The Faculty of Oriental Studies

FACULTY OF ORIENTAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

EGYPTOLOGY AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

A handbook for Undergraduates reading Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies

ACADEMIC YEAR 2013–2014

CONTENTS

Introduction 3 Oriental Studies at Oxford 3 The BA in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies 5 About Egyptian 6 About Akkadian 7 Outline of the Course 9 Teaching 10 Further study resources, internships, and travel abroad 11 Structure of the academic years 12 First year 12 Second year 14 Third year 17 Examinations 20 Teaching and research staff 23 Joint Consultative Committee 24 Resources for EANES in Oxford 24 Set texts (or Prescribed texts) 28 Appendix A: Faculty Information 38

INTRODUCTION

This handbook gives outline information about the BA course in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. It is designed both as a source of information and as a guide to other sources of information. We hope that it will be particularly useful to you as you begin the course and when you start to study a second subject in your second year, but we also hope it will be a valuable source of information throughout the whole three years of the BA.

Please read the booklet carefully.

Comments and criticism of the handbook are always welcome; they should be sent to Dr Jacob Dahl, EANES Subject Group Co-ordinator, Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane.

Faculty handbooks are available on the Oriental Studies Faculty’s website; this one is at http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/nme/eanes-hbk.pdf . Updates may be posted there; you can also find a great deal of related documentation through the website.

Numbers on the course tend to be small and you see the teaching staff very frequently. You are also welcome to come and discuss the course and your needs at other times. Because of this frequent and close contact, the information in this handbook is kept quite brief. If you need more information or help, come and see one of us.

You will receive much other documentation when you arrive at the University. A great deal of what you need to know about the running of the University is contained in the Proctors’ and Assessor’s Memorandum. At all points, if you need information or advice, be prepared to ask the teaching staff, fellows, and administrative staff in your college, or fellow students.

ORIENTAL STUDIES AT OXFORD

Oriental Studies embraces the study of Oriental cultures from prehistoric times to the present. People are becoming increasingly aware of these civilizations through travel, publications, and rising general interest. The faculty’s courses offer the opportunity to learn in depth about the ancient and modern traditions of these cultures. Many students are able to apply methods developed for the study of other languages, history, and literature to these challenging new subjects. Some enter Oriental Studies from quite different backgrounds, including music and science.

The courses present the major traditions of the regions studied and, where appropriate, their modern development. All courses include language, literature, history, and culture, and there is a wide range of options in such fields as art and archaeology, history, literature, philosophy, religion, and modern social studies.

Through its long-standing traditions and more recent gifts, Oxford has unparalleled resources for Oriental Studies. The Bodleian Library has a magnificent collection of Oriental books and manuscripts built up since the seventeenth century. The Oriental Institute, opened in

1961, is the centre where most teaching is done, acting as a focus for everyone working and studying in the field; it has a lending library of some 80,000 books. There are associated institutions for the Modern Middle East, for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, for Modern Japanese Studies, and for Chinese Studies. Adjacent to the Oriental Institute is the Ashmolean Museum, which houses superb collections of objects used in the teaching of most branches of Oriental art and archaeology; and the Sackler Library of the Ancient World, which houses the principal collection of books on Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, as well as general archaeology, Classical civilization, and Western and Eastern Art.

The Griffith Institute (opened in 1939 and now housed in a wing of the Sackler Library complex) has unique resources for Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, including extensive archives and a publication series.

Most of the teaching and research in EANES is carried out in the Griffith Institute wing of the Sackler Library complex.

Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Oxford: background Egyptian civilization acquired its characteristic forms, including the hieroglyphic writing system, by 3000 BCE, and continued to develop into the early centuries of the Common Era, long after Egypt had been conquered by Alexander the Great and subsequently absorbed into the Roman Empire. The latest written material in ancient Egyptian dates to the 4th and 5th centuries CE.

In Oxford, Egyptology has been represented since the appointment of F. Ll. Griffith as Reader, later Professor, at the beginning of the 20th century. Griffith subsequently founded the Griffith Institute in his will; the Institute, which is a research body, opened in 1939. Successors of Griffith in the professorship were T. Eric Peet, Battiscombe Gunn, Jaroslav Černý, and John Barns. The current holder is John Baines. In 1980 a second post in Egyptology and Coptic was created, and is held by Mark Smith with the title of Professor. An additional post in Egyptology was created in 2005 and was taken up by Elizabeth Frood. A further recent research appointment is that of Robert Simpson, who is a longstanding faculty tutor, as Griffith Egyptological Fund Research Fellow. The BA in Egyptology was introduced in the 1930s and revised successively from the 1960s. The current BA in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, which absorbs and diversifies previous course offerings, was introduced in 1998.

Ancient Mesopotamia (approximately modern Iraq) is the source of a wealth of texts in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages and cuneiform script. The script system emerged in about 3350 BCE and was developed by the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Akkadian continued as a learned language in Mesopotamia under the Greeks and the Parthians until the 1st century CE.

Assyriology, the study of these ancient cultures, began at Oxford with the appointment of Archibald Henry Sayce as Professor of Assyriology in 1891. Subsequent post holders with the title of Professor have been Stephen Langdon, Oliver Gurney, and Marc Van De Mieroop. Other post holders in the field have included Reginald Campbell Thompson as

Reader, and C. J. Ball and Peter Hulin as Lecturers. Two key posts were established in 1987, a University Lecturership in Akkadian, filled by Jeremy Black (1987-2004), and a Shillito Fellowship in Assyriology, filled by Stephanie Dalley (1987-2007). Frances Reynolds was appointed to the long-term Shillito Fellowship in Assyriology in 2006, after holding a Departmental Lecturership. The most recent appointment in Assyriology is that of Jacob Dahl, who took up the University Lecturership in Assyriology in October 2008.

The BA in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies The BA in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies is a three-year undergraduate degree course that offers a wide range of options in the civilizations, history, literature, and material culture of Egypt and/or the Ancient Near East, approached in the first instance through the medium of the ancient languages and writing systems. A range of routes through the degree course are possible (the degree can be accessed through either of two UCAS codes: Q400 BA/Egy or Q401 BA/EANES). Students begin with the study of either Akkadian (the ancient Semitic language of Mesopotamia) or Egyptian. In your second year, you add a second subject. This may be a language, which can be Egyptian or Akkadian (depending on your choice of first language), or alternatively another language of the region. Those normally available are Coptic, Sumerian, Old Iranian, Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac, Arabic, and Hittite. The last of those may not be available every year. Depending on the languages chosen, different cultural and historical perspectives can be emphasized, making the course adaptable to the interests of each student. Some combinations of first and second languages are more suitable than others, and you should consult your teachers before making a choice. In addition, the BA in Classics and Oriental Studies (Oriental Studies with Classics) allows various combinations of EANES as a main subject with Egyptian or Akkadian as the first language and Classical languages (mainly Greek). This is a three-year course with the study of the Classical language(s) taking place in the second and third years. Students can either apply for this degree or switch to it after EANES Prelims at the end of the first year.

As an alternative to a second language, it is possible to take EANES with Archaeology and Anthropology as a second subject (this is listed separately in the regulations because it is not a language). This combination complements the main language and civilization in a different way from the option of a second language, offering the opportunity to study in greater depth disciplines which are closely related to those used for much work on Egypt and the Ancient Near East.

For students who are reading the BA in Oriental Studies with Arabic as their main subject, one of the options they can choose as an additional language is Akkadian; this is studied in the third and fourth years. Students with Hebrew as their main subject can choose either Akkadian or Egyptian as their additional language; the chosen language is studied in the second and third years.

Students whose main subject is Classics can take Egyptology (Egyptian language) or Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Akkadian language) as an additional subject. This degree is the BA in Classics and Oriental Studies (Classics with Oriental Studies). Classical Moderations (after five terms) are followed by Egyptology or Ancient Near Eastern Studies as a subsidiary in

the third and fourth years (four-year course). Students can either apply for this degree or switch to it after Classical Moderations subject to acceptance by EANES tutors.

ABOUT EGYPTIAN

Where was it used? Egyptian was the sole written language of ancient Egypt from the invention of the script until after 2000 BC, and throughout Egyptian history it was overwhelmingly dominant. It is one of the few languages that were regularly written in hieroglyphic script. The Egyptian language and script were also used in ancient Nubia and Sudan, as far upstream as the confluence of the Blue and the White Nile.

