Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Track

Requirement A. Students must complete NEJS 8a (The Bible in Its Near Eastern Context) or NEJS 9a (The World of the Ancient Near East).

Requirement B. Students must complete at least seven other courses in Bible and ancient Near Eastern studies, at least four of which must be taught by members of the NEJS faculty. Up to three courses may be taken in other departments at Brandeis or at other universities. Courses used to fulfill the language requirement (see requirement D below) do not count toward the fulfillment of this requirement.

Requirement C. As part of the seven courses, students must complete at least one course in each of the following areas: (1) the Hebrew Bible/Ancient Israel; (2) Mesopotamia and Cuneiform; (3) Christianity or Judaism in late antiquity; (4) an area outside of NEJS that broadens the contextual or methodological horizons of Near Eastern study (e.g., in classics, linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, or literary theory), to be determined in consultation with the student's advisor.

Requirement D.  Students must study two languages of the ancient world, such as Akkadian, Aramaic, Greek, biblical Hebrew, Hittite, Ugaritic, or another approved ancient language. One language, generally Akkadian or Hebrew, must be studied to the fourth-semester level, and another to the second-semester level. In no case may courses used to fulfill this language requirement count toward the fulfillment of any other departmental requirement. Students who choose biblical Hebrew as the main language, after taking (or testing out of) first-year modern Hebrew, must take a course in biblical grammar and a biblical text course. Grammar courses include NEJS 10a, HBRW 122a and b. (NEJS 10a may be taken as a third-semester course.)