Ancient Near East Course Descriptions
(Akkadian, Aramaic, Phoenician, and Ugaritic are listed under Semitics.)

Lower Division Courses

10W. Jerusalem: The Holy City. (5)
(Formerly numbered 10.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: English Composition 3 or 3H. Not open for credit to students with credit for former course 10. Survey of religious, political, and cultural history of Jerusalem over three millennia as a symbolic focus of three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Transformation of sacred space as reflected by literary and archaeological evidence through examination of testimony of artifacts, architecture, and iconography in relation to the written word. Study of creation of the mythic Jerusalem through event and experience. Satisfies Letters and Science Writing II requirement. Letter grading.

Upper Division Courses

M103A-M103B. Ancient Egyptian Civilization. (4-4)
(Same as History M103A.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Course M103A is not requisite to M103B. Designed for juniors/seniors. Political and cultural institutions of ancient Egypt and ideas on which they were based. M103A. Chronological discussion of Prehistory, the Old and Middle Kingdom. M103B. The New Kingdom and the Late period until 332 B.C. P/NP or letter grading.

M105. History of Ancient Mesopotamia and Syria. (4)
(Same as History M105.) Lecture, three hours. Designed for juniors/seniors. Political and cultural development of "Fertile Crescent," including Palestine, from Late Uruk to neo-Babylonian period. Letter grading.

120A-120B-120C. Elementary Ancient Egyptian. (5-5-5)
Lecture, three hours; laboratory, two hours. Course 120A is requisite to 120B, which is requisite to l20C. Grammar and texts. P/NP or letter grading.

121A-121B-121C. Intermediate Ancient Egyptian. (5-5-5)
Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course 120C. Course 121A is requisite to 121B, which is requisite to 121C. Readings in ancient Egyptian literature. P/NP or letter grading.

123A-123B. Coptic. (5-5)
Lecture, three hours. Course l23A is requisite to 123B. Introduction to Coptic grammar and reading of Coptic texts. P/NP or letter grading.

124. Middle Egyptian Technical Literature. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course 121C. Reading of Middle Egyptian technical literature in hieroglyphic transcription. Medical, veterinary, mathematical, and astronomical texts included. P/NP or letter grading.

130. Ancient Egyptian Religion. (5)
Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Introductory survey of various ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and practices, their origin, and development. Discussions of religiopolitical institutions such as divine kingship and pious foundations. P/NP or letter grading.

140A-140B-140C. Elementary Sumerian. (4-4-4)
Lecture, three hours. Requisites: Semitics 140A, l40B. Elementary grammar and reading of royal inscriptions, letters, and administrative texts from the Ur III period. P/NP or letter grading.

145. Sumerian Literary Texts. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Requisites: courses l40A, 140B. Reading and interpretation of selected Sumerian literary texts. P/NP or letter grading.

l50A-150B-150C. Survey of Ancient Near Eastern Literatures in English. (4-4-4)
Lecture, three hours. May be taken independently for credit. P/NP or letter grading. 150A. Mesopotamia; l50B. Egypt; 150C. Syria and Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia.

160A-160B. Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology. (4-4)
Lecture, three hours. Terminology, geography, principles, strategy of research, bibliography, and general survey of Near Eastern archaeology. P/NP or letter grading.

161. Archaeology of Prehistoric Mesopotamia. (4)
(Formerly numbered 161A.) Lecture, three hours. Survey of prehistoric archaeological periods in Mesopotamia. P/NP or letter grading.

162. Archaeology and Religion of Israel. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Survey of archaeology of Palestine from the Bronze Age to destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, with emphasis on religious development of ancient Israel. P/NP or letter grading.

163. Archaeology of Iran. (4)
(Formerly numbered 163A-163B.) Lecture, three hours. Designed to introduce students to Iranian archaeology from prehistoric through Achaemenid times. P/NP or letter grading.

164A. Sumerians. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Survey of main archaeological periods in Mesopotamia, with special emphasis on historic periods and with reference to neighboring cultural areas. P/NP or letter grading.

164B. Assyrians. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Survey of main archaeological periods in Mesopotamia, with special emphasis on historic periods and with reference to neighboring cultural areas. P/NP or letter grading.

164C. Babylonians. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Survey of main archaeological periods in Mesopotamia, with special emphasis on historic periods and with reference to neighboring cultural areas. P/NP or letter grading.

165. Archaeology of Pharaonic Egypt. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Requisites: courses M104A, M104B. Selected topics on archaeology of Pharaonic Egypt, with emphasis on material culture as source for political, social, and economic history of ancient Egypt. P/NP or letter grading.