What is its history? Egyptian is recorded in the form of continuous language from about 2700 BCE and continued in use for about three millennia, developing through stages known as Old, Middle, and Late Egyptian, and Demotic, directly into Coptic (the language of Christian Egypt, in use from the early centuries CE). Coptic ceased to be a spoken language in about 1000 CE, but survives in the liturgy of the Coptic Church in Egypt. During the second and first millennia BCE the most prestigious form of the language was Middle Egyptian, which was retained in use as a learned language (like Latin) long after it had given way to later forms for ordinary use.

What type of language is it? Egyptian forms a separate branch of the Afroasiatic language family, which is represented by hundreds of languages in five other principal branches, from Berber in North Africa, through languages in West, Central, and East Africa, to Semitic in East Africa and Western Asia. The structure of Egyptian underwent a transformation from Old Egyptian (third millennium BCE) to Coptic (first millennium CE). It is not highly inflected, but changed during the second millennium BCE from a ‘synthetic’ structure with verbal forms constructed through suffixes to an ‘analytic’ form in which conjugations were placed before the verb. In Egyptian, as in Semitic languages, most words are constructed around roots of three consonants.

How is it written? The Egyptian script has two principal forms: hieroglyphs, used on monuments, and hieratic, the cursive form written in ink for everyday purposes. The writing system is essentially consonantal, with at most minimal indication of vowels. Hieroglyphic signs are pictorial, but are used in several different ways: as phonograms (sound-signs) that may write one to three consonants, as logograms (whole-word signs), and as determinatives (classifiers that come at the ends of words). The pronunciation is fundamentally unknown, and words are pronounced in discussion in a conventionalized form. Coptic used a fully alphabetic script written in Greek letters, with the addition of half a dozen signs derived from Demotic, a further development of hieratic that was the latest form of the indigenous cursive script.

What is written in Egyptian? Inscriptions were integral to most works of art in Egypt, and there is an enormous range of written material, mainly on stone. This includes captions to depicted figures, biographies, historical and religious inscriptions, and extensive collections of compositions such as the Pyramid Texts and the Book of the Dead. Cursive writing in ink on papyrus and other media

was dominant in ancient times but is much less well preserved; it includes large numbers of administrative documents, letters, and literary texts. The genres of Egyptian writing do not resemble closely those of the Western world; for example, many royal inscriptions might be classified as literary tales rather than factual reports. This difference in character is one of the many challenges offered by the study of Egyptian texts.

Research and discoveries Egyptology is a very active field. Excavations and field survey relating to all the main periods and types of site continue throughout Egypt and northern Sudan. The study of material in museum collections is another major aspect of research and covers both artefacts and texts. Increasingly sophisticated studies are devoted to topics ranging from language, through technical fields such as medicine, to literature, art, and archaeology. Egyptology is also becoming more and more integrated into the broader study of non-Western civilizations.

Egypt in the world beyond Egypt was culturally influential in the Eastern Mediterranean from no later than the second millennium BCE, and was also an important participant in the Graeco-Roman world. Its religious cults in particular influenced the Roman empire. In Western tradition Egypt was seen, through Classical writings, as a source of ancient wisdom and was significant in the development of the Renaissance. The role of Egypt in European culture is a field of study of its own, while archaeological work, together with looting, has created major museum collections in many countries. In modern Egypt and Sudan, the ancient tradition is seen as integral to history and is a major factor in economy and politics, especially in Egypt.

ABOUT AKKADIAN

Where was it used? Akkadian was the principal language of ancient Mesopotamia (approximately corresponding to modern Iraq and much of modern Syria). It was spoken by the Assyrians in the north and the Babylonians in the south and survived as a written language until the 1st century AD. Akkadian was also used as an international diplomatic language in the Late Bronze Age in an area stretching from modern Turkey to Egypt and from the Levant to modern Iran.

What is its history? Akkadian is the world’s oldest written Semitic language and the first connected texts (in Old Akkadian) date from about 2400 BC. Two main dialects of Akkadian developed in the second and first millennia BCE, Assyrian and Babylonian. A purely literary dialect, called Standard Babylonian, was also used for certain types of texts, including the Epic of Gilgamesh. Peripheral Akkadian, found in texts from sites in Syria, Turkey and Egypt, displays local influences. During the latter half of the first millennium BC Akkadian was replaced by Aramaic as a spoken language but it continued to be used as a written language until the 1st century AD.

What type of language is it? Akkadian is a Semitic language and belongs to the Afroasiatic language family. Other Semitic languages include Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Akkadian is the principal member

of the East Semitic language group. The structure of Akkadian is quite similar to Arabic (e.g., case endings -u, -i, -a; verbal system with 12 different ‘forms’; regular construction of nouns from roots of three consonants), but the range of consonants is simpler. Sumerian, an early isolate language of Mesopotamia, influenced Akkadian (e.g., main verb regularly ends the clause). Akkadian varied over its long history and across the wide area where it was used but Assyrian and Babylonian were the main spoken dialects.

How is it written? Akkadian was written in cuneiform (wedge-shaped) script which developed from an initial pictorial stage from c 3350 BC. This script was used to write Sumerian, an unrelated language, before it was adopted and adapted to write Akkadian. Most cuneiform texts were impressed onto clay tablets with a reed stylus but other media include carved stone inscriptions. Akkadian was written with a mixture of syllabic signs, logograms (whole-word signs), and determinatives (classifiers, e.g., for the names of places and birds). Consonants and vowels were indicated but the pronunciation is reconstructed.

What is written in Akkadian?  A vast and varied textual record  Literature, e.g., the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Epic of Creation, Ishtar’s Descent to the Underworld, hymns, prayers, and incantations  Historiographical texts, e.g., annals of the Neo-Assyrian kings Sargon, Sennacherib, and Ashurbanipal, chronicles of Babylonia under its kings Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus, and royal inscriptions  Collections of laws, e.g., the Laws of Hammurapi  Letters, both private and royal, e.g., the royal correspondence of Babylonian and Assyrian kings with the Egyptian kings Amenhotep III and IV (likely father of Tutankhamun)  Legal and economic texts, including property sales  Scholarly texts, e.g., omen collections, astronomical texts, medical texts, magical texts, ritual texts, and commentaries

Research and discoveries Assyriology is still a relatively young subject and researchers are active across a wide range of specialisms in fields including language and textual studies, iconography, history, ancient medicine and astronomy. Much remains to be discovered about ancient Mesopotamia: from excavation and from studying artefacts in museum collections, including the many cuneiform tablets that are waiting to be read and sometimes even catalogued. There are key museum collections in the Middle East, as well as Berlin, Paris, London, and the U.S.A. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford holds a significant Mesopotamian collection.

Legacy of Mesopotamia Mesopotamian culture continued to develop throughout the first millennium BC including the Persian, Hellenistic, and Parthian periods. Mesopotamia exercised a considerable influence on the Classical world, and hence the West, as well as on cultures in the East. Before the rediscovery of ancient Mesopotamia through excavation and the decipherment of cuneiform in the 19th century AD, Western perceptions were shaped by Classical and Biblical traditions. However, with a wealth of evidence now available from archaeology and

texts Mesopotamia’s fundamental role is being increasingly recognized in fields including literature, astronomy, astrology and medicine.

OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

The BA in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies is designed to be both wide-ranging and flexible. It is a three-year course covering all principal aspects of the study of the field while allowing concentration on particular areas of interest. The skills involved are comparable with those needed for other language-focused courses in the humanities, but their application is rather broader. While the core of the teaching is in language and texts, the objective is to penetrate the civilizations and to use written sources where appropriate as the point of departure for studying a wide range of phenomena. It should also be borne in mind that all the texts that are studied are preserved on ancient surfaces that were recovered through fieldwork and are archaeological artefacts in their own right.

For those who have chosen Akkadian as their first language, the focus is on study of the principal ancient language of Mesopotamia; emphasis is also placed on knowledge of the literature, cultural and political history, and archaeology of the area. This is supplemented by study of a second language, which may be Egyptian, Sumerian, Hittite, Old Iranian, Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac, Classics (generally Ancient Greek), or Arabic – together with its associated literature, culture, and history. If Egyptian is chosen as the first language, Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic and Syriac, Classics, Coptic, or Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew are the possible choices as second language. Both with Akkadian and with Egyptian, Archaeology and Anthropology is available as an alternative subsidiary to the second language.

