SUMERIAN LANGUAGE: AN INTRODUCTION
Sumerian is perhaps the oldest language that has come down to us from antiquity, with clay tablets dating back as early as 3200BC. As a spoken language, it died out around the end of the 3rd millennium BC, but continued to be used as a literary language until the classical era. It is written in cuneiform, a script composed of wedge shaped signs produced with a reed stylus on moist clay. There are royal inscriptions, administrative and legal texts, but also an extensive literature of epic poetry, myths, hymns and laments and more.
Course Outline:
- An introduction to the Sumerian language and its history
- Presentation of the cuneiform script: phonograms, logograms and determinatives
- Introduction to the grammar of the noun, verb and other parts of speech
- Reading of simple building inscriptions, progressing to more complex royal inscriptions
- Reading of at least one literary text, probably Shulgi A, a royal praise poem
Learning Outcomes:
On completion of the course learners will
- Have acquired basic competence in the reading of cuneiform texts in Sumerian
- Have a better understanding of the written legacy of ancient Mesopotamia
- Have gained some knowledge of the philological and methodological issues with which Sumerologists engage
Eight two hour classes. Please enquire regarding price.
THIS COURSE IS REGULARLY TAUGHT IN AUCKLAND.