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, NEW ZEALAND, AND CAN ALSO BE TAUGHT PRIVATELY ONLINE.