No prior knowledge of any ancient language is expected. In addition to the language classes, there are lecture courses on all principal aspects of ancient Near Eastern civilization, as well as regular essay writing. At all stages of the course, emphasis is laid on detailed familiarity with the primary sources, textual sources being studied in the original languages and scripts and non-textual sources in other media. A major objective is that you should become familiar with the use of a range of historiographical, literary-critical, and other methods for understanding these sources.

The core objectives of the course are that you should master the script, grammar, vocabulary, and syntax of Egyptian or Akkadian, and should become acquainted over the three years with several different phases of Egyptian (from Old Egyptian onwards) or Akkadian (from Old Babylonian onwards); and that you should acquire a comparable, but naturally less extensive, command of a second language, or of Archaeology and Anthropology. You should acquire a good knowledge of the secondary literature, including the various aids to study (reference works, bibliographies, dictionaries, sign lists, etc.), and how to make best use of them. Opportunities are available to work with ancient artefacts in the Ashmolean Museum’s collections, as well as to practise reading from original inscribed objects such as cuneiform tablets or Egyptian stelae. At the same time, you should become familiar with a wide range of cultural institutions of the civilizations you study. Your work on texts should be seen in this broader context of understanding key features of the civilizations. Archaeology and

Anthropology bring cognate disciplines into the course; they are not focused specifically on the Ancient Near East, although it is possible to take special subjects or dissertations that bridge the different fields.

TEACHING

The teaching integrates the study of the languages, texts, cultures, histories and archaeologies of these ancient societies. You will normally be sent a reading list in the August before the start of your course, to encourage you to start some general reading and a little language- based work. From the beginning of the course, you should expect to be engaged on academic study for a very full working week during Full Term. You will also need to do a considerable amount of work during the vacations. The course is taught by a mixture of lectures, classes, seminars, and tutorials. Tutorials normally consist of a one-to-one or small-group discussion with a tutor of written work produced by the student.

The teaching is shared among all the students in the University who are taking any particular course; it is not college-based. Classes also often combine undergraduate and graduate students. There is a considerable amount of preparation for almost all language-based classes and consequently rather less essay work than in many humanities courses; intellectual problems are approached through work on texts as well as through essays. Independent secondary reading, both for the texts studied in class and for lecture courses, is vital if the course is to have its proper value.

Because there are relatively few subject handbooks or other basic study aids in your fields of study, and almost all language work is conducted in class, it is essential to attend lectures and classes unless you are unavoidably prevented from doing so. If you cannot attend, you should inform the teacher that you will be absent. This may be done by email, telephone, or letter.

Essays are written for most of the course at a rate of three or four per term. Vacations are vital times for essay work and you need to ensure that you take away sufficient material to do the necessary background reading and preparatory work during the vacations, as well as getting ahead with language study or text preparation for later terms. It is very difficult to keep abreast of work schedules if no text material has been prepared before the beginning of term. It is also essential to set aside time to work over and revise notes made during text- reading and other language classes: this time can be lost if you do not keep your other work going.

The vacation of the second year is also a crucial time for you to begin work on your dissertation. The dissertation is a core component of the undergraduate degree and gives you the opportunity to research independently a topic in which you have a particular interest, under the supervision of a member of the academic staff. The dissertation should demonstrate your ability to: identify an issue or problem; design and conduct a scheme of work to explore that issue; work independently; assemble and analyse both primary evidence and modern academic literature; and present a coherent set of data and cogent arguments based on those data.

Further study resources, internships, and travel abroad Students have access to the facilities of the Griffith Institute, including the purchase of its publications at a student discount. In addition to the comprehensive collections of the Sackler Library, the Peet Memorial Library in Queen’s College has a valuable small Egyptology collection to which you have access and from which you may borrow books. Wolfson College also houses the Jeremy Black Memorial Collection in Assyriology and a small undergraduate library is being developed at St Benet’s Hall. Both the Sackler and the Peet libraries are catalogued on OLIS, the University’s online catalogue, as are all the Bodleian Library’s holdings, including many books on Egyptology and the Ancient Near East. While Bodleian books must generally be ordered by readers in advance and read in one of the rooms provided, they are useful if a book is borrowed from another library or there is other pressure on resources. Many people find the Bodleian’s reading rooms congenial.

The course does not include a compulsory period abroad, but relevant travel is recommended to all students during their degree. If doing Egyptology, you are encouraged to visit Egypt, and if possible to take part in archaeological work either in Egypt (although this is very difficult to arrange for undergraduates) or elsewhere. Most Egyptology students in recent years have visited Egypt during their undergraduate careers. Visiting the Middle East depends on current circumstances but there have always been areas were it is relatively easy to travel. From 2008, a number of undergraduate and graduate students in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies participated in excavation of the Bronze and Iron Age city of Zincirli in south-east Turkey (run by the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago). It is hoped that Oxford’s involvement in this project will continue. Ask your teachers for advice if you plan to travel to Egypt or elsewhere during your degree or if you wish to participate in excavation projects. Colleges also often provide financial assistance for relevant travel.

Students who take Archaeology and Anthropology as a second subject must undertake archaeological fieldwork, either in the UK or abroad, during the summer of their second year. This is arranged by the Institute of Archaeology.

Closer to home, a small number of undergraduate and graduate students each year take up summer internships at museums and other organizations with Egyptian and Near Eastern collections, including the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Palestine Exploration Fund. Again, talk with your teachers if you would like to apply for an internship.

It is possible to complete the course without reading secondary materials that are not in English but much of the secondary literature on Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies is in French and especially German. A reading knowledge of these languages increases range and options and, if you do not already have this, then you are encouraged to acquire it. The University’s Language Centre at 12 Woodstock Road offers courses and self- study options in French and German for reading that are open to all without charge. The teachers of Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies can supply letters of recommendation that will assist in gaining a place on Language Centre courses, some of which are in very heavy demand.

STRUCTURE OF THE ACADEMIC YEARS

The description of the stages of the course which follows below is intended as a complement to the regulations printed in the Examination Regulations and the lists of set texts which are published for Prelims and the final examinations (known in Oxford as the Final Honour School or finals). In addition to these materials, bibliographies are provided for prescribed texts, reading lists for the history and civilization courses, and detailed lists for essay topics. If you would like information about other matters, you should ask the teachers of Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, who are generally available for discussion on any aspect of the course. You may also wish to consult your college tutors if you have any difficulties. Since you are not taught in college, you need to ensure that you maintain regular contact with those in college who oversee your progress.

Some Egyptology course materials are now placed online on the University’s Weblearn system. Access to this is through the same id and password as you use for email. The web address of the Egyptology and Ancient Near East area of the system is: http://www.weblearn.ox.ac.uk/site/human/orient/nme/egyptology/

First year The aim of the first year of your course is to lay a foundation in knowledge of the language and civilization of your main subject that will provide a solid basis for the more diversified and detailed work of the second and third years; at the same time you should gain a general knowledge of the history and civilization of the whole Ancient Near East.

Those taking Akkadian as their first language attend intensive classes in Akkadian grammar and cuneiform script during the first five weeks of the first term. These are usually also attended by graduate students beginning Akkadian for the M.Phil. in Cuneiform Studies and second-year undergraduates beginning Akkadian as their second language. The grammar currently used is A Grammar of Akkadian by John Huehnergard and students should also acquire A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian by Jeremy Black and others. After about five weeks students are ready to continue their language work by beginning to read the Laws of Hammurapi, a Babylonian king of the second millennium BCE. This text is read first because of its grammatical clarity and regularity, as well as its social, cultural, and historical significance.

Other Akkadian texts are read in classes during the rest of the year: the myth of Ishtar’s Descent to the Underworld, selected annals of Assyrian kings and the Flood story from the Epic of Gilgamesh. These text-reading classes require extensive preparation in advance by the student, using the set editions and the other lexicographical and bibliographical aids available in the library or purchased for private use. In Trinity Term students also do simple unseen translation work and revision classes, followed by about two weeks without classes for revision.

