This course introduces the language of the ancient Hurrians, the inhabitants of the second millennium kingdom of Mitanni, in the region of northern Syria. Participants have the grammar of the Hurrian language explained and begin to acquire a facility reading Hurrian texts in the original, cuneiform script. They are also exposed to the history and culture of the Hurrians, as well their relation to the Old Testament.
This course opens the door to accessing historical source documents and the unique Hurrian language directly. Students see what and how an ancient neighbor from the world of the patriarchs and ancient Israel wrote, making it possible to observe comparisons between Hurrian culture and the Old Testament.
Access to the textual and linguistic materials of the ancient Hurrians gives students a deeper appreciation for the place of Biblical Israel in the ancient Near Eastern world in which Israel was surrounded. The question of how Israel was similar to and different from its neighbors is facilitated. The course opens another world of historical and cultural knowledge of a culture generally neglected in our society today.
This course studies the language of the Hurrians, as background to the Bible, with continual attention on connections with the Old Testament and the patriarchs.
Through learning this ancient language, of one of Israel’s neighbors, new concepts of Israel’s missional role in the ancient Near East emerge for students, which can expand their appreciation of missional aspects of the Old Testament.
The course includes a focus on the right study of linguistics, in which the concept of context plays a central role in interpreting texts such as Hurrian cuneiform tablets. Hurrian is also a rare language type, related only to first-millennium Urartian, but otherwise a language isolate. Its unusual ergative and agglutinative grammar expands the student's knowledge of linguistics generally.
This language forms part of the complex background to the Old Testament. Knowing it opens a window into the exploration of a very different culture from our own.
The study of this unusual language provides students with skills in learning the grammar and language of rare languages today, as well as gaining a sense of decipherment and philological analysis. It opens the door to possible applications of this skill to related topics today.
Learning this ancient language is another fascinating and mind-expanding experience into another world, with opportunities for future ongoing exploration beyond the borders of ancient Israel.
