Courses in Ancient Civilizations and Biblical Studies (Division 314)

Winter Term, 1999 (January 6-April 29, 1999)

Take me to the Winter Term '99 Time Schedule for Ancient Civilizations and Biblical Studies.

Instructor(s): Eric Hanne

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU).

Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

See Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, and Islamic Studies 100.001.

Instructor(s): Bradley Cromwell

Prerequisites & Distribution: ACABS 101. (3). (LR).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Continuation of ACABS 102 with increased emphasis on the Biblical Hebrew verbal system and syntax as presented in Seow's A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew. Additionally, students will be introduced to select readings from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Final grades will be based upon daily class performance and homework assignments, quizzes, and three exams.

Instructor(s): Gabrielle Boccaccini (gbocca@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU).

Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Although it has influenced the Western world more than any other book, the New Testament – having originated almost 2,000 years ago in the eastern Mediterranean world – is not easy to understand. The course will, first of all, introduce the student to the historical, religious, and social setting of the New Testament. Then, we shall look at the various New Testament writings. They must be allowed to speak for themselves and not be clouded by any denominational or sectarian program. The student will be introduced to the insights and methods of modern scholarship when dealing with questions such as: What did the various New Testament writings really intend to say? How did they say it? Why did they say it? Finally, the problem of the development of early Christian doctrine will be addressed, albeit briefly. Why were some of the early Christian writings excluded from the New Testament canon? There will be two midterms and a final exam.

Instructor(s): Charles Krahmalkov

Prerequisites & Distribution: ACABS 201. (3). (LR).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

The student will be introduced to the elements of Biblical Hebrew syntax and other aspects of advanced grammar. Selected Biblical texts will be read, and their historical and literary backgrounds analyzed and discussed.

Instructor(s): Terry Wilfong (twilfong@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (Excl).

Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~twilfong/Syllabi/Religion/ACABS261.html

This course will be an undergraduate introduction to the religion of ancient Egypt in its cultural context. Religion was central to life in ancient Egypt, and in this course students will study Egyptian religion through its intellectual and material culture. Students will explore the definitions of religion in ancient Egypt as well as the Egyptian understandings of gods and goddesses, Egyptian cosmology and mythology, temples and their priesthoods, and the roles and uses of magic. A major component of this course will focus on the reading of the Egyptian Book of the Dead in translation and a study of its illustrations as an entry-point into understanding Egyptian afterlife beliefs and funerary practices.

ACABS 395. Ancient Civilizations and Biblical Studies: Directed Readings.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (1-3). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

No Description Provided.

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Instructor(s): Gary Beckman (sidd@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: ACABS 411. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Introduction to the Semitic language of ancient Babylonia and to the cuneiform writing system. The first term (411) concentrates on a presentation of basic grammar, and the second term (412) on the reading of several ancient texts in cuneiform. Grammatical lectures, student recitation, homework assignments. Weekly quizzes, midterm, and final examination.

Section 001 – History and Culture of the Hittites

Instructor(s): Gary Beckman (sidd@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Introduction to the civilization of the Hittites, whose empire flourished from c. 1700-1200 BCE in what is today central Turkey and northern Syria. Speakers of the earliest-known Indo-European language, the Hittites borrowed beliefs and institutions from their indigenous predecessors in Anatolia as well as from the cuneiform civilization of Mesopotamia to create a hybrid culture. This course will place the Hittite state in its ecological and historical context. Students will be encouraged to develop their own interpretation of this ancient social system through the reading of Hittite texts in translation.

ACABS 498. Senior Honors Thesis.

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor. (1-6). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT).

No Description Provided.

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Instructor(s): Piotr Michalowski (piotrm@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: ACABS 511. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Continuation of Introduction to Sumerian with emphasis on learning to read.

Instructor(s): Charles Krahmalkov

Prerequisites & Distribution: ACABS 581. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Readings in the Ras Shamra texts, with emphasis on the development of the Canaanite languages.

Section 001 – The Middle Kingdom in Context

Instructor(s): Janet Richards (jerichar@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: ACABS 281 or 382. (3). (Excl). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

The Middle Kingdom period (ca. 2040-1650 bce) occupied a uniquely pivotal position in ancient Egyptian history. Strongly centralized politically, it marked the first truly expansive phase of Egypt's move towards the creation of empire, a trend more fully realized in the New Kingdom. Also a period of dynamic development in literary, religious and social realms, it was identified by Egyptians of later periods as a "classical" time, and ideological reference to it provided a powerful legitimizing tool for subsequent kings. In this seminar we will critically examine the range of data – textual, iconographic, and archaeological – from which we construct the history of this period, contextualizing the Middle Kingdom not only within Egypt's history and environment, but also within the wider world of which Egypt was increasingly an inextricable part: Africa, the Mediterranean, and southwest Asia. In so doing we will consider the Egyptian state in the Middle Kingdom as part of a world system, and build an understanding of the complex relationships between polities and populations within that system. Exam, oral presentation, and research paper.

Section 001 – Mesopotamian Economic Systems

Instructor(s): Norman Yoffee (nyoffee@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This seminar will survey major aspects of Mesopotamian economy from the end of the Uruk period through the Hellenistic period. The first part of the seminar will consist of readings about economic systems in the various periods of Mesopotamian history. We shall consider especially the nature of economic "embeddedness" in Mesopotamian society and the effects of political systems on production, consumption, and exchange in Mesopotamia. The last part of the seminar will consist of student presentations. Participants in the seminar are expected to have advanced knowledge of Mesopotamian history/archaeology.

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