SUMER 3662 - [Sumerian Language and Culture II]

(crosslisted) ARKEO 3662
(GHB) (LA-AS) (CU-ITL)

Spring. Not offered 2017-2018. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Prerequisite: SUMER 3661. Co-meets with ARKEO 6662/SUMER 6662.

J. Tenney.

This course continues to expose students to the earliest written language, Sumerian, begun in Sumerian Language and Culture I. It also tackles important historical and cultural questions of third millennium Mesopotamia, especially from 2500-2000 BCE. Each week will explore the specifics of Sumerian grammar and phonology through increasingly complex Sumerian documents. This semester focuses on Sumerian business, government, and economic documents as well as the language of Sumerian literature. Extra readings and discussion will provide a sense of the deep roots of the Sumerian historical memory and the problems and research questions that interest Sumerologists, such as reconstructing trading networks, the working classes, ancient taxation, and scribal training. Students will also be encouraged to explore the ways that the field of Sumerology has embraced digital technology. (RS)