For those taking Egyptian as their first language, Middle Egyptian, the classical phase of the language, is studied intensively. There are three language classes every week; these are attended by some M.Phil. students as well as undergraduates. The grammar is generally

completed, or nearly completed, during Michaelmas Term. At present, Mark Collier’s unpublished Middle Egyptian course, which is available from the Faculty, is the text used for teaching the language. Students also need to acquire Alan H. Gardiner, Egyptian grammar, and R. O. Faulkner, A concise dictionary of Middle Egyptian, both of which are available with a student discount from the Griffith Institute. For each hour of the elementary language class you must read a chapter or chapters of the Collier grammar and prepare exercises that will be either corrected in class or taken away and returned at the next session.

During Hilary and Trinity Terms the chief focus of the language classes is on reading Middle Egyptian texts, including The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor and biographical inscriptions displayed in the tombs of Egyptian officials. The prescribed texts are normally completed around half way through Trinity Term, and are followed by exercises in translation into Egyptian and some further grammatical work, leaving about a week and a half for revision, during which classes are only held at the request of students.

The text-reading classes in both languages, like those later in the course, involve reading the ancient texts beforehand, learning the relevant vocabulary, and preparing to translate passages from them on request in the classroom. For many of the texts published translations are available, but these are frequently debatable or inaccurate and can never form more than an aid to the study of the original. During the classes the rendering of the texts into English, their meaning and cultural import, and their status in groups of texts and as visual works on ancient monuments, are reviewed and discussed. This reading of texts in class and discussion of their cultural significance and of the kinds of evidence they supply is at the core of the course and it is essential that you apply yourself to preparing the material, thinking about it, and participating actively in class.

Complementing the language classes is a lecture course for all first-year students, in Ancient Near Eastern Civilization and History. This covers Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the background to the Hebrew Bible, and includes detailed study of Ancient Near Eastern history into the Parthian period and Egyptian history to the death of Cleopatra VII (30 BCE). Four essays on topics related to the civilization and history course are written in each of the first two terms, and two in the third.

Throughout the first year you should be reading general works on Egyptology and Near Eastern civilization. Reading lists for these are distributed during the year; you should read something in all the main categories by the end of the year.

The first examination, called Prelims, is taken in the week after the end of Trinity Term. The language course and the civilization and history course are examined in two papers each (the details of the papers and the list of set texts are published by Friday, 3rd week of Hilary term). If a candidate fails in any paper in the examination, there is a resit in the second half of September.

During Trinity Term you must discuss with your teachers which second language you wish to take, or whether you wish to take Archaeology and Anthropology. A guide to taking Archaeology and Anthropology as a subsidiary subject in EANES is available on Weblearn

(Egyptology and Ancient Near East main page). For Hebrew there may be a few hours of instruction at the end of Trinity Term. These are intended to allow a start to be made on the language during the Summer Vacation. Those intending to do Arabic or Greek should consult their teachers about summer schools in these languages. You also need to find out about the additional stage of your main language, either Egyptian or Akkadian, to be studied in the second year (see below).

Second year The second and third years run continuously. The only formal examinations are in the third year and the aim is to achieve a steady progression toward a high level of general knowledge, detailed familiarity with important bodies of primary source materials, and a mastery of argument. All these aspects of knowledge and skills are evaluated in the third year through a number of different modes of assessment. The second year is intensive in numbers of classes and lectures – an average will be about ten to fifteen hours per week.

Those who choose Archaeology and Anthropology as their second subject will receive handbooks from the School of Archaeology. In the second year you attend lectures and tutorials in the paper Archaeological Theory and Anthropological Enquiry. You have a choice of Anthropology papers in the third year. More detailed information is not given here: you should consult your teachers in Archaeology and Anthropology if you have any questions. That course is much more strongly focused on essays than the Egyptology/Akkadian part.

Classes in the second language are begun in Michaelmas Term. As in the first year, the grammar is normally covered by the end of the first term and texts are read in the second and third terms. There are typically three or four hours per week of classes in the subsidiary language throughout the year. Most subjects also offer lecture courses that take forward the general subjects presented in the first-year Civilization and History course. In the case of Coptic, the background to early Christian Egypt is covered mainly in the text classes and by essay work.

In Hilary Term of the second year the division of Akkadian set texts for the final examination (termed Final Honours School in Oxford, and abbreviated to FHS here) is published by Friday, 3rd week of Hilary term in the year preceding the FHS exams. These lists are available at: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/humdiv/orient/oriental_s/page/set_texts

These lists make clear which texts should be prepared for the FHS take-home paper or papers and which texts should be prepared for other FHS papers. The field of concentration and details of the Akkadian text(s) of choice are registered later. The division of Egyptian set texts occurs in Hilary Term of the third year and lists are available at: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/humdiv/orient/oriental_s/page/set_texts

During the second year you need to select your field of concentration on which you will be examined in paper 7 of the final examination (FHS), as well as your dissertation. Sample topics are listed below (p. 19) For either of those options, some students choose from among the topics listed, but the majority select subjects that are tailored for a group of two or three students, or sometimes individually. You need to submit a form giving your Field of Concentration topic by Monday of sixth week of Trinity Term in the second year. Although formally your dissertation choice does not have to be decided until Monday of second week of Michaelmas Term in the third year, it is best to prepare for work on the material at the end of your second year. Your field of concentration and dissertation may be offered in your main language, your second subject or language, or one in each area.

In Egyptology, Old or Late Egyptian is begun in Michaelmas Term (these alternate by year, and second and third year students are grouped together). Texts in the additional stage of the language are read over Michaelmas and Hilary terms. Because these stages of the language are not fundamentally different from Middle Egyptian, grammatical instruction is confined to a few hours and much of the learning of the language is through reading texts. There are two or three hours of classes in Old or Late Egyptian per week.

Middle Egyptian texts, which form the largest category that is read, are studied throughout the second year and often in Michaelmas Term of the third year. There are three, sometimes four, classes per week in Middle Egyptian texts. The range of genres of material read is very wide. Class work involves consequential discussion of such topics as interpersonal communication in letters, biography, law, religion, historiography, and literature. The texts are grouped both by theme and progressively in terms of difficulty. The selection of texts may be varied in order to relate the material to choices of second languages and to take advantage of new editions. Some ancient texts have assumed a central position in Egyptology and will always be included. Examples of these are the tales of Sinuhe, the Shipwrecked sailor, and Wenamun, as well as parts of the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead. Among historical texts, the Annals of Thutmose III have a similar status, as do biographies like the Old Kingdom text of Harkhuf. Hieratic, the name given to the cursive form of the Egyptian script, is also taught for two terms of the second and third years. Students learn to read the hieratic originals of texts they have already read in transcribed hieroglyphic versions, such as the Shipwrecked Sailor and papyri detailing judicial procedures surrounding tomb robberies during the late New Kingdom.

Teaching in the second year generally includes seminars on non-language topics two times per term. A lecture course on Egyptian art and architecture runs for two terms and the first four weeks of Trinity Term. This is also attended by some students reading Classical Archaeology and Ancient History and History of Art. It is possible to take Art and Architecture as a field of concentration in the third year, building on the knowledge gained from the lecture course.

In Trinity Term a course on Egyptian materials and artefacts is held in the Ashmolean Museum. This area continues to be studied in the third year and more details are given there.

Students taking Akkadian as their first language in years two and three and students taking their second year of Akkadian as a second or additional language study a core of important texts. Everyone reads parts of the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Babylonian Epic of Creation in cuneiform and usually letters from the international Amarna correspondence in transliteration. These letters complement the Egyptian courses taken by some students.

Royal inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Nabonidus or Neo-Babylonian documents on subjects from dowries to temple service also usually form part of every student’s syllabus. The course for students taking Akkadian as a first language normally includes all these texts.

All students usually also study the literary prologue and epilogue of the Laws of Hammurapi in Old Babylonian monumental cuneiform. Students taking Akkadian as a second or additional language would read this text in Trinity Term during their first year studying Akkadian.

Other works studied will depend on your special interests and your chosen field of concentration or text of choice, but your overall syllabus should cover compositions in Old Babylonian, Standard Babylonian, and at least one other dialect of Akkadian (e.g., Neo- Assyrian, Old Akkadian, Amarna dialect). Your syllabus as a whole should also encompass a range of the following genres: myths and epics; religious texts, such as hymns, incantations, and rituals; scholarly works, such as omens, mathematical and medical texts; letters; economic and/or administrative documents; historiographical texts, such as royal annals and inscriptions; and laws and/or legal records. Your teachers are happy to advise you on this.

