MPhil admissions
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Assyriology
Co-ordinator: Dr Augusta McMahon. Other teaching staff: Prof. J. Nicholas Postgate (on research leave from October 2009 but available for dissertation supervision), Dr Eleanor Robson (Faculty of History and Philosophy of Science) and other staff.
This MPhil course teaches the ancient languages, history and culture of Mesopotamia. It is a full-time one-year course, combining three taught modules with a research dissertation (15,000 words) and a Research Skills module and report. The course is designed to be flexible in response to the needs of students with different academic backgrounds and aims to provide the student with a good knowledge of one or both of the principal languages of ancient Mesopotamia (Akkadian and Sumerian), combined with a detailed study of one or more aspects of Mesopotamian archaeology and culture, from the later prehistoric periods (from 6000 BC) through the earliest literate and urban societies of the Near East to the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
The course may act as a self-contained course providing a good general introduction to Mesopotamia in the historical periods, or may be an introductory year or conversion course for those who plan to use Mesopotamian textual sources to undertake doctoral research. It is therefore appropriate both to those with some knowledge of Akkadian and Mesopotamia wishing to build upon it, and to those with no previous knowledge of Mesopotamian languages or archaeology. Language study is an essential component of this course: applicants who wish to study ancient Mesopotamia without the language should choose the MPhil in Archaeology, Mesopotamian archaeology option.
The range of modules taught will vary from year to year and includes:
- Module 1A: Elementary Akkadian language and texts
- Module 1B: Advanced Akkadian language and texts
- Module 2: Sumerian language and texts
- Module 3A: Mesopotamian culture: Literature [2009–10]
- Module 3B: Mesopotamian culture: Religion and science [2010–2011]s
- Module 4A: Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Prehistory to Early States [2010–11]
- Module 4B: Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Territorial States through Empires [2009–10]
- Module 5: Topics in Mesopotamian history and archaeology
By borrowing one module from another MPhil programme, the student will also have the opportunity to place the specific Mesopotamian case in context by comparison with e.g. ancient Egypt or to use it to address methodological and theoretical issues in the study of early societies.
The course structure comprises:
- One module chosen from the following:
- Module 1A: Elementary Akkadian language and texts, to be assessed through one unseen examination
- Module 1B: Advanced Akkadian language and texts, to be assessed through one unseen examination
- Module 2: Sumerian language and texts, to be assessed through one unseen examination
- A second module chosen from the following:
- Module 2: Sumerian language and texts, to be assessed through one unseen examination
- Module 3: Mesopotamian Culture, to be assessed through two essays of not more than 4000 words (50% each)
- Module 4: Archaeology of Mesopotamia, to be assessed by one unseen examination
- Module 5: Topics in Mesopotamian Archaeology, to be assessed through two essays of not more than 4000 words (50% each)
- A third module chosen from the list in (b) above, or a module borrowed from any other MPhil course offered in the Division of Archaeology, subject to the consent of the instructor and the Assyriology MPhil co-ordinator.
- Research Skills module, to be assessed through one written report corresponding to the student's presentation of his or her dissertation research design, of not more than 2000 words length.
- A thesis of not more than 15,000 words in length, including footnotes, but excluding appendices and bibliography, on a topic approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Further details
Language study (Modules 1 and 2): students with no (or little) previous knowledge of Akkadian will attend text-reading classes and acquire the essential grammar and vocabulary of the language, both in its classic Old Babylonian form (the Stele of Hammurapi) and in the later literary Standard Babylonian dialect (royal inscriptions, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and other texts). This will be examined through Module IA, as a 3-hour examination at the end of the Easter Term (in June). A student already familiar with Akkadian will follow the advanced Akkadian course, also examined in June, through Module IB. The text-reading classes for this course will cover other genres including letters, legal documents, divination and magical texts, and texts in Assyrian dialect. A student taking Module IB will also be able to take Sumerian (Module 2), which provides an introduction to the grammar and vocabulary of the language through reading selected texts of the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC, and is examined in the same way as Module 1.
Mesopotamian culture (Modules 3A and 3B): These modules introduce the student to Mesopotamian literature and thought. Because of the volume of material, it is divided into two courses taught in alternate years (Modules 3A : Mesopotamian literature [2009–2010] and 3B: Mesopotamian religion and science [2010–2011]). The teaching will be divided into four 4-week units occupying the Michaelmas and Lent Terms, in each of which the first two weeks will take the form of lectures from the teaching staff, and the second two will be seminars for which the students prepare material. To make the course accessible to those starting the languages, it will be built round translated texts and will be concerned with their literary history, purpose and social context. The Module will be examined through the submission of two 4000 word essays, one at the beginning of the Lent Term and one at the beginning of the Easter Term, the topic being related to the syllabus for the previous term and selected in consultation with the teaching staff.
Module 3A will concentrate primarily on the genres of texts traditionally recognized as "literary", including myths and epics, lamentations and wisdom literature. This will include the major Akkadian compositions such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the so-called Epic of Creation, but also a variety of Sumerian compositions.
Module 3B will cover Mesopotamian science in the broadest sense, including mathematics, astronomy and astrology, other forms of divination, medicine and magic.
Mesopotamian archaeology (Modules 4A and 4B): These modules provide a diachronic survey of Mesopotamian archaeology, with emphasis on themes and problems. The material is divided into two courses, taught in alternate years. The teaching is through a combination of lectures and seminars. The module is examined by a 3-hour written examination in June.
Module 4A, Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Prehistory through early states [taught in 2010–11], focuses on the late Neolithic through the end of the 3rd millennium BC and addresses issues of urbanism and early states, development of religious institutions and economic bureaucracies, trade and the creation of value, funerary rituals, and the effect of climate change on settlement pattern.
Module 4B, Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Territorial states through empires [2009–10] follows developments of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, including growth of empires, elaboration of technology, diplomatic exchange and hybridization in art style.
Topics in Mesopotamian history and archaeology (Module 5) is designed to give students who are already familiar with Mesopotamian archaeology a chance for more in-depth study and research into current debates. The course will be taught through seminars and directed reading, on subjects selected according to the students' knowledge and interests. The Module will be examined through the submission of two 4000 word essays, one at the beginning of the Lent Term and one at the beginning of the Easter Term, the topic being related to the material addressed during the previous term and selected in consultation with teaching staff.
In addition, students take the Research Skills module and write a 15,000 word dissertation on a topic in Assyriology. The dissertation is an independent research project; the topic will be decided in consultation with teaching staff and should be selected to match you own interests, abilities and previous experience. Applicants for the Assyriology MPhil will normally have undergraduate experience in archaeology, anthropology, classics, or ancient history, but specific knowledge of the ancient Near East is not a prerequisite.
For further information, contact Dr Augusta McMahon, co-ordinator for this option.