Taught by Prof. Leonid Kogan (HSE, Moscow)
This class aims at providing access to Eblaite – by far the earliest attested Semitic language (2400–2300 BCE). Genealogically, Eblaite is a sister tongue of Mesopotamian Akkadian and, together with it, forms the Eastern branch of Semitic (ES). Geographically, however, it is far removed from Sumer and Akkad, being located in North-Western Syria and testifying to the early presence of the ES language tipe in this area, otherwise known to be home to West Semitic (WS) tongues. The past decade has witnessed a renewed interest towards the grammatical and lexical heritage of Ebla (notably, its comparative dimension), and the teacher expects to share with its audience some first-hand knowledge in this exciting, novel domain of Semitic philology.
PREREQUISITES
Basic knowledge of Akkadian is desirable. Knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, Ugaritic, other Semitic languages as well as Sumerian is helpful. All linguistic materials will be presented in transliteration, no knowledge of the cuneiform script is needed.
METHODOLOGY
Lectures, home assignments, reading assignments including submitting short opinion papers and class collaborative learning in groups.
Open
Nov 17, 2026 – Feb 2, 2027
2.5 Months
Online
20 Academic Hours
Tuesdays 18:00 - 19:40 (Jerusalem time)
ILS 950
Taught by Prof. Leonid Kogan (HSE, Moscow)
MODE OF ASSESMENT
Final exam.
PROGRAM
Class 1: An introduction to the Eblaite text corpus and the basic tools of Eblaite philology.
Classes 2-3: The Eblaite syllabary: orthography and phonology
Class 4: Eblaite morphology: pronouns
Class 5: Eblaite morphology: nouns
Class 6: Eblaite morphology: verbs
Class 7-8: Reading text samples in transcription
Class 9: Eblaite vs. Mesopotamian Akkadian: some basic differences in a comparative perspective
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amalia Catagnoti. La grammatica della lingua di Ebla. Firenze.
Leonid Kogan and Manfred Krebernik. Eblaite. History of the Akkadian Language. Leiden, 2021. Pp. 664–989.
John Huehnergard and Christopher Woods. Akkadian and Eblaite. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages. Cambridge, 2004. Pp. 218–287.
N.J.C. Kouwenberg. The Akkadian Verb and Its Semitic Background. Winona Lake, 2010.
Additional bibliography Will be provided per topic.
Please send an email to [email protected] to request registration. In the email please submit a CV and a letter of interest and indicate the name of the course and your name in the subject line, otherwise, the application cannot be processed.
For language courses: To book a seat in the course, the student needs to pay the full tuition or the registration fee.
For academic programs: Students who have been accepted to a program will be asked to confirm their attendance by paying the registration fee which is part of the total tuition fee for the academic year when they begin their studies.
| Eblaite |
|---|
| ILS 950 |
Ancient Greek
Biblical Hebrew
Latin
Classical Syriac
Coptic
Modern Hebrew
Modern Standard Arabic
Spoken Arabic
Akkadian
Ancient Egyptian
Eblaite
Elamite
Ge'ez
Hurrian