90097 - Hebrew and History of Judaism

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide students with the basic linguistic tools (morphology, syntax, vocabulary) and with the historical and cultural knowledge needed to translate ancient Hebrew texts and to learn ancient and medieval Jewish history. At the end of the course, the student will have acquired ground notions of Hebrew grammar and developed methodological, historical and philological skills to be able to independently tackle the reading of the Hebrew biblical text. Students will also be able to prepare an initial description and deciphering of documents and testimonies in Hebrew on epigraphic and manuscript support viewed during the classes.

Course contents

The course will provide essential morpho-phonological, syntactic and lexical notions enabling the students to autonomously read and understand ancient Hebrew texts. Along with linguistic skills, the course will offer necessary critical tools for a historical and literary approach to Hebrew biblical texts, epigraphs and manuscripts, from the literature of Qumran to the medieval Bibles. The analysis of the sources will be taken as the starting point for a broader discussion on Jewish history and civilization from Antiquity to the Early Modern Times. At the end of the course, besides linguistic skills, the students will acquire competences required for a first analysis and dechiphering of epigraphic and manuscript sources.

Readings/Bibliography

For the exam

• G. Deiana, A. Spreafico, Guida allo studio dell’ebraico biblico, Claudiana, Torino, 2018
• M. Goodman, Storia dell'ebraismo, Einaudi, Torino, 2019, (chapters I-XIII); En. Ed. A History of Judaism, Princeton University Press 2019
• Ebraismo, a cura di G. Filoramo, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2005
  

Dictionaries:

• F. Brown, S. R. Driver, Ch. A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic based on the Lexicon of W. Gesenius, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1906
• P. Reymond, Dizionario di ebraico e aramaico biblici, Claudiana, Torino, 2019 (o edizioni precedenti)

Suggested readings:

• A. Sáenz-Badillos, A History of the Hebrew Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002 (Italian Ed.: Storia della lingua ebraica, P. Capelli ed., Paideia, Brescia, 2007)
• F. García Martínez, J. Trebolle Barrera, Gli uomini di Qumran : letteratura, struttura sociale e concezioni religiose, It. ed. A. Catastini, Paideia, Brescia, 1996, 2003

Teaching methods

60 hours. Both lecture and seminar classes, with students reading the texts and taking part in the discussion.

The students will be also invited to take part to conferences and seminars

Assessment methods

Oral exam.

The interview will allow to evaluate reading, translation and linguistic skills of the students, along with their ability to talk through the topics discussed in the classes and scheduled in the program.

The participation of the student in the scientific discussions during classes and in seminars is considered an element of evaluation.

The students will receive either the highest grade (30-30L), either a good grade (27-29), a fair grade (23-26) or a sufficient grade (18-22) depending to their different ability of reading and translating the Hebrew texts in program, and of answering with accuracy, critical sense and command of language, to questions intended to assess their knowledge in Biblical Hebrew grammar and in topics of History of Judaism discussed during the course and in the bibliography.

The student who shows gaps in preparation and inadequate expression will fail the exam.

Teaching tools

Further readings and materials will be distributed during the course.

Student who cannot attend the classes are invited to get in contact with me in order to receive an individual program and to fix the date of the oral exam.

Students with disabilities, including specific learning disorders (DSA), who need compensatory tools, should inform me of their needs in order to be directed to the contact persons, and adopt with them the most appropriate measures.

Office hours

See the website of Emma Abate