical analysis of non-literary texts.

563. (AFST563) Old Egyptian. (C) Silverman. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 460.

This course is an introduction to the language of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The grammar of the period will be introduced during the early part of the semester, using Ededl's ALTAGYPTISCHE GRAMMATIK as the basic reference. Other grammatical studies to be utilized will include works by Allen, Baer, Polotsky,Satzinger, Gilula, Doret, and Silverman. The majority of time in the course will be devoted to reading varied textual material: the unpublished inscriptions in the tomb of the Old Kingdom offical Kapure--on view in the collection of the University Museum; several autobiographical inscriptions as recorded by Sethe in URKUNDEN I; and a letter in hieratic (Baer, ZAS 93, 1966, 1-9).

564. Ancient Egyptian Biographical Inscription. (M) Silverman.

571. History of the Linguistics of the Near East. (M) Staff.

572. (JWST558) Northwest Semitic Epigraphy. (D) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Ability to read an unpointed Hebrew text and facility in the Hebrew Bible.

This is a seminar in which we read inscriptions in the Canaanite dialects other than Hebrew (Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite) as well as Aramaic and Philistine texts, which were written in the 10th-6th centuries BCE, and discovered in the last 140 years by archeologists. The course is a continuation of HEBR555, but can be taken independently.

573. Ugaritic I. (A) Staff.

An introduction to the grammar of the Ugaritic language with emphasis on developing skills in reading Ugaritic texts.

574. Ugaritic II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 573 or permission of the instructor.

An introduction to the grammar of the Ugaritic language with emphasis on developing skills in reading Ugaratic texts.

575. (JWST457) Aramaic I. (A) Staff.

An introduction to the grammar of the Aramaic language with emphasis on developing skills in reading Aramaic texts.

576. (JWST457) Aramaic II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 575 or permission of the instructor.

An introduction to the grammar of the Aramaic language with emphasis on developing skills in reading Aramaic texts.

577. Syriac I. (A) Staff.

An introduction to the grammar of Syriac with emphasis on developing skills in reading Syriac texts.

578. Syriac II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 577 or permission of the instructor.

An introduction to the grammar of Syriac with emphasis on developing skills in reading texts.

640. (ANEL440) First Year Akkadian I. (A) Eichler.

Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts.

641. (ANEL441) 1st Year Akkadian II. (M) Eichler. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 440, ANEL 640 or permission of the instructor.

Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts.

646. (ANEL246) The Land of Sumer: Writing, Language, and Culture. (C) Tinney.

This self-contained course sets the Sumerian language, writing system and use of writing in their social and historical context. The aim is to provide students of ancient history and culture from diverse disciplines with a good grounding in Sumerian culture, familiarity with the Sumerian language and cuneiform writing system and the requisite knowledge for critical assessment of published translations and of the secondary literature. The course is organized as two threads, culture on the one hand and language on the other. The two threads are united by taking examples in the language exercises, vocabulary assignments, etc., as far as possible from the domain of the week' cultural topics. The net effect is to examine the culture both through contemporary secondary literature and through direct contact with elementary primary texts of relevance to the various topics of discussion. The language component of the course will be carried out in a combination of transliteration and cuneiform, with an expectation that all students will gain familiarity with at least the core 80 syllabic signs, and about 100 additional logographic signs.

660. Old Egyptian Texts: Religious. (C) Silverman. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 563.

This course will examine the texts and grammar of religious and wisdom literature. The religious texts utilized will come from the spells of the Pyramid Texts (K. Sethe, DIE ALTAGYPTISCHEN PYRAMIDENTEXTS), and the offering formulae carved on stelae and tomb walls. Sources for the latter will include published and unpublished material from Dendera, Giza, and other sites in the collections of the University Museum (H. Fischer, DENDERA IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM, B.C., C. Fisher, THE MINOR CEMETERIES AT GIZA and W. Barta, AUFBAU UND BEDEUTUNG DER ALTAGYPTISCHEN OPFERFORMEL). For the wisdom literature, the texts of Kagemni (Jequier, LE PAPYRUS PRISSE ET SES VARIANTES) and Prince Hordjedef (Brunner-Traut, ZAS 76 (1940), 3-9 will be read.

661. Old Egyptian Texts: Secular. (C) Silverman. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 563.

This course will concentrate on non-religious themes written in Old Egyptia The texts utilized will include those written in the hieratic as well as hieroglyphic script; comparisons to and distinctions between the grammar us in these texts and those in the religious material will be made. The autobiographical inscriptions in tombs from Giza, Elephantine and Saqqara,(Sethe, URKUNDEN I) will be studied in addition to contemporaneous letters (Gunn, ASAE 25, (1925) 242-55, Gardiner and Sethe, LETTERS to the DEAD,and P. Posener-Krieger, HIERATIC PAPYRI in the BRITISH MUSEUM) and economic documents (ibid. and LES ARCHIVS du TEMPLE FUNERAIRE de NEFERIRKARE-KAKAI).

664. (RELS616) Coptic. (M) Silverman.

The course will be an introduction to the writing, grammar, and literature of Coptic.

665. Demotic. (M) Houser Wegner.

The course will be an introduction to the writing, grammar, and literature of Demotic, the phase of the language in use during the latter periods of Egyptian history.

740. Akkadian Religious and Scientific Texts. (C) Frame. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441/641.

Readings in Akkadian of religious and scientific texts from ancient Mesopotamia.

741. Akkadian Legal Texts. (C) Eichler. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441/641.

Readings in Akkadian legal texts and law corpora from ancient Mesopotamia.

742. Akkadian Economic Texts. (C) Frame. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441/641.

Readings in Akkadian economic texts from ancient Mesopotamia.

743. Peripheral Akkadian. (C) Eichler. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441/641.

Readings in selected texts in Akkadian from the periphery of Mesopotamia, including Alalah, Ugarit, Nuzi, Suza and El-Amarna.

746. Readings in Sumerian Texts. (C) Tinney. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 246/646.

Selected readings in Sumerian texts.

SM 748. Sumerian Seminar. (C) Tinney.

Extensive readings in a variety of Sumerian texts.

SM 749. Seminar in Cuneiform Texts. (C) Staff. Prerequisite(s): ANEL 441.

Extensive readings in selected cuneiform texts.

Amharic Language Courses

481. (AFRC240, AFRC540, AFST240, AFST540) Elementary Amharic I. (A) Wogayehu.

482. (AFRC241, AFRC541, AFST241, AFST541) Elementary Amharic II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Completion of NELC 481 (AMES 240). Offered through the Penn Language Center.

483. (AFRC242, AFRC543, AFST242, AFST543) Intermediate Amharic I. (A) Wogayehu. Prerequisite(s): Completion of NELC 482 or permission of the instructor.

484. (AFRC243, AFRC544, AFST243, AFST544) Intermediate Amharic II. (B) Staff.

583. (AFST247, AFST547) Advanced Amharic. (M) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Completion of NELC 484 or permission of the instructor.

An advanced Amharic course that will further sharpen the students' knowledge of the Amharic language and the culture of the Amharas. The learners communicative skills will be further developed through listening, speaking, reading and writing. There will also be discussions on cultural and political issues.