Syllabus for OL943-HA: Akkadian Fall Term 2020 (Sept 16-Dec. 16, 2020) Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00 PM
Instructor: Gordon Hugenberger, PhD
General Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the exciting world of Akkadian, the probable first language of Abraham, and the predominant language of ancient Mesopotamia for more than two millennia. Nearly a million texts in Akkadian have been recovered from the ancient world, only half of which have been translated. Nevertheless, these texts have already provided some of the most dramatic discoveries and insights into the cultural background of the Hebrew Bible, its literary structures, its laws, its practices, as well as crucial evidence for a better understanding of the Hebrew language itself (both grammar and vocabulary), since Akkadian is the earliest attested Semitic language. This course follows a semi-inductive approach to the language, based on selected readings from the Code of Hammurabi. Using a variety of tools, students will master a basic list of Neo-Assyrian cuneiform signs and the elements of Old Babylonian vocabulary and grammar (the classic form of the language), reflecting especially the analysis of W.G. Lambert. Regular attention will be given to the implications of this study for a more adequate understanding of Hebrew and for the interpretation of the Old Testament.
Prerequisite OL 502, Hebrew II
Required Textbooks: G.P. Hugenberger, with Nancy Erickson, Basics of Akkadian (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, forthcoming) – PDF’s of this grammar will be supplied free of charge. Jeremy Black, Andrew George, Nicholas Postgate, eds., A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected printing (Santag Arbeiten und Untersuchungen Zur Keilschriftkunde, 5; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2000) ISBN-13: 978-3447042642 - $40.00 on Amazon. This book can be downloaded at no cost as a PDF from https://archive.org/details/AConsiceDictionaryAkkadian/page/n12/mode/2up Douglas B. Miller and R. Mark Shipp, An Akkadian Handbook, 2nd edition (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014) ISBN-13: 978-1575063065 - $34.95 on Amazon
Recommended reading (for general background):
1 Wolfram von Soden, The Ancient Orient. An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994) ISBN-13: 978-0802801425 - $20.36 Amazon.
Testing, and Grading: Students will be graded on the following basis: 1) Students will be required to keep a daily log of the time they spent each day studying Akkadian. This log will be passed in each week (11 weeks) along with any other required written homework. The quantity of time spent each day as reported on the log will in no way affect one’s grade. 0 pts.
2) Written homework assignments will be submitted each week before class (electronically) or at the beginning of class (if we are able to meet in person). So long as the written assignment shows reasonable effort, this will meet the requirement. 11 pts.
3) In-class (11 classes) oral participation is mandatory and will be evaluated mainly based on the evidence of effort. There may also be an occasional short spot quiz. 22 pts.
4) 1st Mid-term exam. This test will consist of the cuneiform text of some portion, or portions, of the Laws of Hammurabi that has been studied. Students will be asked to transliterate, normalize, and then translate that text. They will also be asked to parse any verb forms and explain any other interesting grammatical features. Students will not be asked to compose words or sentences in Akkadian. They will be asked, however, to reproduce on exams major noun, pronoun, adjective and verbal paradigms, once these are covered. 20 pts
5) 2nd Mid-term exam. 20 pts.
6) Final exam. One third of this test will cover material learned in the earlier portion of the course, but its emphasis (two thirds) will be on material covered since the 2nd Mid-term exam. 27 pts.
Letter grades will based on the commonly used scale of 90-92 = A-; 93-96 = A; 97-100 = A+, etc. The lowest passing grade will be 60 = D-.
