Study Plan of the Master's Program in Epigraphy

 

The Department offers a Master's Program in Epigraphy on the completion of the following requirements:

1-Fulfilling the conditions stipulated in the instructions of the Yarmouk University Master’s Program No. (3) for the year 2011.

2-Studying 3 prerequisite courses decided by the Department's Graduate Studies Committee selected from the following courses:

Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
Epig 401	Biblical Hebrew	3
Epig 402	Syriac language	3
Epig 403	Ge'ez (Old Abyssinian)	3
Epig 404	Introduction to Greek and Latin	3

 

3-Studying at least (24) credit hours at the level of (600) and pass them with an average of at least 75%.

• Obligatory specialization requirements, (15) credit hours, as follows:

Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
Epig 610	Research methods in Epigraphy	3
Epig 620	Northwest Semitic writings	3
Epig 630	Pre-Islamic writings and languages ​​of the Arabian Peninsula	3
Epig 640	Greek and Latin writings	3
Epig 650	Fieldwork in ancient writings	3

 

B-Elective specialization requirements, (9) credit hours from the following courses:

Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
Epig 611	Literary genres of Ancient Eastern texts and writing materials	3
Epig 612	Comparative Semitic philology	3
Epig 615	Ancient writings in Jordan	3
Epig 621	Aramaic and Nabataean writings	3
Epig 661	Political history of the Ancient East	3
Epig 662	Religious aspects in ancient writings	3
Epig 663	Economic and social aspects in ancient writings	3
Epig 671	Old Arabic and its early evidence	3
Epig 681	Special topics in ancient writings	3

 

4. Writing a master’s thesis and succeeding in its discussion exam, for which 9 credit hours are assigned. The thesis courses appear for registration purposes as follows:

Course No.	Course Title	Credit Hours
Epig 699A	Thesis	0
Epig 699B	Thesis	3
Epig 699C	Thesis	6
Epig 699D	Thesis	9

 

Description of Courses

 

Epig. 401 Biblical Hebrew

The course includes an introduction to the history of the Old Testament and the history Biblical Hebrew and its grammar, and shows its links with contemporary languages, and its nature in terms of being a religious language.

 

Epig. 402 Syriac

The course includes an introduction to this branch of Aramaic dialects, the most important texts written in it, and the role of Syriac texts in spreading Christianity and other knowledge in the ancient East.

 

Epig. 403 Ge'ez (Old Abyssinian)

The course includes an introduction to the regions, in which this Semitic language spread in the eastern part of Africa, especially what was known as Abyssinia, and its linguistic affiliation to the Semitic languages. The course tackles the script used to write Ge'ez and present an introduction to the Abyssinia ancient history. It will address the most important translations of the Bible into Ge’ez, which continued as an unspoken liturgical language in Ethiopia and Eritrea to this day.

 

Epig. 404 Introduction to Greek and Latin

This course includes an introduction into the history of these two languages, their grammars, the origins of the letters used for writing them, the periods in which these two languages ​​were used in the Levant and Palestine, the religious and political factors that led to their spread in those regions, and the most important inscriptions written in them in the Levant in general, and in Jordan in particular.

 

Epig. 610 Research methods in inscriptions

The course tackles approaches of solving scientific research problems, and ways of knowledge-based deduction and conclusions. The main tools for studying Ancient Eastern languages and writings, such as the basic publications of ancient writings, including periodicals, resources, databases and textual image materials thereof, will be presented. A special focus will be dedicated to the main grammatical sources of of the Ancient Eastern languages, their script, and onomasitcs.

 

Epig. 611 Literary genres of Ancient Eastern texts and writing materials

The course tackles the cultural shift caused by the emergence of the first urban centers in the Ancient East (Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula) that led to the invention of writing in the fourth millennium BCE. This paved the way for laying the foundations of historiography, thus providing us with indispensable information for understanding the societies that lived in that geographical realm.

 

Epig. 612 Comparative Semitic Philology

The course includes an introduction to theories on the origins of the Semitic languages ​​and the relationships among them, as well as the theories related to their linguistics subgrouping.

