Hebrew and Aramaic Languages and Cultures

Specialisation of: Classics and Ancient Civilisations
Degree: Master of Arts in Classics and Ancient Civilisations
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 60821
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Hebrew and Aramaic Languages and Cultures is taught by Leiden University’s Department of Hebrew and Aramaic, which houses the only Chair of both Hebrew and Aramaic world-wide. In this programme, you have the chance to study Classical Hebrew and the various Aramaic languages through their 3000-year history. While you have the opportunity to take courses in Modern Hebrew language and literature and contemporary Israeli society, you can also explore various Aramaic languages and literatures, including Syriac, Targumic Aramaic and Imperial Aramaic.

Our aim is to ensure that you will acquire a broad overview of Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as a thorough knowledge of your chosen field of focus. You will also have acquired the following main skills:

  • Thorough analytical training
  • Linguistic expertise
  • Creative thinking on demanding, yet non-mainstream topics
  • The patience necessary to carry out independent work successfully
  • The ability to find your way through—and to assess the quality of—primary sources and secondary literature in various modern languages
  • The skill to present the results of your research spoken and written, thereby marshalling clear, substantiated arguments
  • Experience in setting up and executing a research project under expert supervision
  • Expert knowledge on various Aramaic languages, against the background of their 3000-year history. Subjects range from the historical grammar of Aramaic, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, to Semitic epigraphy and Aramaic in the Roman Near East.

Prof. Holger Gzella

Holger Gzella

“It is the contrast between the familiar and the exotic, between ancient and modern, which I find extremely fascinating.”

“Hebrew and Aramaic are two ancient languages intertwined in an almost unique way; and it is fascinating to observe how they still function as a bridge between East and West. Thanks to their complicated history of some three thousand years, they enable us to trace long-term linguistic developments.

While their first attestations in ancient inscriptions date from around 1000 BCE, both languages are still spoken today: it is this contrast between the familiar and the exotic, between ancient and modern, which I find extremely fascinating.

By studying Hebrew and Aramaic, you come across grammatical constructions which have been in use for thousands of years, and you can understand how and why they changed.

I am eager to broaden the horizon of conventional philology by means of approaches informed by modern historical and descriptive linguistics. Moreover, I am convinced that language and culture are inseparable from one another.

To be able to understand a text well, you need a good knowledge of the cultural background, especially if you are dealing with complex literary compositions such as the Old Testament. Placing Hebrew and Aramaic in their broader linguistic and cultural context is therefore of the utmost importance. This constitutes a crucial part of my research and teaching in Leiden. In fact, Leiden is an ideal place to do this: it can rightly be described as one of the major seats of learning both for the study of languages in general and for the Ancient and the Modern Middle East as a whole.”