More advanced lectures or seminars are given for two hours a week on a wide range of aspects of Mesopotamian civilization, e.g., literature, cultural and political history, and religion.

Classes on Mesopotamian artefacts are held in the Ashmolean Museum in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms. Students take these classes in either their second or third year. In Michaelmas Term classes are organized around a wide range of artefacts, materials including clay, stone, metal, glass and glazes, while in Hilary Term the focus shifts to cuneiform tablets and other inscribed objects. If you are taking both Akkadian and Egyptian, in either combination, you may choose to be examined in artefacts from both areas, or just one.

For all students, essays and/or seminars continue during the second year at the rate of about three per term; about two thirds are in the first subject and one third in the second subject. Tutorials are used to help you explore issues in the interpretation of ancient cultures and to develop skills of argument and presentation. General reading should be kept up so that an overall view of the subject is maintained and you keep abreast with developments. The reading lists given out in the first year are quite full and are intended to be useful throughout the course; they will be replaced as necessary by new versions. You may also wish to approach staff for advice on supplementing what is given there, or for materials in areas not covered by the lists.

You may wish to attend lectures in related subjects in which you have an interest, e.g. archaeology, art history, and linguistics, but these may sometimes clash with other classes. You also need to be realistic about the number of commitments you take on. You are encouraged to attend the research seminars arranged several times a term in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Egyptology, at which local and visiting speakers present papers for discussion. These are usually followed by tea in the Common Room.

Before the Long Vacation of your second year, you need to decide on an area for a dissertation topic, in consultation with your teachers. The subject must be different from your field of concentration and optional special subject, but may utilize either one or both of your languages, or Archaeology and Anthropology. You may focus on textual sources, or aspects of material culture, or both. Some students choose to work on the collections of the Ashmolean or Pitt Rivers Museums for their dissertations. The dissertation is your opportunity to carry out a substantial and independent piece of work (maximum 15,000 words). You should if possible begin research during the summer of your second year, as a great deal of your third year will be taken up with preparation for the other papers of the final examination. A general guide to undertaking dissertation work in EANES is posted on Weblearn (Egyptology and Ancient Near East main page).

Third year

By Monday of 2nd week of Michaelmas Term you need to complete and return a form applying for formal approval by the Faculty Board for any of the following that apply to your degree:; Dissertation title; and Special Subject in the form of a Dissertation. The form must also be signed by the member of the academic staff who will be working with you. You must return the completed form to the Examinations Administrator, Room 314, Oriental Institute. The Application for Approval form is available from the Faculty Office, Oriental Institute or at: http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/pdf/exams/FHS_Exam_Application_for_Approval_form.pdf

There are numerous classes and lectures in Michaelmas Term of the third year – about ten to fifteen per week, as in the second year. In Trinity Term most of the work in class is unprepared or consists of revision sessions. Because there is essay writing for your field of concentration and optional special subject as well as dissertation work, the number of essays on general topics is reduced in comparison with earlier years, but the overall proportion of essay work rises.

Much of the third year is devoted to work on your field of concentration and dissertation. The pattern of work depends upon the topic chosen, how many students are doing the same subjects, and how particular topics are best taught. Subjects can be approached through essay writing, through regular classes, or through a mixture of both. Broadly, the field of concentration should fill up to half of the time spent on the Egyptology or Akkadian part of the course for the first two terms of the year (or a rather larger proportion for the subject if the field of concentration is in the second subject).

Another quarter of the main subject time should be spent on the dissertation. For this, bibliographies are discussed with the supervisor and an outline is agreed. If the dissertation is to involve museum work, this needs discussing with the museum staff as early as possible. The supervisor will review some but not all chapters of dissertations as they are produced; some students, however, prefer to work more on their own for the dissertation. The dissertation is submitted at the end of the tenth week of Hilary Term, two weeks after normal teaching stops at the end of eighth week. The title page of the dissertation should give the name of the degree (Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, irrespective of your choice of options), the title, the date (2009), and your candidate number (do not include your name). The dissertation should be bound; a basic glued binding with card and a cloth spine, available on the spot in copy-shops for about £2.50, is perfectly adequate. You must submit two bound copies of your thesis to the Examination Schools no later than 12 noon on Friday of the tenth week of Hilary Term, addressed to the Chairman of Examiners, Honour School of Oriental Studies, Examination Schools, Oxford. Students are also asked to submit a copy of their dissertation on disk (preferably in pdf). You should also complete and sign a declaration that the dissertation is your own work and submit this separately in a sealed envelope addressed to the Chairman of Examiners as above. The declaration form is available from the Faculty Office, Oriental Institute or at: http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/pdf/exams/work_declaration.pdf You may also wish to keep a personal copy of the dissertation with a title page giving your name and college in place of your candidate number, particularly if you might use it as supporting material for an application for a job or for a graduate place. Remember to write your candidate number and not your name on the copies you submit for examination.

Students taking Archaeology and Anthropology as a second subject choose from two Archaeology papers and two Anthropology papers. For Archaeology, you may choose between: ‘Urbanization and Change in Complex Societies’ or ‘From Hunting and Gathering to States and Empires in South-west Asia’. For Anthropology, you may choose between: ‘Social Analysis and Interpretation’ or ‘Cultural Representations’. You must speak with the Subject Co-ordinator at the beginning of each term to arrange tutorials.

Egyptian artefact classes in the Ashmolean Museum continue. In Hilary and the first half of Trinity Term individual artefacts from all periods are studied, analysing how they should be approached, relating them to archaeological contexts where possible, and studying what can be learned about them as individual pieces as well as what they tell us more broadly about Egyptian civilization. The classes last one and a half hours per week. Towards the end of these classes practice is given in preparing formal written descriptions of artefacts.

As described under the second year, students take Mesopotamian artefact classes in the Ashmolean Museum in the Michaelmas and Hilary Terms of either their second or third year.

In Egyptology, the Middle Egyptian text classes continue, typically at two hours per week, with the prescribed syllabus normally being completed during Michaelmas Term. The class then moves on to reading unprepared texts in Middle, Late, and sometimes Old Egyptian, both in preparation for the unseen translation paper in the final examination and in order to broaden your experience of Egyptian texts as a whole. Unprepared texts continue to be read

until the first few weeks of Trinity Term. In Michaelmas and Hilary Terms there is a course in Old or Late Egyptian, as described above for the second year.

For all students, there is no specific coursework for the final general paper, which includes questions on topics in civilization and history. Preparation for this paper consists of essays, written principally during the second year, seminar work, and independent reading, which is essential for the final examination. You are naturally free to discuss this work with your teachers and you may wish to write trial examination answers for comment by your teachers in tutorials.

During Hilary and/or Trinity Terms written practice is given in examination answers for prepared texts, in order to develop skills in presenting annotated translations together with interpretive discussions of the significance of texts or passages in texts. This work is relevant both to the take-home papers, which are done in the first few weeks of Trinity Term, and to other final examination (FHS) papers.

For Egyptian, at the end of Hilary Term the division of prepared texts for the final examination is announced and distributed in the form of a copy of the list of prescribed texts with those to be prepared for the take-home examination singled out. For Akkadian this is done in Hilary Term of the second year.

For both Egyptian and Akkadian, about one third of the texts are revised over the Easter Vacation and examined in the take-homes in the first and third weeks of Trinity Term (for some subsidiary languages the third-week take-home is substituted by a sit-down examination at the end of the term). There is little class work during those weeks so that you can concentrate on the examinations.

Other classes in Trinity Term are arranged with the agreement of teachers. Apart from the Egyptian artefact classes, which continue for about half of the term, classes are mostly confined to unprepared translation and to revision sessions, in which either prepared texts or general topics are reviewed.

Weeks 5–6 of Trinity Term are mostly left free for revision, although classes can be held at the request of students. The final examination is in the seventh and eighth weeks of the term. The examiners’ meeting, after which results are announced, is normally in early July. Students must be available for possible viva voce examination on the day of the examiners’ meeting, or on the preceding days. In practice, such examinations, which are held only if a student’s aggregate result lies on a borderline or there are significant anomalies in a student’s performance, are very rare; but nonetheless if they happen, they are an essential part of the degree examination.

Candidates may be examined by viva voce (oral examination) and so candidates should be prepared to travel to Oxford up until the final examiners’ meeting (normally by first week of July, but may be later).

