Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts.

The course will be an introduction to the writing, grammar, and literature of Coptic.

A continuation of 1st Year Akkadian I, this class builds on the lessons of that class on the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts. To take this class without first having taken 1st Year Akkadian I requires permission of the instructor.

Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, instructor permission required.

After the "golden age" of the Islamic Near East in the early Middle Ages, the empires controlled by the caliphs began to fragment and political power devolved to a constellation of local dynasties, princelings, and entirely new ethnic and religious groups. This course traces the changes wrought by this fragmentation in the Islamic Near East's political, social, and cultural history. It is a period rivaled in its creativity only by the early Islamic era that preceded it. It was in this period that saw the arrival of Turkish groups in large numbers, and saw the cosmopolitan Islam of earlier centuries challenged by the arrival of European Crusaders, pagan Mongol hordes, and movements of reform from within. In many ways, much of what we think of today as "Islam" or "Islamic" are products of this period. Special topics include: the Eleventh-Century Transformation; Crusades and Jihads, the Mamluk Institution; Knowledge and Power; The Mongol Invasions; Timur and His Legacy; Gunpowder Empires.

Review and discussion of the principal aspects of ancient Egyptian history, 3000-500 BC.

This is the graduate seminar course in which a variety of aspects of Arabic literature studies are covered at the advanced graduate level. Students in this course are expected to be able to read large amounts of literature in Arabic on a weekly basis and to be able to discuss them critically during the class itself. Topics are chosen to reflect student interest. Recent topics have included: 1001 NIGHTS; the short story; the novel; MAQAMAT; classical ADAB prose; the drama; the novella; modern Arabic poetry.

The class presents a survey of the art and archaeology of Mesopotamia beginning with the appearance of the first cities and ending with the fall of the Assyrian Empire in the seventh century BCE. It presents the major artistic monuments of Mesopotamian culture, embedding them in their historical context. Focus is placed in particular on the interactions with surrounding cultures of Iran, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Persian Gulf and Anatolia in order to decenter the discourse from a strictly Mesopotamian perspective. The format is lecture; assignments involve reading response papers; there are in class midterm and final exams.

Specific topics will vary from year to year.