SEMITIC PHILOLOGY

According to the Dublin descriptors, at the end of the course students will demonstrate:

1) Knowledge of the most relevant contents and methodologies of Semitic epigraphy;

2) groundings of Aramaic epigraphy from Mesopotamia (Late Antiquity, 1st-3rd cent. AD);

3) development of reading skills of epigraphic texts in Aramaic language in both synchronic and diachronic perspectives;

4) communicative skills enabling the student to spread knowledge and expertise in both specialist and non-specialist contexts;

5) development of learning capacities leading to a totally autonomous and self-directed study (Dublin Descriptors 2nd cycle qualification).

Class lectures

1) Introduction to Semitic Epigraphy (1 CFU): history of scholarship, a geographical and historical overview on epigraphic Semitic languages.

- K. Beyer, Die aramäischen Inschriften aus Assur, Hatra, und dem übrigen Ostmesopotamien (datiert 44 v. Chr bis 238 n. Chr) (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1998), pp. 191.

- K. Butcher, Small change at the edge of empire: the coin finds from Kifrin,       Mesopotamia 55 (2020): 51–69.

- S.R. Hauser, Ecological limits and political frontiers: the “The Kingdom of the Arabs” in the eastern Jazira in the Arsacid period, in: L. Milano/A. de Martino/F.M.   Fales/G.B. Lanfranchi (eds.), Landscapes. Territories, frontiers and horizons in the Ancient    Near East (Padova: S.A.R.G.O.N., 2000), 187‒201.

- F. Safar, Inscriptions from Wadi Hauran, Sumer 20 (1964): 9–27; pls. i–iii.

- J.B. Segal, Arabs at Hatra and the vicinity: marginalia on new Aramaic texts, JSS 31 (1986): 57–80.

- M. Sommer, Hatra — imperiale und regionale Herrschaft an der Steppengrenze, Klio 85 (2003): 384–398.

- J. Starcky, Une inscription palmyrénienne trouvée près de l’Euphrate, Syria 40 (1963): 47‒55; pl. iv, no. 3.

- J. Teixidor, Deux inscriptions palmyréniennes du musée de Bagdad, Syria 40 (1963): 33‒46; pls. iii‒iv.

- M. Truddaiu, Hatra e le sue monete, Monete Antiche 4.22 (2005): 29–35.

- K. Tsereteli, Grammatica generale dell’aramaico (Torino: Silvio Zamorani editore, 1995).

Texts are found in the STUDIUM web platform (access reserved to students).

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

Oral examinations will consist in a discussion of the contents of the course aimed at checking knowledge, reading skills of the texts and contextualization of their contents in the respective historical and geographical frameworks.

1) Describe the physical support, materiality and archaeological context of an inscription and link these data to the contents of its text.