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Degree courses

Ancient Near Eastern Studies - also known as Assyriology or Ancient Near Eastern Philology at other universities - is the study of languages, history, and cultures from ancient Near East Asia in pre-Christian times. It primarily explores the cultures of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites and Sumerians, which were spread throughout the Near East (covering the area of today’s Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey) over a period of around 3,000 years, from the beginning of written traditions at the end of the 4th Millennium BC to the Hellenization of the Near and Middle East.

The program focuses on learning the cuneiform languages Akkadian (including the Babylonian and Assyrian dialects), Sumerian and Hittite. These languages were the basis on which the history, culture, society, literature, and religion of the Ancient Near Eastern cultures developed. In addition to a philological education, basics in archaeology, history and the culture of the Ancient Near East are taught. A special focus of the Ancient Near Eastern Studies program at Marburg is interdisciplinary cooperation with neighboring departments. This means that, depending on your area of interest, you can acquire additional skills and knowledge in the field of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Linguistics or Ancient Studies. Depending on availability, other subjects offered at Marburg University, such as Economics, Social Sciences or Gender Studies can also be taken.

At Marburg, the discipline Ancient Near Eastern Studies can be studied as two different BA degree courses. The BA in Historical, Linguistic, Literary and Cultural Studies (HSLK) teaches linguistics and cultural studies in a broad historical-geographical context in addition to a focus on Ancient Near Eastern Studies. With the BA Middle Eastern Studies, the ancient Near and Middle East is studied through a broader teaching of the history and culture of the Near and Middle East, from its beginning to present day. Before your course begins, you should arrange study counseling.

BA Historical, Linguistic, Literary and Cultural Studies (HSLK) (formerly HSTK)

  • Page for BA Historical, Linguistic, Literary and Cultural Studies (HSLK)
  • Information on Ancient Near Eastern Studies as an area of specialization
  • Courses
  • Study and examination regulations (as of Winter Semester 2017/18)

BA Middle Eastern Studies (formerly: BA Oriental Studies) and BA International Middle Eastern Studies International (formerly: BA International Oriental Studies)

  • Page for BA Middle Eastern Studies
  • Information on Ancient Near Eastern Studies as an area of specialization
  • Courses
  • Study and examination regulations

MA Linguistic and Cultural Studies of the Near East (LCNE)

  • MA Linguistic
  • Modules available
  • Study and examination regulations

MA Semitic and Ancient Eastern Philology (SeAE) (as of Summer Semester 2019)

  • Page for MA Semitic and Ancient Eastern Philology
  • Modules available
  • Study and examination regulations

Ancient Near Eastern Studies as a minor subject

Students from all degree courses can take modules from the department of Ancient Near Eastern Studies if this is permitted in the study and examination regulations of the corresponding course. Depending on the number of modules taken and prior knowledge (usually only in Master’s programs), a variety of modules from the department of Ancient Near Eastern Studies can be chosen. Further information can be found in the annotated course catalog.

Doctorate in Ancient Near Eastern Studies

  • Doctoral degree regulations of Department 10 “Foreign Language Philology”