ANELC eLecture Series 2021: Aramaic Letters from Bactria

 The ANELC 2021 eLecture series concluded today with a presentation by Margaretha Folmer (Leiden University/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). She offers a look at linguistic markers in Aramaic letters from a non-Semitic region, Bactria, a region that is heavily contested today and the subject of global news—Northern Afghanistan. Folmer wishes her research be received to contribute to…

ANELC eLecture Series 2021: Egyptian Influences in Biblical Hebrew

Letizia Cerqueglini (Tel Aviv University) presented on the spread of Egyptian language found in ancient Hebrew. Her presentation focused on linguistic and cognitive distinctions in the etymology of Afroasiatic languages. She begins by asking how we can separate Afroasiatic linguistic heritage from direct loanwords in antiquity. Her presentation considers many aspects of the connection between…

ANELC eLecture Series 2021: The Tiberian Tradition Reading of Hebrew Bible

ANELC21 featured Geoffrey Khan (University of Cambridge) in the second of four eLectures on connections between ancient Near Eastern languages. Khan spoke about the tradition of Tiberian reading or pronunciation of Hebrew Bible texts. The Tiberian tradition of pronunciation for the reading of Hebrew was passed down by oral tradition and received by the Masoretic…

ANELC eLecture Series 2021: The Canaanite Language Melting Pot

To begin the 2021 conference on Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Contact, Ohad Cohen (University of Haifa) shared a presentation entitled The Canaanite Melting Pot – the Theoretical Implications of ‘Languages in Contact’ to the Understanding of Late Biblical Hebrew. If you are interested in reading more on Canaanite Language or Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH)…

ANELC eLecture Series 2020: Eblaite As An East Semitic Language

The Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Contact eLecture Series ends this week with a presentation on Eblaite by Dr. Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee, Associate Professor of Comparative Semitics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Hasselbach-Andee’s work includes a broad range of Semitic languages, and she has edited a volume recently published, called A Companion to Ancient Near…

ANELC eLecture Series 2020: Shared Features of Aramaic and Arabic in Transition

This week, the Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Connection eLecture series featured the research of two scholars on the connections between Aramaic and Arabic in the ancient Near East. Dr. Na’ama Pat-El is an Associate Professor of Semitic Philology at Harvard University. Dr. Phillip Stokes is an Assistant Professor in the Arabic program at the…

ANELC eLecture Series 2020: Translating the Bible from Hebrew & Greek Origins

Benjamin Whittle, a research student at University College London in Hebrew & Jewish Studies, presented the ANELC eLecture today. Ben’s research is in contact between Hebrew and Greek. This presentation focused on how Hebrew verbal stems are codified in Greek translations of the Pentateuch and Former Prophets. The Septuagint (LXX), written in Greek, and the…

ANELC eLecture Series 2020: Culture and Context of Jewish Greek Writings in the Second Temple Period

Dr. Marieke Dhont presented the ANELC eLecture this week, demonstrating linguistic connections between Greek and Jewish culture. In addition, her study provides evidence for a bilingual community of Jews in the Second Temple Period. This time period followed the introduction of Hellenism from the west into the whole of the ancient Near East. Hellenistic Greek…

ANELC eLecture Series 2020: The Heritage of Samaritan Hebrew in the Second Temple Period

This week’s ANELC eLecture was presented by Dr. Stefan Schorch, who is working on a collaborative project to develop a lexicon of Samaritan Hebrew. Samaritans separated from the main Jewish religious life in late antiquity. Their practices of prayer and worship increasingly moved toward Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem in Judah. While the two sects…

ANELC eLecture Series 2020: Egyptian Language in the Hebrew Bible

Professor Gary A. Rendsburg gave this week’s ANELC eLecture on ancient Near Eastern linguistic connections between Egyptian and ancient Hebrew. The lecture flowed naturally from last week’s, given on linguistic connections between Afroasiatic languages. While Dr. Aaron Rubin gave a detailed analysis of shared linguistic features, Dr. Rendsburg looked at specific words and phrases which…