Semitic epigraphy and philology

Course objectives

In consistency with the educational purposes of the whole teaching course, aim of the teaching unit is to give students knowledge and comprehension skills in the field of EPIGRAPHY AND SEMITICAL PHILOLOGY, that complete and/or reinforce those acquired in the first grade of studies. Moreover, it will make the students able to approach orginal themes in a research context, making more complex judgments, communicating knowledge and its process, and studying the subject in an independent and self-educational way. Knowledge of the epigraphic evidence and of its historical and philological problems in the context of the ancient Near East. Ability to analyze such documents.

Channel 1
ALESSIO AGOSTINI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Scripts and Languages of the Western Semitic world. Part 1: Introduction to the study of Semitic languages and their linguistic classification. Formation and diffusion of Semitic linear scripts. Comparative Semitic linguistics and its development. Analysis of the main phonological and morphological traits of the Semitic languages, and reconstruction of their reciprocal relationships, with particular attention to Western Semitic. Part 2: Reading, analysis, and philological commentary of a selection of texts, the paleographic, phonological, and morphological problems of which will be examined from a comparative perspective. The language of these documents may be Aramaic, Canaanite, or the languages of the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula. A different linguistic field will be chosen each year in rotation, which will be announced before the course begins.
Prerequisites
none
Books
The general bibliography and the additional references for the study of texts will be provided during the classes.
Frequency
highly recommended
Exam mode
Examination on the general part and on the texts analyzed during the classes.
  • Lesson code1055042
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseArchaeology
  • CurriculumArcheologia orientale
  • Year1st year
  • Duration12 months
  • SSDL-OR/07
  • CFU6