170. Introduction to Biblical Studies. (4)
Lecture, two hours. Knowledge of original languages not required. The Bible (Old and New Testaments) as a book. Canon, text, and versions. Linguistic, literary, historical, and religious approaches to Bible study. Survey of history of interpretation from antiquity to the present. P/NP or letter grading.

M193D. Religions of Ancient Near East. (4)
(Same as History M193D.) Lecture. Designed for juniors/seniors. Main polytheistic systems of ancient Near East, with emphasis on Mesopotamia and Syria and with reference to religion of ancient Israel: varying concepts of divinity, hierarchies of gods, prayer and cult, magics, wisdom, and moral conduct. P/NP or letter grading.

199. Special Studies in the Ancient Near East. (2 to 8)
Tutorial, to be arranged. P/NP or letter grading.

Graduate Courses

210. Late Egyptian. (4)
Lecture, three hours. Requisites: courses 121A, l2lB, 121C. Late Egyptian grammar and reading of both hieroglyphic and hieratic texts. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

211A-211B. Egyptian Texts of the Greco-Roman Period. (4-4)
Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course 121C. Introduction to grammar and orthography of hieroglyphic texts from Greco-Roman temples. Text readings and translation of various textual types. Letter grading.

220. Seminar: Ancient Egypt. (4)
Seminar, three hours. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

221A-221B. Demotic. (4-4)
Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course l2lC. Introduction to Demotic grammar and orthography. Reading of texts from various genres. S/U or letter grading.

230. Seminar: Ancient Syria/Palestine. (4)
Seminar, three hours. Examination of selected topics on political, social, and intellectual history of ancient Israel. Exploration of how historical, social, and political contexts shaped and influenced interpretation and use of biblical texts. S/U or letter grading.

240A-240B-240C. Seminar: Sumerian Language and Literature. (4-4-4)
Seminar, two hours. Readings of texts from various Sumerian periods and literary genres; selected problems in linguistic or stylistic analysis and literary history. S/U or letter grading.

M250. Seminar: Ancient Mesopotamia. (4)
(Same as History M207.) Seminar, three hours. Selected topics on political, social, and intellectual history of ancient Mesopotamia. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

250X. Seminar: Ancient Mesopotamia. (1)
Seminar, three hours. Selected topics on political, social, and intellectual history of ancient Mesopotamia. Course for students who participate regularly in class meetings but without the homework required in course M250. May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.

260. Seminar: Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology. (2 to 4)
Seminar, two hours. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

261. Practical Field Archaeology (2 to 8)
Fieldwork, two hours. Participation in archaeological excavations or other archaeological research in the Near East under staff supervision. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

262. Seminar: Object Archaeology. (4)
Seminar, two hours; laboratory, one hour. Selected topics in analysis and interpretation of Near Eastern archaeological finds in museum collections. Students work with objects in Heeramanek Collection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art. S/U or letter grading.

263. Seminar: Egyptian Monuments. (4)
Seminar, two hours. Selected monuments and sites in area of Luxor (Ancient Thebes). Architecture and decoration of temples and tombs; structure and occupation of settlements. May be repeated. S/U or letter grading.

M265. Depositional History and Stratigraphic Analysis. (4)
(Same as Archaeology M265.) Lecture, two hours. Theoretical understanding of depositional processes ("laws") which lead to site formation and of stratigraphic procedures to be used in recovery of embedded cultural materials. Study of issues covered in the literature, with specific test cases from actual excavations and site reports. Coverage of theoretical implications of such disciplines as surveying and pedology with the help of specialists. S/U or letter grading.

272. Semitic Background of the New Testament. (4)
Lecture, two hours. Requisites: Hebrew 102A, 102B, 102C, Semitics 130, Greek 1, 2. Study of Semitic elements in the Greek New Testament: traditions transmitted in Aramaic, relations to the Old Testament and to post-Biblical literature, and Palestinian Judaism. S/U or letter grading.

596. Directed Individual Study. (2 to 8)
Tutorial, to be arranged. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

597. Examination Preparation. (2 to 8)
Tutorial, to be arranged. S/U grading.

599. Ph.D. Dissertation Research and Preparation. (2 to 8)
Tutorial, to be arranged. S/U grading.

Related Courses

Art History
101A. Egyptian Art and Archaeology

History
M104A-M104B. Ancient Egyptian Civilization
M105. History of Ancient Mesopotamia and Syria
193D. Religions of the Near East
201A-201U. Topics in History