Program Description

Graduate research in Biblical and Levantine studies in UCLA’s Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) department encompasses the study of the ancient languages, archaeology, and religious traditions of the Levant from the Prehistoric to Classical periods. The ancient cultures of the Levant are defined to include those of western Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, the Egyptian Sinai, and Cyprus.

Research Tracks

Graduate research programs in Biblical and Levantine Studies belong essentially to one of three courses of study. While these programs may share some courses in common, programs are tailored to suit the research interests of individual graduate students.

1. Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic Languages (Schniedewind and Sabar)

   1. Hebrew Bible

   2. Dead Sea Scrolls

   3. Aramaic

   4. Ugaritic and Northwest Semitic Languages

   5. History of Israel

2. Archaeology of Ancient Israel and the Levant (Burke and Schniedewind)

   1. Archaeology of Ancient Israel

   2. Levantine Archaeology (i.e., Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestinian territories, Sinai, and Cyprus)

   3. History of Israel

3. Early and Late Antique Judaism (Bakhos and Boustan)

   1. Greek-Jewish Literature and Culture

   2. Dead Sea Scrolls

   3. Jewish History in the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods: Social, Literary, and Material Approaches

   4. Rabbinic Literature: Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud

   5. Biblical Interpretation and Comparative Scriptural Exegesis

   6. Early Jewish Apocalyptic, Mystical, and Magical Literatures

   7. Jews and their Others: Social and Cultural Interaction

Faculty Advisors (NELC)

Carol Bakhos, Late Antique Judaism and Jewish Studies

Ra’anan Boustan, Judaism during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods

Aaron A. Burke, Archaeology of Ancient Israel and the Levant

Yona Sabar, Hebrew and Aramaic

William Schniedewind, Biblical Studies and Northwest Semitic Languages

Related Faculty (NELC and Other Departments)

Elizabeth Carter, Near Eastern Archaeology (NELC)

Robert Englund, Assyriology and Sumerology (NELC)

Craig Melchert, Hittite (Indo-European Studies)

Jacco Dieleman, Egyptology (NELC)

Willeke Wendrich, Egyptian Archaeology (NELC)

Giorgio Buccellati, Emeritus of Ancient Near East and History

Rahim Shayegan, Old and Middle Iranian, Achaemenid, Arsacid, and Sasanian History (NELC)

Sarah Morris, Aegean and Classical Greek Archaeology, Greek Literature (Classics)

John Papadopolous, Classical Archaeology, History, and Culture

Scott Bartchy, Early Church History and New Testament (History)

Claudia Rapp, Late Antiquity and Byzantium

Visiting Faculty (Past, Present, and Future)

2008–2009 Ronny Reich, Haifa University & Israel Antiquities Authority

2008 (Spring) Steven Rosen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

2007 (Winter) David Schloen, University of Chicago

2006–2007 Ra’anan Boustan, Judaism during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods

Ongoing Research Projects

Graduate Student

Lectures in “Biblical and Levantine Studies” at UCLA