| CODE | NES1004 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Origins of the Alphabet | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit is intended to provide knowledge on the circumstances that led to the origins and subsequent development of the alphabet, with a special focus on epigraphic sources and material remains dating to the second and first millenia BCE, discovered in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The lectures are progressive and sequential and are built around themes examined diachronically in order to bring out the variety of social settings and interconnectivity across the regions and areas under evaluation. This study-unit aims to explore the significance of selected examples of material and epigraphic remains in order to chart the processes of social and cultural change that led to the origins and development of the alphabet. Study-unit Aims: 1. To teach students the origins and development of the alphabet; 2. To introduce students to a variety of scripts from the Middle East and the Mediterranean in antiquity that played a role in the development of the alphabet; 3. To train students how to glean a great deal of historical and cultural information on the Middle East and the Mediterranean in antiquity by drawing in knowledge of different areas where the origins and development of the alphabet can be traced. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. identify the various epigraphic sources related to the development of the alphabet whilst learning how to place them in their overall historical and cultural background; 2. recognise the main classes of material, imagery, and monuments associated with the development of the alphabet in the Middle East and the Mediterranean; 3. relate the archaeological/historical record of different areas of the Middle East and the Mediterranean to wider issues, such as maritime connectivity, socio-political connections, and the nature of contact situations. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. appreciate that regional and specific historical processes are often induced and related to issues which are wider in both geographic and temporal scope; 2. combine a close analysis of epigraphic sources and associated archaeology in order to reconstruct a complete picture of the past; 3. apply observations skills in daily life and think in an independent manner. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Ahituv, S. 2008. Echoes from the Past: Hebrew and Cognate Inscriptions from the Biblical Period, Jerusalem: Carta. - Amadasi Guzzo, M.G. 1997. Phoenician-Punic, in Eric M. Meyers, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Vol. 4, Meta-Sepp, New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 317-24. - Gibson, J.C.L. 1971. A Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions. 3 Vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. - Goldwasser, O. 2010. How the Alphabet was born from Hieroglyphs, Biblical Archaeology Review 36 (March-April): 37-50, 74. - Hamilton, G.J. 2002. W.F. Albright and Early Alphabetic Epigraphy, Near Eastern Archaeology 65(1): 35-42. - Healey, J.F. 1990. The Early Alphabet, London: British Museum Press. - Willi, A. 2008. Cows, Houses, Hooks: the Graeco-Semitic Letter Names as a Chapter in the History of the Alphabet, The Classical Quarterly, New Series 58 (2): 401-23. The lecturer/s will provide a more detailed bibliography in class/on VLE. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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