Date: 29 July – 16 August 2024
Application Deadline: 5 May 2024, 23:59 (UTC+3)
The earliest historical documents from Anatolia were recorded on clay in a dialect of Akkadian known as Old Assyrian, by Assyrian merchants trading in Anatolia in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1750 BCE). The archives of the Hittite Empire preserve documents in Hittite and Akkadian that date to the Late Bronze Age (c.17th-12th centuries BCE). In the subsequent Iron Age, the Assyrian Empire expanded into Anatolia and left records shedding light on Anatolian history.
Organized by Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED), this 3-week intensive online summer program, aims to develop the skills necessary to explore these earliest historical records of Anatolia:
- a basic knowledge of the cuneiform script
- a basic knowledge of the Hittite and Akkadian languages
- the ability to follow scholarly editions of cuneiform texts using primary Assyriological and Hittitological resources
- an introduction to Sumerian and Luwian languages
The language of the program is English. For more information about the program and how to apply please see below.
- The program will be open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students—the latter will be accepted upon approval by the instructors.
- No prior knowledge of Hittite, Akkadian, Sumerian, or Luwian is necessary.
- Instruction will be conducted in English; therefore, participants are expected to have knowledge of English.
The program will offer Hittite and Akkadian language classes at an introductory level for two weeks.
The live classes will be conducted online via Zoom five days a week (Monday–Friday) and participants are expected to attend all the classes. Weekends will be reserved for homework and research. (See: Provisional Syllabus & Schedule)
The program will feature two intensive workshops. Participants must attend at least one of them:
- Introduction to Luwian
In this five-day intensive workshop, students will learn the basics of Luwian grammar and epigraphy. - Introduction to Sumerian
In this five-day intensive workshop, students will learn the basics of Sumerian grammar and epigraphy.
The program will also feature a guest lecture by a prominent scholar in the fields of Hittitology and Assyriology.
All course materials will be provided by the instructors.
Dr. N. İlgi GERÇEK (Bilkent University) – Hittite Instructor & Coordinator
Dr. Gerçek is a faculty member at the Department of Archaeology, Bilkent University. She holds a BA in Archaeology and History of Art from Bilkent University, and obtained her MA and PhD in Hittite and Mesopotamian Studies from the University of Michigan. Her professional affiliations include a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Copenhagen, as well as research and teaching positions at ANAMED (Koç University) and the Istanbul University Department of Hittitology. She is interested in the social and political history of Anatolia in the Late Bronze Age and has written on imperialism, frontiers, identity, and mobility in Hittite Anatolia.
Prof. Selim Ferruh ADALI (Social Sciences University of Ankara) – Akkadian Instructor
Dr. Adalı is faculty member at the Social Sciences University of Ankara, Department of History. He holds a PhD in Ancient History from the University of Sydney (2009), and has taught Akkadian, Sumerian and Hittite at Bilkent University between 2009–2015. He was a Senior Fellow at Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations between 2013-2014. He conducts research in the role of climatic change in the Late-Assyrian period, Assyrian and Babylonian literature and omen texts, as well as the role of the Scythians and the Cimmerians in the ancient Near East. His PhD dissertation was published in 2011 as part of the series State Archives of Assyria Studies in Helsinki. Among his latest publications is an edition of the Prostration Hemerology, in partnership with Enrique Jiménez and published in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie.
Prof. Jana MATUSZAK (University of Chicago) – Sumerian Instructor
Dr. Matuszak is Assistant Professor of Sumerology at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago (USA). She studied Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Archaeology as well as Comparative Religion in Tübingen, London, and Bern. She obtained her PhD in 2017 with a dissertation on Sumerian literary debates between women, which was published in the series UAVA of De Gruyter (2021). After faculty positions at the University of Jena (Germany), SOAS University of London (UK), and Tübingen (Germany), she joined the University of Chicago, where she is currently working on a monograph on Sumerian mock hymns. Her research interests include constructions of gender in the Ancient Near East, Old Babylonian intellectual history, as well as the transmission of Sumerian by native Akkadian speakers.
Prof. Hasan PEKER (Istanbul University) – Luwian Instructor
Dr. Peker is a faculty member at the Istanbul University, Department of Ancient Languages and Cultures. He holds BA’s in Hittitology and Near Eastern Archaeology, an MA and a PhD (2009) in Hittitology from the Istanbul University. He has taught Hittite and Luwian at Koç University between 2015–2016. He is teaching Hittite, Luwian, Akkadian and Ancient Egyptian at Istanbul and Boğaziçi Universities. He is interested in the political history and chronology of Anatolia and Syria in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. In his latest publications he has reconstructed the new chronologies of the Late Hittite Kingdom Karkamis and Gurgum (Maraş). He is the Deputy Director of the Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition at Karkemish.
ANAMED issues certificates to all students who successfully complete the program. If you need an officially issued transcript, please get in touch with anamedprograms@ku.edu.tr in a timely manner.
For the 2024 Ancient Languages of Anatolia Summer Program, the total cost for online tuition is 500 USD.
A limited number of scholarships will be given based on need and merit. Please indicate your wish to be considered for a scholarship by adding an additional paragraph to your Statement of Purpose.
Before you apply, please do not forget to review the “1. Requirements” section and make sure that you are eligible to apply.
To complete your application, please fill in the Application Form and request that your recommender(s) (preferably familiar with your language instruction) submit a recommendation letter directly via e-mail to anamedprograms@ku.edu.tr before the deadline. ANAMED does not contact recommenders. It is each applicant’s responsibility to request letters from her/his recommenders.
Please don’t forget to indicate if you wish to be considered for a scholarship by adding an additional paragraph to your Statement of Purpose.
It is important to note that, owing to the constrains of the online form, the application must be completed and submitted in one session without closing the browser window.
For a list of information required in the application form click here.
Application Deadline: 5 May 2024, 23:59 (UTC+3)
The results will be announced in June.
Please kindly get in contact with anamedprograms@ku.edu.tr for further inquiry.