Assyriology (Languages, History, and Culture of the Ancient Near East)
58.03.01 In English and Russian
Level of education Bachelor
Type of instruction Full-time
Duration 4 years
With the additional qualification ‘Translator/Interpreter’
The bachelor’s programme "Assyriology (Languages, History, and Culture of the Ancient Near East)" is aimed at developing in students: professional skills of working with ancient written and visual monuments found in the territory of the contemporary states of the Near and Middle East (Iraq, Syria, Türkiye, Armenia, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Egypt); and a holistic view of social, economic, political, ethnic, cultural and migration processes in the Near East from the 7th to the 1st millennium B.C. Students also study in depth the ancient writing system (Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform) and the ancient Oriental languages and literatures of the peoples of the ancient Near East.
The bachelor’s programme "Assyriology (Languages, History, and Culture of the Ancient Near East)" is aimed at applicants who want to build a successful career in various departments of Russian and international cultural, research and academic institutions. Graduates of the programme can work as: researchers and publishers of Akkadian and Sumerian cuneiform monuments and works of art; teachers of languages, history and art of the Ancient East; experts in museum affairs (custodians of collections, curators of permanent and temporary exhibitions, authors of catalogues); experts in working with written and art antiquities kept in museum and private collections; and participants in international projects in the field of applying digital technology to ancient oriental texts and artefacts (Digital Humanities: Digital Approaches to the Ancient World).
The training of experts that are much-in-demand all over the world is the main mission of the programme in Assyriology. It has been carried out at St Petersburg University continuously since the 1890s at a level recognised by the international professional community. Upon completion of the programme, graduates are awarded the additional qualification ‘Translator/Interpreter’.
- Akkadian
- Sumerian
- Arabic
- Classical Greek
- Introduction to Assyriology
- Geography of Ancient Mesopotamia
- Ethnography and Culture of Ancient Mesopotamia
- History of Ancient Mesopotamia
- History of Ancient Mesopotamia: Historiography and Sources
- Ideological History of Ancient Mesopotamia
- Basics of Egyptian Writing
- Writing Systems of the Ancient Near East
- Written and Decorative Monuments of the Ancient Near East Represented in the State Hermitage Collection
- Social, Political and Economic Systems in Ancient Mesopotamia
- Sumerian and Akkadian Literature
- The programme trains specialists with the requisite professional skills, including cultural and linguistic ones corresponding to their major. Graduates are ready to conduct research, teaching, and organisational and managerial activities in the field of Asian and African studies
- The programme is aimed at applicants who want to build a career in various departments of cultural, research and academic institutions. Graduates of the programme can work as: researchers of Akkadian and Sumerian cuneiform monuments; teachers of languages, history and art of the Ancient East; experts in museum affairs; and participants in international projects in the field of applying digital technology to ancient oriental texts and artefacts
- The additional qualification ‘Translator/Interpreter’ significantly broadens the graduate’s professional competencies and enhances their competitiveness in the labour market
- Language training (Akkadian, Sumerian, Arabic, Classical Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Aramaic)
- Additional European language (German / French / English for Asian and African Studies)
- Students have access to: unique electronic resources in Russian, Oriental and Western languages; and the branch of the M Gorky Scientific Library. Its collection includes: more than 300,000 volumes of scientific, educational, fiction and periodical literature in all target languages; a collection of ancient manuscripts and xylographica; and rare and unique books and lithographs
- After graduation, students have an opportunity to continue their studies in the master’s programmes at the Faculty of Asian and African Studies.
Organisations where our graduates work
- The National Library of Russia
- The Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- The State Hermitage Museum
- The State Museum of the History of Religion
- Adel Nemirovskaya, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor in the Department of History of the Ancient East Countries. Her research focuses on: theoretical and comparative grammar of Semitic languages; Akkadian dialectology; and Aramaic dialectology; history of writing and grammatology; translation theory (Ancient Near Eastern literary monuments and biblical texts); and Ancient Near Eastern legal traditions
- Matvei Lopatin, Assistant Lecturer in the Department of History of the Ancient East Countries. His research focuses on: scribal tradition in the Ancient Near East; and animal and plant imagery in cuneiform and biblical literature.