This module is a precursor to Corporate Financial Activity and Capital Structure. Some of the concepts covered in this module will serve as the foundation for...

This core module will be compulsory for all MA in Public History students, providing them with essential training in the theory and practice of public history,...

The aim of this 15-credit module is to develop your skills and confidence as a writer. It will help you to understand the differences between school and university study. You will have the opportunity to discuss with a tutor and with a small group of fellow students how best to approach research and writing at university, and will learn how your work will be assessed. The module is taught in small-group tutorials over the first half of the first term and assessed by a 2,500-word essay (100%).

Ancient Languages and Cultures|Hebrew and Jewish Studies|Linguistics|Middle Eastern Languages and Cultural Studies|Other Asian Languages and Cultural Studies|Theology and Religion

The Aramaic language emerged from the Mesopotamian steppe, with the tribes that spoke it and eventually turned their language into a trade language, that...

The Aramaic language emerged from the Mesopotamian steppe, with the tribes that spoke it and eventually turned their language into a trade language, that gradually conquered the entire Ancient Near East, from Egypt to India. From the patriarchs as wandering Aramaeans, over Israelites returning from the first Babylonian exile to the scholars of the Talmudic periods, and beyond, including medieval Europe, Aramaic was a staple language of Jewish literacy. Indeed, Jewish Aramaic literature belongs to the formative period of rabbinic Judaism, including Biblical Aramaic, Qumran Aramaic, Rabbinic Aramaic in various dialects and literary forms (letters, halakhic debate, Bible translation, Midrash, liturgical poems, medicine, magic, responsa literature, and the Zohar).

This course will offer an essential introduction to both the language and the literature. We will focus on post-biblical Jewish Aramaic literature, initially the Targums (Jewish Aramaic translations), but also the Midrashim, Talmudim and piyyutim (poetry). All texts will be read in Aramaic, with detailed attention to grammar, to the Hebrew source text wherever relevant, exegetical traditions and practices, and linguistic developments.