For further reference For the complete text of the Code of Hammurabi T. Bauer, Akkadische Lesestücke, 3 vols. (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1953) Rykle Borger, Babylonisch-Assyrische Lesestücke, Analecta orientalia 54, 2 vols. (3rd ed.; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2006)
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For a complete sign list Rykle Borger, Assyrisch-babylonische Zeichenliste (4th edition; Kevelaer: Verlag Butzon & Bercker; Neukirchen- Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1988) René Labat, Manuel d’épigraphie akkadienne (Signes, Syllabaire, Idéogrammes) 5th ed. (Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, S.A., 1976) -- This is the more useful work. It is available on line at no cost at < https://archive.org/details/LabatR.ManuelDEpigraphieAkkadienne5Ed1976>. A very helpful free tool for anyone wanting to turn transliterations of individual characters or whole extended texts into cuneiform will be found online at http://cuneifyplus.arch.cam.ac.uk
Lexica John A. Brinkman, Miguel Civil, Ignace J. Gelb, A. Leo Oppenheim, Erica Reiner, Martha T. Roth, eds., The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (= CAD) (26 vols.; Chicago, IL: The Oriental Institute and Glückstadt, Germany: J. J. Augustin Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1956-2011). ASIN: B07VDG831M (21 volumes in 26 hardback bindings); Amazon: $1,400.00. This monumental work is available online at no cost at
General grammars Richard Caplice, with Daniel Snell, Introduction to Akkadian (4th edition; Studia Pohl: Series Maior 9; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2002) ISBN: 978-8876535666; Amazon $33.68 – this is available online without cost (https://archive.org/details/IntroductionToAkkadian2002). This is an unusually succinct and well respected first year grammar. John Huehnergard, A Grammar of Akkadian (3rd edition; Harvard Semitic Studies, 45; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011) ISBN: 978-1575069449; Amazon $37.00 – this is available online without cost at https://utexas.academia.edu/JohnHuehnergard. Huehnergard’s grammar is the most up-to-date, extensive, and reliable resource for students of first year and intermediate level Akkadian. David Marcus, A Manual of Akkadian (Washington, DC: University Press of America, Inc, 1978) ISBN 978- 0819106087; Amazon: $57.17 Arthur Ungnad, revised by Lubor Matous, Akkadian Grammar, Harry A. Hoffner Jr., trans. (from the 5th corrected edition [1969]; Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1992) ISBN: 978-1555408015; Amazon $11.51 Martin Worthington, Complete Babylonian: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Babylonian with Original Texts (2nd edition; John Murray Learning, 2018) ISBN: 978-1473627802 Amazon: $47.15
Reference grammars Rykle Borger, Babylonisch-Assyrische Lesestücke, Analecta orientalia 54, 2 vols. (3rd ed.; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2006) Wolfram von Soden, Grundriss der Akkadischen Grammatik, Analecta Orientalia 33 and 47 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1969; 3rd edition 1995)
Useful items for further study of the Code of Hammurabi / ANE law Godfrey Rolles Driver and John C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, I, 1952, II, 1955) Moshe Greenberg, “Some Postulates of Biblical Criminal Law,” in Yehezkel Kaufmann Jubilee Volume, M. Haran, ed. (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1960) 5-28 Moshe Greenberg, “More Reflections on Biblical Criminal Law,” in Studies in Bible 1986: Scripta Hierosolymitana: Publications of the Hebrew University Jerusalem, Vol. 31, S. Japhet, ed. (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1986) Bernard M. Levinson, ed., Theory and Method in Biblical and Cuneiform Law. Revision, Interpolation and Development, JSOT Supplement Series, 181 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994) 3 George E. Mendenhall, “Ancient Oriental and Biblical Law,” BA 17 (1954 [reprinted in The Biblical Archaeology Reader, 3, Edward F. Campbell, Jr., and David Noel Freedman, eds, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1970, 3- 24]) 26-46 Raymond Westbrook, “Biblical and Cuneiform Law Codes,” RB 92 (1985) 247-264 Raymond Westbrook, ed., A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law, 2 vols. (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV [republished by SBL Press], 2003)
Other useful resources for general background A. Kirk Grayson, et al., “Mesopotamia, History of” in Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, vol. 4, David Noel Freedman, ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992) pp. 714-720 Samuel Greengus, et al. “Law” in Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, vol. 4, David Noel Freedman, ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992) pp. 242-52. Marc Van De Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East, ca 3000-323 BC, Blackwell History of the Ancient World (3rd edition; Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) ISBN-13: 978-1118718162 – Amazon $30.88 Jack M. Sasson, ed., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 4 volumes (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1995)
Communication with the Instructor In general, the best mode of communication with the instructor outside our agreed upon “class time” will be via email ([email protected]). For more urgent issues, you may contact me via my cell phone (617-771-7080) any time from 9:00 AM-8:00 PM, except Sundays. Please do not share my cell phone number with others.
CLASSES Sept 9-Dec 13
1) Wednesday, September 16, 2020
2) Wednesday, September 23, 2020
3) Wednesday, September 30, 2020
4) Wednesday, October 7, 2020
READING WEEK October 12-16, 2020
5) Wednesday, October 21, 2020 1st MID-TERM EXAM
6) Wednesday, October 28, 2020:
7) Wednesday, November 4, 2020
READING WEEK November 9-13, 2020
8) Wednesday, November 18, 2020 2n3 MID-TERM EXAM
9) Wednesday, November 25, 2020
10) Wednesday, December 2, 2020
4 11) Wednesday, December 9, 2020
12) Wednesday, December 16, 2020: FINAL EXAM
Last day of classes: December 11, 2020
Last day for written work: December 21, 2020
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