Jerusalem University College

Course Descriptions

HCL 655 Northwest Semitic Dialects - Credit Hours: 3

Semester normally offered: Alternate Fall Semesters

Course Description

This course will examine and compare Ammonite, Hebrew, Moabite, and Phoenician inscriptions, so that students are able to read Iron Age inscriptions of Israel's neighbors. Special emphasis will be placed on Comparative Semitic linguistic features and forming a dialect geography of the Northwest Semitic languages. Prerequisite: HCL 6/410 and HCL 6/411. Open to second-year M.A. students.

Course Equivalencies

  • Language - Hebrew
  • Comparative Linguistics
  • Semitic Languages

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

  • read Iron Age inscriptions in Hebrew, Old Aramaic, Phoenician, Punic, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, and Deir Allah;
  • understand the basics of the science of epigraphy;
  • have a basic understanding of Levantine dialect geography; and
  • exercise tools for further research in Northwest Semitic linguistics.

Field Study

In-Residence Only: A one-day interactive field study at a site where students can encounter biblical Hebrew texts, such as the Israel Museum or a synagogue.

Northwest Semitic Dialects - JUC