This course introduces the language of the ancient Hittites, the inhabitants of the second millennium kingdom of Anatolia. Participants have the grammar of the Hittite language explained and begin to acquire a facility reading Hittite texts in the original, cuneiform script.
This course opens the door to accessing historical source documents and the Hittite language directly. Students see what and how an ancient neighbor from the world of ancient Israel wrote, making it possible to observe comparisons between Hittite culture and the Old Testament.
Access to the textual and linguistic materials of the ancient Hittites gives students an appreciation for the place of Biblical Israel in the pagan world in which Israel was immersed. The question of how Israel differed from its ancient Near Eastern 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 Hittites, as background to the Bible, with continual attention on connections with the Old Testament.
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 Hittite cuneiform tablets. This understanding of the notion of context carries over into the study of culture context.
This language is part of Old Testament backgrounds. Knowing it opens a window into the exploration of a very different culture from our own.
The study of this oldest known Indo-European language provides students with skills in learning the grammar and language of related languages today, as well as gaining an acquaintance with the history of language change. It opens the door to possible applications of this skill to related topics today.
Learning this ancient language is a fascinating, mind-expanding experience, opening the door to pursue the reading of Hittite to whatever length the student chooses to take his studies.
