Akkadian was the language of literature, diplomacy, law, commerce, religion, and technical knowledge in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). This course offers students the fundamentals in the language and cuneiform script in which the Hammurabi Laws, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Creation, along with many other texts, were written. The study of Akkadian will enable students to read the classics of Akkadian literature and understand the emergence and development of the earliest writing system, cities and states, social and economic structures, and religious beliefs. This course is approved for UC Berkeley majors in Linguistics, as well as filling a requirement for the Near Eastern Civilization major.

The Laws of Hammurabi and the Gilgamesh Epic are among the most famous compositions written in Akkadian, the language of ancient Iraq. Akkadian was spoken and written for over 3,000 years, and was the lingua franca of the ancient Near East in the age of international imperial networks. The rich documentation includes letters, administrative records, royal inscriptions, poetry, epic, and law. In this course, students will master the essentials of the Akkadian language and begin learning to read texts in the original cuneiform signs. Students will visit the Hearst Museum of Anthropology to see the collection of cuneiform tablets at Berkeley (conditions permitting). This course is the first of a two-semester sequence (credit can be earned for Cun 100A only), and is an approved elective for Linguistics majors.

Credit Restrictions

Students will receive no credit for CUNEIF 100A after completing CUNEIF 100B.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.