Hebrew and Aramaic Languages and Cultures

Degree: Master of Arts in Hebrew and Aramaic Languages and Cultures
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
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The one-year MA in Hebrew and Aramaic Languages and Culture is taught by Leiden University’s Department of Hebrew and Aramaic, which houses the only Chair of both Hebrew and Aramaic world-wide. Following this programme, you will study not only Classical Hebrew and the various Aramaic languages through their 3000-year history, but also have the opportunity to take courses in Modern Hebrew language and literature and contemporary Israeli society.

The information about this programme is available in the following languages:

You have the possibility to study Hebrew in its linguistic environment in the broadest sense of the word, and/or study various Aramaic languages, both individually and against the background of their 3000-year history. Subjects regularly on offer include:

  • Biblical Hebrew texts
  • The historical grammar of Hebrew and Aramaic and the development of the Tiberian tradition, which also lies at the heart of Modern Hebrew
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls
  • Semitic epigraphy
  • And many more

The Department also offers you a wide range of expertise in historical-comparative approaches to Hebrew and Aramaic and on other, less well-known idioms closely related to them. Ugaritic, Phoenician and Punic, Aramaic in the Roman Near East, for instance, not easily found outside Leiden, are quite popular subjects here.

Objectives

The aim of the programme is to ensure that, upon graduation, you have acquired a broad overview of Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as a thorough knowledge of your chosen field of specialisation. 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 communicate the results of your research orally and in writing, thereby marshalling clear, substantiated arguments
  • Experience in setting up and executing a research project under expert supervision.

Prof. 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.”