Cornell University Registrar

This course introduces students to the study of Akkadian, the language spoken and written in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq and Syria) for about 2,500 years. It was the language used by the empires of Babylonia and Assyria, the language of the earliest international diplomacy and treaties, and of epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh. Students will become familiar with the discovery, script and grammar of Akkadian as represented mainly in the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000-1600 BCE). Akkadian I covers roughly half of Huehnergard's standard grammar textbook, and is a prerequisite for Akkadian Language II.

This course continues basic instruction in the Akkadian language by completing the second half of Huehnergard's grammar. In doing so, students work increasingly with copies of actual texts, including passages from the Code of Hammurabi and supporting materials dealing with daily life in ancient Mesopotamia. Having completed Akkadian II, students are prepared to read texts in the original language, an essential step for careers in Assyriology, museology, Semitic philology, Old Testament studies and Near Eastern archaeology and history.

This course introduces students to the study of Akkadian, the language spoken and written in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq and Syria) for about 2,500 years. It was the language used by the empires of Babylonia and Assyria, the language of the earliest international diplomacy and treaties, and of epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh. Students will become familiar with the discovery, script and grammar of Akkadian as represented mainly in the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000-1600 BCE). Akkadian I covers roughly half of Huehnergard's standard grammar textbook, and is a prerequisite for Akkadian Language II.

This course continues basic instruction in the Akkadian language by completing the second half of Huehnergard's grammar. In doing so, students work increasingly with copies of actual texts, including passages from the Code of Hammurabi and supporting materials dealing with daily life in ancient Mesopotamia. Having completed Akkadian II, students are prepared to read texts in the original language, an essential step for careers in Assyriology, museology, Semitic philology, Old Testament studies and Near Eastern archaeology and history.