Akkadian Divinatory Texts

This course offers focused study of the most significant Akkadian divinatory texts from the second and first millennia BCE. Readings will come for the major genres of Mesopotamian divination found at sites throughout the ancient Near East. Emphasis will be placed on matters of textual transmission, reconstruction, and interpretation. We will read texts in the cuneiform script (copies, photographs, and, when possible, actual tablets) and work to place the material in meaningful historical, social, and cultural contexts. Knowledge of Akkadian cuneiform required.