In deciding to conduct a Viva, examiners and assessors should bear in mind that:

1. The reason for holding a Viva must be clear and is when examiners are otherwise unable to determine the class of the submitted papers. 2. A Viva must not be used as a means of assessing suspicions about possible plagiarism. 3. A candidate must be given 2-3 days notice of the Viva. 4. The Viva must be scheduled to take place before the final examiners’ meeting. 5. A candidate who attends for a Viva can only improve on a class mark as a result of the Viva.

EXAMINATIONS

The course is examined at two points. The final degree class (I, II.1, II.2, or III) depends only on the final examinations (including the take-home papers and the dissertation), but it is necessary to pass Prelins, the first year examination, in order to continue into the second part of the course. Examination ‘conventions’ are distributed in advance of examinations; examination papers from previous years are posted online at www.oxam.ox.ac.uk. The ‘conventions’ posted on the Oriental Institute website describe the distribution of questions in the examination papers and their format and weighting.

Prelims consists of four three-hour papers written under examination conditions. Two are on Egyptian or Akkadian language, including prepared translation, grammar, and simple unprepared translation both to and from the chosen language. There are also two essay papers, on Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, and History of the Ancient Near East to 30 BCE. These contain questions on the whole of the Ancient Near East, including Egypt.

Students who pass all four Prelims papers together at one sitting may be eligible for the award of a distinction. Those who fail one or more Prelims papers will normally retake these in the second half of September; the resits are technically known as the Preliminary Examination but passing them is equivalent to passing Prelims. It is necessary to have passed in all four papers in order to move on to the second part of the course.

In the final examinations (FHS), you take ten units, some of which are presented in advance and others sat in formal examinations. For students taking Archaeology and Anthropology as a second subject, please see the comment on p. 22.

1. and 2. These are three-hour written translation papers, one in each of the two languages studied, and consisting both of passages from texts previously studied and of unprepared translation (under examination conditions, without dictionaries or sign lists). You may be required to transliterate passages into roman script and/or to transcribe into roman script marking vowel lengths (for Akkadian), as well as to comment on selected words or passages from the point of view of grammar and/or content.

3. and 5. In paper 3 (first language) and paper 5 (second language), there is also emphasis on interpretive essays on the literary and historical content of the works studied. There will be some prepared translation from and comment on passages from those works. For Egyptian, one of the optional questions may be the transcription

of a passage in hieratic into hieroglyphs. These examinations are also three-hour written papers.

4. and 6. Papers 4 (first language) and 6 (second language) are take-home examinations. In each case four passages from works studied are set for examination by essay. For each paper, you choose one of the passages set and prepare a commented translation and an essay (not exceeding 3,500 words) on it. The passages for paper 4 (first language) are assigned at 10 a.m. on Monday of the First Week of the final term, and you have until 12 noon on the Monday of Second Week to complete your work and hand it in. For paper 6 (second language) the passages are assigned at 10 a.m. on Monday of the Third Week of the final term, and you have until 12 noon on the Monday of Fourth Week to complete the work and hand it in. In both cases, you have to submit separately a signed declaration that the essay is your own work. The declaration form is available from the Faculty Office, Oriental Institute or at: http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/pdf/exams/work_declaration.pdf For these essay papers, you have full access to library and other resources, and prepare your answers in your own time. They must be typed and presented in proper scholarly form.

Lists of standard texts prescribed for papers 3–6 are established during the second or third year of the course; they are available from the Oriental Institute Faculty Office and Weblearn. It is also possible for students to propose their own groups of texts, if, for example, they have a special interest in a particular area.

The remaining compulsory papers are:

7. A field of concentration which you may propose yourself or which can be chosen from a list of topics published in October of your second year by the Faculty Board for examination in the third year; the choice must be approved by the Board in each case. The following specimen list gives some suitable topics. The more general of these can be focused in specific periods. Egyptian

 Demotic  Hieroglyphic texts of the Graeco-Roman period  Archaeology of early Egypt  Essay topics on Nubia, with a selection of historical texts relating to Nubia  Inscriptions and history of the Late New Kingdom and/or Third Intermediate Period  Egyptian art and architecture (included in the formal list of papers; see below)  Egyptian foreign relations, 650–200 BCE  Egyptian religion and ethics  Magico-medical texts

Akkadian

 Mesopotamian history and archaeology from the Early Dynastic Period to the end of the Old Babylonian Period  Old Babylonian documents and social history  The Amarna Age in the Near East: international politics and royal correspondence  The Assyrian empire from the fall of Mitanni to 612 BCE, with special reference to Ashur, Kalhu, Khorsabad, Jerwan and Nineveh  Sumerian culture, to include art, architecture and literature  Ancient Near Eastern scholarship, to include some combination of mathematics, astronomy, lexical study, grammar and divination

Other topics

 Early Islamic History: from the time of the Prophet to the early ‘Abbasids, 570–809 CE (suitable for those whose second language is Arabic)  Religions and mythologies of the Ancient Near East  Comparative Semitic philology

8. A ‘hands-on’ written examination, in which a selection of Egyptian and/or Ancient Near Eastern artefacts is to be described, and one or two essay answers on topics relating to material culture are to be written. This three-hour paper is examined in the Ashmolean Museum.

9. A general essay paper, including questions on Egyptology and/or Ancient Near Eastern Studies today. This is a three-hour written paper.

10. A dissertation, to be submitted by the end of 10th Week in Hilary Term of the final year. The topic must be approved in advance by the Faculty Board, and must be of a different character from the field of concentration chosen for paper 7.

11. Egyptian art and architecture. This optional paper may be taken in place of paper 7 or 10. It is also available to students in the honour schools of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History and History of Art.

If your second subject is Archaeology and Anthropology, instead of second language papers (papers 2, 5, 6), you sit exams in three Archaeology and Anthropology papers: Archaeological Theory and Anthropological Enquiry; either Urbanization and Change in Complex Societies or From Hunting and Gathering to States and Empires in South-west Asia; and either Social Analysis and Interpretation or Cultural Representations, Beliefs, and Practices.

If you are taking Arabic, Aramaic and Syriac, Coptic, Hebrew (Biblical and Mishnaic), or Old Iranian as your second language, as papers 2, 5, and 6, you may offer instead the papers prescribed respectively for Arabic, Aramaic and Syriac, Coptic, Hebrew (Biblical and Mishnaic), and Old Iranian as additional languages in the Honour School of Oriental Studies.

These offer a different format for the study and examination of these languages from that otherwise used in EANES.

If your main subject is Hebrew, Classics, or Arabic, the final examination for Akkadian or Egyptian consists of three written papers sat in the last term or your two years’ study of Akkadian or Egyptian, along with the examination papers in your main subject.

These papers are either the same as or similar to papers 1, 3, and 4 for the main language, as described above for the final examination in Egyptology and/or Ancient Near Eastern Studies (so that paper 4 is a take-home examination based on your prepared texts). You may replace either paper 2 or paper 3 of your subsidiary language numbering by one of papers 7, 9, or 10 in the main language sequence. (The numbering in the Examination regulations is confusing, because nos. 1, 2, and 3 are used with different meanings for the main and subsidiary languages; we are therefore not following this here.)

If your main subject is Classics, you can offer a special subject in addition to your three compulsory papers. The special subject will be examined in the form of a special thesis. Such a subject may be chosen from an Akkadian- or Egyptian-based topic, dependent on which of those two languages you are taking. Your special thesis may be in a topic linking the two subjects.

