DSMB20 Reading of Akkadian Texts I

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/4/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Lukáš Pecha, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Lukáš Pecha, Ph.D.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 16:00–17:40 A21, except Thu 16. 11.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
DSMB16 Akkadian I && DSMB17 Akkadian II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The purpose of this course is to provide students with deeper knowledge of the Akkadian language using a variety of primary sources from the Old Babylonian and Middle Babylonian periods. Students will read more difficult Akkadian historical, epistolary, magic, divinatory and literary texts.
Learning outcomes
By the completion of the course the student will:
- have deeper knowledge of cuneiform script, Akkadian grammar, selected text genres and their historical as well as cultural context;
- further develop his/her abilities to work with complex sign systems, discuss and interpret them.
Syllabus
  • 1. Reading of Akkadian royal inscriptions, letters, incantations, omens and hymns from cuneiform autographs.
  • 2. Discussion of various issues of grammar, lexicon, historical and cultural context of the sources.
Literature
    required literature
  • A concise dictionary of Akkadian. Edited by Jeremy Black - A. R. George - J. N. Postgate - Tina Breckwoldt. 2nd (corr.) print. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2000, xxiv, 450. ISBN 9783447042642. info
  • Borger, R., Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon, Münster 2004.
  • HUEHNERGARD, John. A grammar of Akkadian. 3rd ed. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2011, xlii, 660. ISBN 9781575069418. info
  • NOVÁKOVÁ, Nea, Lukáš PECHA and Furat RAHMAN. Základy starobabylonštiny. 1. vyd. Praha: Karolinum, 2000, 416 s. ISBN 8071849979. info
    recommended literature
  • Bord, L.-J. – Mugnaioni, R., L’écriture cunéiforme: syllabaire sumérien, babylonien, assyrien, Paris 2002.
  • Bord, L.-J. – Mugnaioni, R., L’écriture cunéiforme: syllabaire sumérien, babylonien, assyrien, Paris 2002.
  • Farber, W., Schlaf, Kindchen, Schlaf! Mesopotamische Baby-Beschwörungen und -Rituale, Winona Lake 1989.
  • Frame, G., Rulers of Babylonia: From the Second Dynasty od Isin to the End of Assyrian Domination (1157–612 BC), Toronto 1995.
  • George, A.R., Babylonian Divinatory Texts Chiefly in the Schøyen Collection, Bethesda 2013.
  • George, A.R., Babylonian Literary Texts in the Schøyen Collection, Bethesda 2009.
  • Gurney, O.R., Literary and Miscellaneous Texts in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 1989.
  • Huehnergard, J., Key to a Grammar of Akkadian, Atlanta 1997.
  • Labat, R. – Malbran-Labat, F., Manuel d’épigraphie akkadienne: signes, syllabaire, idéogrammes, Paris 1988 (6th ed.).
  • Moran, W.L., The Amarna Letters, Baltimore – London 1992.
  • Rainey, A.F., The El-Amarna Correspondence, Leiden – Boston 2015.
  • Sigrist, M. – Westenholz, J.G., The Love Poem of Rim-Sîn and Nanaya. In: Cohen, C. et al. (ed.), Birkat Shalom: Studies in the Bible, Ancient Near Eastern Literature and Postbiblical Judaism Presented...
  • ...to Shalom M. Paul on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, Winona Lake 2008, str. 667–704.
  • Soden, W. von, Grundriss der akkadischen Grammatik, Roma 1995 (3rd ed.).
  • Soden, W. von, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, Wiesbaden 1965–1981.
  • Soden, W. von – Röllig, W., Das akkadische Syllabar, Roma 1991 (4th ed.).
  • Sullivan, B.B., Sumerian and Akkadian Sentence Structure in Old Babylonian Literary Bilingual Texts, PhD diss. Hebrew Union College 1979.
  • Ungnad, A. – Matouš, L., Grammatik des Akkadischen, München 1969 (5th ed.).
  • UNGNAD, Arthur. Akkadian grammar. Edited by Lubor Matouš, Translated by Harry A. Hoffner. 5th corr. ed. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1993, xix, 185. ISBN 1555408001. info
Teaching methods
Seminar reading and discussion of cuneiform primary sources, active participation of students necessary, independent preparation of texts to be read in the next class.
Assessment methods
Written examination testing the ability to read and translate more difficult Akkadian texts from cuneiform, and to comment on their content as well as historical and cultural context.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021, Autumn 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/DSMB20