Ancient History

Faculty: David Noel Freedman, David Goodblatt, William Propp

All Ph.D. students are required to complete at least one cross-field graduate course (typically in the HIGR 200 - HIGR 208 series) before advancement to candidacy. Students are strongly encouraged to meet this requirement in their first year, as their field and program of study permits.

Students in ancient history will be expected to demonstrate a broad mastery of the entire field, with special concentration as follows:

1. Major Fields  

(a)   The history of Israel in the biblical period.

(b)   The history of the Jewish people in antiquity.

2.  First Minor

(a) One of the fields listed above not chosen as the major field.

(b) Greek and Roman history.        

(c) The Middle East before Islam (western Asia and northeastern Africa from the sixth century b.c.e. to the seventh century c.e.).

3.  Second Minor

(a)   A field in history outside ancient history.

(b)   A related discipline, offered through another department.   

4. Language Requirements

(a)   All students will be expected to demonstrate a reading knowledge of two modern foreign languages, usually French and German. This requirement may be satisfied by any of the means recognized by the department.

(b)   All students will be expected to demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one and usually two of the three following ancient languages: Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. The languages will be chosen as appropriate to the student's particular interests and the requirement will be satisfied by departmental examination.

(c)   The second and sometimes third language not elected under (b) may be required if necessary for the student's research. Additional languages, such as Akkadian, Aramaic, Egyptian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, and middle and modern Hebrew, may be required as necessary for the student's research. The required level of competence will be set as appropriate to the student's needs and the requirement will be satisfied by departmental examination.

5. Core Courses

HIGR 255 Historical Scholarship in Ancient History

HIGR 260 Research Seminar in Ancient History (2 qtrs.)