TEACHING AND RESEARCH STAFF Those who currently teach, and/or research at postdoctoral level, in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Oxford include the following: Professor John Baines, Research Associate (Queen’s College) Dr Christoph Bachhuber, Associated Faculty Member Dr Francisco Bosch-Puche, Assistant to the Editor of the Topographical Bibliography and Keeper of the Archive, Griffith Institute Dr Paul Collins, Keeper for the Ancient Near East, Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum (Jesus College) Dr Jacob Dahl, University Lecturer in Assyriology (Wolfson College) Dr Stephanie Dalley, Faculty Member (Wolfson College) Dr Elizabeth Frood, University Lecturer in Egyptology (St Cross College). Dr Yvonne Harpur, Director of the Oxford Expedition to Egypt (Linacre College) Dr Linda Hulin, Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology (Wolfson College) Dr Marie-Christine Ludwig, Associated Faculty Member. Mr Liam McNamara, Assistant Keeper, Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum Dr Christopher Metcalf, Junior Research Fellow, Wolfson College Ms Leire Olabarria, Departemental Lecturer in Egyptology Dr Arietta Papaconstantinou, Faculty Member Professor Richard Parkinson, Professor of Egyptology (Queen’s College) Mr Luigi Prada, Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow in Egyptology (University College) Dr Vincent Razanajao, Editor of the Topographical Bibliography and Keeper of the Archive, Griffith Institute Dr Frances Reynolds, Shillito Fellow in Assyriology (St Benet’s Hall)

Dr. Gareth Roberts, Coordinating editor for the Online Egyptological Bibliography, Griffith Institute Dr Robert Simpson, Griffith Egyptological Fund Research Fellow Professor Mark Smith, Professor of Egyptology and Coptic (University College) Dr Elizabeth Tucker, Jill Hart Research Fellow in Indo-Iranian Philology Mr Klaus Wagensonner, Research Associate in Assyriology, CDLI Oxford Dr Helen Whitehouse, Faculty member

JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE The EANES Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meets at least once a year, usually on a Tuesday afternoon in Hilary Term. At these meetings both students and teachers can present issues and problems for discussion, ranging from proposals for syllabus and examination reform to such matters as teaching style and library provision. The student body nominates two representatives every year. They set the agenda for the meeting, together with the subject group co-ordinator (Dr Jacob Dahl), taking into account submissions (which may be anonymous) from students and teachers alike. Your comments and criticisms will be treated with seriousness and, at your request, in confidence. The agenda is sent to all EANES undergraduates and staff at least a week before the JCC. You are most welcome to come to the meeting, either to put your points across or simply to listen, but do not feel you have to attend. The minutes are circulated to everyone as soon as possible afterwards.

RESOURCES FOR EANES IN OXFORD Oxford is fortunate to have unrivalled library resources for ancient Near Eastern literature, history and archaeology in the new Sackler Library, covering Egyptian, Coptic, Akkadian, Sumerian, Hittite, Elamite, Old Persian, Hurrian, Ugaritic, and some other fields. The Sackler Library integrates collections for the entire ancient Near East and Mediterranean, as well as European archaeology and art history, both western and eastern.

Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Oxford focus both on textual study and on social and cultural issues, including art, literature, and social theory. The Ashmolean Museum is also an exceptionally strong resource for studying material culture. Periods covered in teaching and research range from Prehistory to Late Babylonian and Roman times. Concerning Egypt, there are particular strengths in Graeco-Roman Egypt and in Greek papyrology (the study of Greek documents found in Egypt), which is taught in the Classics Faculty, as well as in the study of Coptic language, texts, and early Christian Egypt.

The Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum has an extensive collection of Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian antiquities and is a key resource for research, learning, and teaching: http://www.ashmolean.org/ The Ashmolean houses the most important collection of cuneiform tablets in the UK after the British Museum. Students are encouraged to become familiar with the collection and to learn to read and copy from the original tablets. Undergraduate students may be able to join specific tuition in copying cuneiform organized for graduate students. Important collections of other Mesopotamian material include finds from excavations at Kish, currently being studied in the Kish Project at the Field Museum, Chicago: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/kish/

The Egyptian collection is unrivalled in some areas, notably prehistoric and Early Dynastic Egypt, the Amarna period, and ancient Nubia, and has a good coverage for all periods. The majority of the collection is from excavations and so has a proper provenance. The collection of ostraca (inscribed stone flakes and potsherds) is among the world’s largest, in both hieratic and demotic.

The Pitt Rivers Museum

The Pitt Rivers Museum also houses a small but diverse collection of Egyptian artefacts, much of which was donated by Petrie from his excavations in Egypt. The range of material is an excellent complement to that in the Ashmolean, and is available to students for research. The Pitt Rivers Museum also welcomes volunteers.

The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) The CDLI http://cdli.ucla.edu is a joint project of the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Pennsylvania, The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science at Berlin, and the University of Oxford. The CDLI represents the efforts of an international group of Assyriologists, museum curators and historians of science to make available through the internet the form and content of cuneiform tablets dating from the beginning of writing, ca. 3350 BC, until the end of the pre-Christian era. We estimate the number of these documents currently kept in public and private collections to exceed 500,000 exemplars, of which now nearly 225,000 have been catalogued in electronic form by the CDLI. The Oxford research group of the CDLI (currently funded by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation as phase 3 of the project Creating a Sustainable Cuneiform Digital Library, CSCDL) will initiate the full capture of the Louvre cuneiform collections in collaboration with staff at the Louvre Museum. Oxford staff also acts as a hub for all CDLI work in Europe, and image minor collections in Italy and Germany, as well as assist Berlin collaborators with imaging work at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. Staff employs a combination of conventional and advanced technologies to ensure the complete, high quality capture of these collections.

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) The ETCSL http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/, a project of the University of Oxford, comprises a selection of nearly 400 literary compositions recorded on sources which come from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and date to the late third and early second millennia BCE. The corpus contains Sumerian texts in transliteration, English prose translations and bibliographical information for each composition. The transliterations and the translations can be searched, browsed and read online using the tools of the website. We are currently working on the integration of the ETCSL and the CDLI.

The Griffith Institute The Topographical bibliography project for ancient Egypt, under the editorship of Dr Vincent Razanajao, is based in the Institute, which also houses the world’s most extensive archive of Egyptological papers and records, including the excavation records from Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, as well as Assyriological papers. Students may apply to undertake volunteer work experience in the Archive. The Institute publishes books in Egyptology, Coptic, and Ancient Near Eastern subjects, including fundamental works such as Gardiner’s Egyptian grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Faulkner’s Concise dictionary of Middle Egyptian (1962, 1965), Junge’s Late Egyptian grammar: an introduction (2nd edition, 2005), and Schäfer’s Principles of Egyptian art (rev. ed., 1986). Its other books include numerous publications of material from the tomb of Tutankhamun and a number of important monographs, such as Pinch’s Votive offerings to Hathor (1993) and Enmarch’s The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All (2005), and Katja Goebs, Crowns in Egyptian funerary literature: royalty, rebirth, and destruction (2008). Griffith Institute publications are available to students at a discount. It has a very useful website: http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/

A major project of the Griffith Institute is the Online Egyptological Bibliography (OEB), which holds a grant from the Mellon Foundation to integrate Aigyptos and other databases (2011–2014). This is a collaborative undertaking with the universities of Munich and Heidelberg. The OEB makes more than 85,000 references available online with abstracts and/or keywords, dating from 1822 to 2012. The co-ordinating editor is Gareth Roberts.

Oxford University Press The Press has a strong tradition of publishing books on the ancient Near East written by scholars who have links with the University. Recent titles include: D. Wengrow, What makes civilization?: the ancient near East and the future of the West (2010) M. Smith, Traversing eternity: Texts for the afterlife from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (2009) J. Baines, Visual and written culture in ancient Egypt (2006) J.A. Black et al., The Literature of Ancient Sumer (2004) T. Bryce, Life and Society in the Hittite World (2002) T. Bryce, The kingdom of the Hittites (1998, rev. ed. 2005) S.M. Dalley, Esther’s Revenge at Susa: From Sennacherib to Ahasuerus (in press) S.M. Dalley, Old Babylonian Texts in the Ashmolean Museum Mainly from Larsa, Sippir, Kish and Lagaba (2005) S.M. Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia (1998, rev. ed. 2000) S. M. Dalley et al., The legacy of Mesopotamia (1998) A. G. McDowell, Village life in ancient Egypt (1999) R. B. Parkinson, The Tale of Sinuhe and other Egyptian poems (1997) E. Robson et al., The History of Mathematical Tables: From Sumer to Spreadsheets (2003) E. Robson, Mesopotamian mathematics, 2100–1600 B.C.: technical constants in bureaucracy and education (1999) M. Van De Mieroop, The ancient Mesopotamian city (1997) M. L. West, The east face of Helicon: West Asiatic elements in Greek poetry and myth (1997) 5 October 2010

Set Texts (or Prescribed texts)

A final list of set texts will be published not later than Friday of 3rd week, Hilary term, for the examination in the following academic year.

