This course offers a close reading of selected Biblical Hebrew passages (Job 1–3, Jonah 1–2, Proverbs 1 and 8, Qohelet 1, Exodus 15, Numbers 22–23, and Deuteronomy 32). Participants are encouraged to review the vocabulary and basic grammar of these texts beforehand. Class sessions will focus on special syntactic and semantic features relevant to the interpretation of these passages. The Biblical texts and the instructor’s articles listed below will be provided.

• Level: Graduate, open to undergraduate participants.
• Materials: Background reading:

1.  “Archaic Biblical Hebrew” in: A Handbook of Biblical Hebrew, edited by W.R. Garr – S.E. Fassberg, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns 2017, 19–29.
2.  “Mechanisms of Change” in: Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, edited by G. Khan, Leiden: Brill 2013, vol 2: 524–526.
3. “Mood and Modality in Classical Hebrew,” Israel Oriental Studies 18 (1998) 183–198.
4. “On yēš of Reflection in the Book of Proverbs” in: When Morning Stars Sang. Essays in Honor of Choon Leong Seow on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday, BZAW 500, Berlin: De Gruyter 2018, 157–162.
5. “Semantic Bleaching” in: Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, edited by G. Khan, Leiden: Brill 2013, vol 2: 611–614.
6. “Some Notes on Evidentiality in Biblical Hebrew” in: Biblical and Oriental Essays in Memory of William L. Moran, edited by A. Gianto, Rome: PIB 2005, 133–152.
7. “Variations in Biblical Hebrew,” Biblica 77 (1996) 493–508.

This course introduces the basic grammar and vocabulary of two Northwest Semitic languages: Ugaritic (2nd millennium BCE) and Phoenician (1st millennium BCE). Ugaritic, the language of ancient Ugarit on the northern Syrian coast, is the earliest attested member of this lannguage group and serves as an important resource for historical and comparative Semitic studies. Phoenician, spoken in the coastal cities of the eastern Mediterranean, played a pivotal role in the cultural and linguistic history of the first millennium BCE.

• Level: Graduate, open to undergraduate participants. No previous background in Semitic languages is required.
• Materials: Class notes, bibliographies, and required readings will be provided.
• Required reading:

1. Gianto, A., “Ugaritic” in: Languages from the World of the Bible, edited by H. Gzella, Berlin – New York: de Gruyter 2012, 28–54.
2. Gianto, A., “Ugaritology and Biblical Interpretation” in: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, edited by Steven L. McKenzie, Oxford: Oxford UP 2013, vol. 2, 429–436.
3. Gzella, H., “Phoenician” in: Languages from the World of the Bible, edited by H. Gzella, Berlin – New York: de Gruyter 2012, 55–75.

Syriac is an Aramaic language used by the Syrian Christians from the second century AD onwards in large parts of Syria and Mesopotamia. A vast and interesting literature has been written in it (Bible, theology, poetry, history, scholarship) and the language is closely connected with the history of Eastern Christianity. The language also played an important part in transmitting Greek literature to the Middle East.

• Level: Beginners; no previous knowledge is required.
• Requirements: Preparation for daily sessions; active knowledge of the material discussed earlier.
• Materials: Lucas Van Rompay, A Guide to the Syriac Language (Duke University, provisional version, Spring Semester 2015) will be made available digitally, as well as other course materials.

This course provides a general overview of Classical Ethiopic (Ge’ez) literature by reading passages in various genres (inscriptions, Bible and apocrypha, history, lives of saints, etc.) As we go along, various finer points of Ge’ez grammar will be discussed and explained.

• Level: A working knowledge of Ge’ez is required.
• Requirements: Preparation of passages to be read at daily sessions; active knowledge of the material discussed earlier.
• Materials: Passages to be read will be made available digitally, as well as other course materials.