Old Assyrian Language and History

Graduate / Professional

The course provides an overview of the Old Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language as well as the political, social, and economic history of Northern Mesopotamia and Anatolia in the early second millennium BC. We read texts from a wide variety of genres, including private and state letters, legal and administrative records, loans and quittances, caravan texts, commercial records, partnership contracts, family and state law, political treaties, literature, magic, religion, and royal inscriptions. The course integrates the textual record with an overview of Assyrian and Central Anatolian history, and visual and material culture during the period in question. Course readings combine standard introductions and thematic and core studies in the field. Prerequisite: AKKD 1100 or equivalent basic knowledge of Akkadian. Th 1:30pm-3:25pm