Rabbinic Aramaic

Catalog description

This course will focus on readings in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (JPA) and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (JBA). The first portion of the course will focus on the former, and the second portion on the latter. We will read passages from a wide variety of texts, including the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, targumic and midrashic literature, Geonic texts, and an assortment of inscriptions and magical texts. While there will be an emphasis on grammatical analysis, some attention will be devoted to larger literary and historical issues related to the texts. For the most part, our approach will be inductive as we will observe the features of the different dialects in action through study of the texts themselves. Basic knowledge of Aramaic is required.