 

Epig. 615 Ancient writings in Jordan

The course includes an introduction to ancient writings from Jordan, presenting the Ammonite, Moabite, Edomite, and Aramaic writings from the Iron Age. Then it deals with the Nabataean, Greek, Latin, Ancient North Arabian, and Islamic writings, giving examples of each type of these writings.

 

 

Epig. 620 Northwest Semitic writings

The course includes an introduction to these writings based on their linguistic features, to determine what distinguishes them from neighboring Semitic languages, such as Ugaritic. Then it shows the two historical and geographical frameworks within which the Canaanite and Aramaic writings fall. The course reviews the history of these texts from the end of the second millennium BCE until the third century CE. The review includes the Punic branch of the Canaanite dialects, the Nabataean and Palmyrene dialects of Aramaic, and the languages of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

 

Epig. 621 Aramaic and Nabataean writings

The course includes an introduction to the texts written in Aramaic starting from Old Aramaic, down to State Aramaic, and gives examples of other Aramaic dialects, such as Nabataean, Palmyran, and Hadhari.

 

Epig. 630 Pre-Islamic writings and languages of the Arabian Peninsula

This course presents a brief survey of the epigraphical types that spread in the Arabian Peninsula between the late second millinium BCE   and the beginning of Islam under the generic name (Ancient South Arabian), including Sabaic, Qatabanicn, Mainaic, Hadramitic, and the so-called minuscule zabur script. The latter type provides rich information on the social and public history of the South Arabian before Islam. The course will also address theAncient Northern Arabian writings that spread on the northern parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant (known under the generic names Safaitic, Thamudic, Dadanitic/Lihyaniicand Hasaitic) This type of texts is roughly dated between the 8th century BCE and the 3rd Century AD.

 

Epig. 640 Greek and Latin writings

This course includes an introduction to the various genres of Greek and Latin writings. The texts are analyzed with attention to the technical and linguistic characteristics of the texts. The course also tackles the development and types of the scripts that were used in the Levant during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. The course further discusses the writing materials and points out the locations, in which the texts were uncovered.

 

Epig. 650 Fieldwork in ancient writings

The course aims to provide students with field skills to document writings from various regions in Jordan (e.g. the Jordanian Badia, Hisma and their environs.), including Ancient North Arabian and other Semitic and non-Semitic texts

 

 

 

Epig. 661 Political history of the Ancient East

The course gives a general introduction to the political history of the ancient East since the third millennium BCE, paying special attention to Iraq, the Levant, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, identifying the main political entities that arose in these regions, and emphasizing the political links of Iraq and Egypt to the Levant. The course also aims to introduce the political entities that existed in the “outskirts” of the Ancient East, such as Iran, Anatolia, the Aegean, and Ethiopia. The course is keen that the student recognizes the political time periods in each region, and their synchronization among each other.

 

Epig. 662 Religious aspects in ancient writings

The course presents the religions and beliefs of the peoples of the ancient East (the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Mesopotamia) from the fourth millennium BCE until the advent of Islam, based on the texts uncovered in those regions. The course will discuss the creation myths, the divine creatures and worship rites, as well as concepts of death and afterlife. It  also includes an investigation of the archaeological evidence of religious beliefs and practices, in order to understand the nature of ancient religions in the ancient East, and their impact on monotheistic and popular religions in later times.

 

Epig. 663 Economic and social aspects in ancient writings

This course includes a review of the economic and social life in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula in general and Jordan in particular, as reflected in ancient writings. The course also aims to investigate the economic data that came down to us form the civilizations and entities that prevailed in the region, including the goods and services they produced, and the textual evidence for them.

 

Epig. 671 Old Arabic and its early evidence

The course includes a review of the most important written evidence of Old Arabic, which represents an important stage in the history of "Arabic", starting from its oldest written evidence dating back to the third century BCE almost until the last ancient Arabic writings from the Arabian Peninsula before the development of Arabic script, which was used to transmit the Arabic language in later stages.

 

Epig. 681 Special topics in ancient writings

The course deals with a selected subject related to the ancient writings of the Ancient East, which is not discussed in any of the above courses.