Minor: Language and Culture of the Ancient Near East
The minor programme
The minor “Language and Culture of the Ancient Near East” has three basic (obligatory) components: Babylonian (Akkadian), an introduction into the history of Mesopotamia, and a lecture on the most ancient law of the world which will give you insights about Mesopotamian social realities. Depending on your major you can add other components, such as a course in Ancient History, in Archaeology or “Biblical and Classical Tales”. You must earn 30 ECTS altogether to complete the minor.
| Course name | ECTS | Period |
| Elementary Akkadian (= Babylonian) | 9 | 1-3 (two periods of teaching, self-study in 3rd period) |
| History and Culture of Mesopotamia | 6 | 1 (class once a week and self-study) |
| Mesopotamian Law (lecture) | 6 | 2 (lecture once a week and self-study) |
| Biblical and Classical tales | 9 | 1-2 |
| Mediterranean Pre- and Protohistory | 6 | 1 |
| Ancient Religions (lecture) | 6 | 2-3 (teaching period 2; self-study in 3rd period) |
| Basic Course Ancient History | 9 | 1-3 |
The language class, “History and Culture of Mesopotamia” and the lecture on Mesopotamian Law and Society are taught in English.
The courses
In “Elementary Akkadian” you will be introduced to the Babylonian language.
In “History and Culture of Mesopotamia” we will focus on the major periods in Mesopotamian history, but we will talk as well about how people lived, what they dreamt and hoped, what values they had. Society and values are also the topic of the lecture on Mesopotamian law. You will be acquainted with the famous ‘Codex Hammurapi’ and even forerunners of it. In spite of the ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth’ - clause you will be astonished how ‘modern’ their legal thinking was, and how peaceful. You will hear about marriage contracts, the role of women, thus about family and status, but also about contract and criminal law. Fascinating examples of court trials will give you an insight into society’s problems and how they were solved.
In “Ancient Religions” you will hear about ancient Mesopotamian gods, temples and priests, about strange omens and strange attempts to prevent a predicted evil. The uncertainty what the future might bring was a severe psychological problem for the Mesopotamians; they developed an almost ‘scientific’ method to predict future events. Our tradition of the zodiac and horoscopes is entirely Mesopotamian. The great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have originated in the region of the Ancient Near East. The rise of the idea of monotheism will be treated, followed by lectures on Greek and Roman religion.
