The minor programme
The minor “Language and Culture of the Ancient Near East” has three basic (obligatory) components: Babylonian, an introduction into the history of Mesopotamia and another into the history of the Levant. Depending on your major you can add other components, such as a course in Ancient History, Ancient Religions, or “Biblical and Classical Tales”. You must earn 30 ECTS altogether to complete the minor.
If you can’t get enough of it (or in case you need more study points), you can continue with Near Eastern subjects in period 4 and 5, e.g. Archaeologie van het Oude Nabije Oosten (period 4, 6 ECTS); Elementary Babylonian 3 (period 4, 3 ECTS); Elementary Babylonian 4 (period 5-6, 6 ECTS); History of Ancient Near Eastern Literature (period 5, 3 ECTS), or an introduction into Syriac in period 4.
|*Elementary course Babylonian 1||3||1||English||L_SABAOHK105|
|*Elementary course Babylonian 2||6||2-3||English||L_SABAOHK106|
|*History and Cultures of the Ancient Near East A and B (must be taken together)||3+3||1||English||L_SABAOHK206 (A) L_SABAOHK213 (B)|
|Basiscursus geschiedenis van de Oudheid 1||3||1||Nederlands||L_GOBAALG102|
|Basiscursus geschiedenis van de Oudheid 2||3||2-3||Nederlands||L_GOBAALG103|
|Bijbels en klassiek verhalengoed||9||1-3||Nederlands||L_AABAALG018|
|History of the Levant A and B (A can be taken alone, B only in combination with A)||3 + 3||2||English on demand (A) Self-study (B)||L_SABAOHK215 (A) L_SABAOHK216 (B)|
|Godsdiensten van de Oudheid||6||2-3||English||L_OABAOHK201|
Courses with a * are obligatory in order to complete the faculty minor.
In “Elementary Akkadian” you will be introduced to the Babylonian language. In “History and Culture of the Ancient Near East” we will focus on the political history of Mesopotamia, but we will also talk about how people lived and what they dreamt and hoped. In “History of the Levant” you will become acquainted with the background of Biblical and generally Levantine history. In “Ancient Religions” (Godsdiensten van de Oudheid) you will hear about Mesopotamian cults, ideas and practices, the rise of monotheism and ancient Israelite religion and about Greek and Roman religion.