Course Description
A survey of Akkadian grammar, permitting readings from Mesopotamian literature, such as the Gilgamesh Epic and the Code of Hammurabi. After a semester, students are prepared to read creation stories, imperial records from Assyria and Babylon, and manuals of astronomy, medicine and witchcraft, to explore a universe of rediscovered thought.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Examinations for graduate students will be more intense and more
extensive reading in original texts will be required. Each
graduate student will be assigned to present a segment of the
day's lesson at least twice in the semester in addition to the
exercises.
Athena Title
Akkadian I
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
A working knowledge of Akkadian is the aim of this course. Students will cover all aspects of the language, enabling them to tackle readings such as Assyrian royal annals, Old Babylonian texts from Gilgamesh to Hammurabi, and Standard Babylonian, such as the Babylonian Creation Epic. This is also a gateway course for Semitics in Linguistics.
Topical Outline
I. Cuneiform writing II. The noun, particles, and nominal sentences III. The verb and its conjugation IV. Syntax V. Examples of Akkadian literature