The lists of for Egyptian, Akkadian and Sumerian set texts are published online at: http://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/site/human/orient/nme/egyptology/ane/hons/

Appendix A: Faculty Information

Contents: 1. University complaints and appeals procedure 2. Student feedback form and notes 3. Note on when external examiners are used 4. Note on voluntary submission of theses on CD 5. Weblink for use of IT regulations 6. List of weblinks for study skills and other resources 7. University definition of plagiarism

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Complaints and academic appeals within the Faculty of Oriental Studies 1. The University, the Humanities Division and the Oriental Studies faculty all hope that provision made for students at all stages of their programme of study will make the need for complaints (about that provision) or appeals (against the outcomes of any form of assessment) infrequent. 2. However, all those concerned believe that it is important for students to be clear about how to raise a concern or make a complaint, and how to appeal against the outcome of assessment. The following guidance attempts to provide such information. 3. Nothing in this guidance precludes an informal discussion with the person immediately responsible for the issue that you wish to complain about (and who may not be one of the individuals identified below). This is often the simplest way to achieve a satisfactory resolution. 4. Many sources of advice are available within colleges, within faculties/departments and from bodies like OUSU or the Counselling Service, which have extensive experience in advising students. You may wish to take advice from one of these sources before pursuing your complaint. 5. General areas of concern about provision affecting students as a whole should, of course, continue to be raised through Joint Consultative Committees or via student representation on the faculty/department’s committees.

Complaints 3.1 If your concern or complaint relates to teaching or other provision made by the faculty, then you should raise it with the chairman of the Undergraduate Committee (Dr Robert Chard) or with the Director of Graduate Studies (Dr Luke Treadwell) as appropriate. Within the faculty/department the officer concerned will attempt to resolve your concern/complaint informally. 3.2 If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, then you may take your concern further by making a formal complaint to the University Proctors. A complaint may cover aspects of teaching and learning (e.g. teaching facilities, supervision arrangements, etc.), and non- academic issues (e.g. support services, library services, university accommodation, university clubs and societies, etc.). A complaint to the Proctors should be made only if attempts at informal resolution have been unsuccessful. The procedures adopted by the Proctors for the consideration of complaints and appeals are described in the Proctors and Assessor’s Memorandum[http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/proctors/pam/] and the relevant Council regulations [http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/regulations/] [ 4. If your concern or complaint relates to teaching or other provision made by your college, then you should raise it either with your tutor or with one of the college officers, Senior Tutor, Tutor for Graduates (as appropriate). Your college will also be able to explain how to take your complaint further if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of its consideration. ]

Academic appeals 5. An appeal is defined as a formal questioning of a decision on an academic matter made by the responsible academic body. 6. For undergraduate or taught graduate courses, a concern which might lead to an appeal should be raised with your college authorities and the individual responsible for overseeing your work. It must not be raised directly with examiners or assessors. If it is not possible to clear up your concern in this way, you may put your concern in writing and submit it to the Proctors via the Senior Tutor of your college. As noted above, the procedures adopted by the Proctors in relation to complaints and appeals are on the web [http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/regulations/]. 7. For the examination of research degrees, or in relation to transfer or confirmation of status, your concern should be raised initially with the Director of Graduate Studies. Where a concern is not satisfactorily settled by that means, then you, your supervisor, or your college authority may put your appeal directly to the Proctors. 8. Please remember in connection with all the cases in paragraphs 5 - 7 that: (a) The Proctors are not empowered to challenge the academic judgement of examiners or academic bodies. (b) The Proctors can consider whether the procedures for reaching an academic decision were properly followed; i.e. whether there was a significant procedural administrative error; whether there is evidence of bias or inadequate assessment; whether the examiners failed to take into account special factors affecting a candidate’s performance. (c) On no account should you contact your examiners or assessors directly. 9. The Proctors will indicate what further action you can take if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a complaint or appeal considered by them.

G:\EPSC\Complaints and appeals template 2.doc

University of Oxford Faculty of Oriental Studies

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT FEEDBACK ON LECTURES AND CLASSES

The Faculty values students’ views on the teaching it provides. Please complete one form for each course of lectures and classes that you have attended this term. Mention what you have found good as well as what you consider needs to be improved. You are not obliged to indicate which year of your degree course you are in, but it makes the feedback much more useful if you do.

The forms will be seen only by the Chairman of the Undergraduate Studies Committee and the Academic Administrator: any comments will be passed to the teacher concerned in an anonymous form. The form itself will not be seen by the teacher. Further information about what will happen to your comments is provided in each undergraduate subject handbook.

Students are encouraged whenever possible to discuss concerns directly with their teacher, as this is often the quickest and most constructive way to deal with problems.

……… Term 200..

Title of lecture series or class:

Name of lecturer(s) /class teacher(s):

What year of your degree course are you in?

YOUR COMMENTS

This form should be returned to the Academic Administrator, Room 316, Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, by the end of each term. It can be emailed, sent by messenger or handed in at the Lodge.

STUDENT FEEDBACK AND COMPLAINTS

The Faculty values students’ views on the teaching it provides. Feedback forms are sent to all students each term, giving them an opportunity to comment on the teaching they are receiving that term. Forms are sent out by e-mail from the Faculty Officer, and are returned by students anonymously to enable them to comment on individual teaching staff. Whenever possible students are encouraged to discuss concerns directly with the teacher, as this is often the quickest and most constructive way to deal with problems.

Feedback forms will be dealt with by the Faculty in the following way:

Completed forms are only seen by the Assistant Administrator and the Chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee. Any comments will be passed to the teacher concerned in an anonymous form, and the teacher will not see the form itself.

During a member of teaching staff’s probationary period, all feedback is anonymised and forwarded both to the member of staff concerned and their mentee, together with the recommendation that, should there be any negative feedback, the mentor and mentee should meet to discuss it and, if appropriate, meet with the whole class from which the negative feedback was generated. The feedback forms and recommendations are also copied to the Tutorial Secretary and will also eventually be seen by the faculty committee responsible for reviewing the member of staff’s initial period of appointment at the end of their probationary period.

Outside the member of staff’s probationary period (or for teachers who are not members of staff in Oriental Studies), all anonymised reports are forwarded to the member of staff concerned and to the Tutorial Secretary, with the same recommendation that, should there be any negative feedback, the member of staff and the Tutorial Secretary should meet to discuss it and, if appropriate, meet with the whole class from which the negative feedback was generated.

Feedback forms commenting upon the teaching of a Tutorial Secretary are copied to the Faculty Board Chairman.

General issues (but not those regarding individual teachers) raised by student feedback forms should be brought by the Tutorial Secretary to Joint Consultative Committee meetings, and a written report on the outcome of any complaints should be published by the convenor of the JCC (even if no student members attend).

3. Any student achievement that contributes to a named award will be moderated by an external examiner, except for First Public Examinations (FPE) and M.Phil Qualifying Examinations in Cuneiform Studies and M.Phil Qualifying Examinations in Egyptology.

4. We are also asking students to voluntarily submit a copy of their dissertation on CD (preferably in pdf).

5. Your attention is drawn to University regulations concerning the use of Information Technology Facilities: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/regulations/196-052.shtml

6. Study Skills and Other Resources:

EPSC Study Skills Resources http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/epsc/plagiarism/electrores.shtml

Library Training and Workshops http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/services/training

Careers and Skills Development http://www.ox.ac.uk/current_students/careers_skills.html

Oxford University Language Centre http://www.lang.ox.ac.uk/

Student Counselling Service http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/shw/counserv.shtml

Plagiarism http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/epsc/plagiarism/index.shtml

7. UNIVERSITY DEFINITION OF PLAGIARISM Cf. http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/epsc/plagiarism Plagiarism is the copying or paraphrasing of other people’s work or ideas into your own work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition. Collusion is another form of plagiarism involving the unauthorised collaboration of students (or others) in a piece of work. Cases of suspected plagiarism in assessed work are investigated under the disciplinary regulations concerning conduct in examinations. Intentional or reckless plagiarism may incur severe penalties, including failure of your degree or expulsion from the university. “Academic integrity: Good practice in citation, and the avoidance of plagiarism In their Memorandum, Essential Information for Students, the Proctors and Assessor draw attention to the disciplinary regulations relating to plagiarism that must be observed by both undergraduate and graduate students. Please read Section 9.5 on the weblink below http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/proctors/pam/index.shtlm)”