Photo courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum
How to learn Akkadian online
The modern way to learn a language from 2500 BC
The way to learn Akkadian online is with a live, experienced teacher using the premiere Akkadian textbooks and literature. The authoritative reference and most in-depth textbook is A Grammar of Akkadian (Harvard Semitic Museum Studies, 45) by John Huehnergard (Professor Emeritus of Harvard). Akkadian literature and grammar should be further explored by studying of the world's first great work of fiction, the Epic of Gilgamesh. The three ancient cuneiform scripts can be learned through a carefully designed regiment of reading, writing, and repetition under the direction of an experienced instructor.
Although Akkadian is a challenging subject of study, anyone can learn it using the proven teaching methods of Global Professor Group's Richard Jude Thompson (Ph.D. Harvard University, 2011, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations).
Dr. Thompson has transformed Huehnergard's thirty-eight-lesson textbook into three online courses of thirty lessons each and spread out into a format designed to accommodate students with busy lives. In a live classroom environment online, the student will work with an experienced online professor, Dr. Thompson, who will help and guide the student through the courses. Along with the grammar, the online courses delve into tablet 1 of the text of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the first fiction novel in world history. In each lesson, the student will analyze one line of Gilgamesh, and by the end of the three courses, a student will have read and analyzed the first ninety lines of tablet I of Gilgamesh.
Anyone can learn to read, write, and type the three ancient cuneiform scripts. Anyone can learn Dr. Thompson’s language memorization techniques. Anyone can learn the historical background and culture behind the language and the literature of the Mesopotamians.
Akkadian is known as one of the first written languages in human history, with roots in ancient Mesopotamia – sometimes referred to as the cradle of civilization. Babylonian Akkadian dates back to before 2000 BCE, over four millennia ago. For this reason, languages like Akkadian are foundational to the study of linguistics.
Through Global Professor Group’s Akkadian curriculum, you’ll learn more than just rote transliteration of characters and phrases – this immersive program, based on Amelie Kuhrt’s history, The Ancient Near East: 3000-300 BC, gives students a holistic exploration of the history of the Babylonian and Assyrian region and the development of the language. A thorough, line-by-line reading of The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest-known pieces of literature, that connects Akkadian to the earliest versions of The Bible provides an in-depth educational experience unique to Dr. Thompson’s program.
While some programs require intensive preparation and up to five hours a day of study, Dr. Richard Thompson’s curriculum works with real people’s schedules. 90 lessons, split up into 1-hr segments to help you learn Akkadian incrementally, holistically, and thoroughly.
We all lead busy lives, and that’s why Global Professor Group has built an Akkadian course that doesn’t demand a full-time pupil’s commitment. Each lesson is structured with 20-25 slides that take about 50 minutes with an interspersed 10 minutes of class discussion. Richard Jude Thompson, Ph.D., provides full .pdf downloads of all course materials, including his own exhaustive notes from his extensive studies of Akkadian and related languages, so students can revisit and catch-up as needed.
Using John Huehnergard’s seminal text A Grammar of Akkadian, students will learn the language from the ground up. While this book is thorough, Dr. Thompson’s lesson plan splits Huehnergard’s dense studies into easy-to-understand bits, accompanied by a line-by-line reading of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Course participants will see their comprehension of Akkadian grow with each lesson.
Participants in this online Akkadian course will go beyond transliteration and into understanding by learning the foundations of the language. In addition to drawing the ancient cuneiform with pen and paper and also touchpads/mouse, students learn Old Babylonian carved Hammurabi-style text, Old Bablyonian handwritten “cursive” script, and neo-Assyrian script, creating a solid base upon which comprehension of Akkadian can be built. Through this method, the classic text of The Epic of Gilgamesh will unfold and evolve as one learns more than just the sounds that the characters stood for, but also the meaning behind the words as one reads.
Similar to how scholars of The Bible seek out text in the original Hebrew, it’s always best to study works in their native languages. The Epic of Gilgamesh, while technically an epic poem, is widely considered one of the first novel-length pieces of writing in human history. Students of the Global Professor Group’s Akkadian course will learn to appreciate the text for its original insight into the history and spirit of Babylonia and Assyria.
Dr. Thompson has earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 2011 and has taught online ancient Near Eastern languages for over fourteen years. In addition to Akkadian, he teaches Aramaic, Classical Hebrew, and Classic Greek. His unique approach to language combines John Huehnergard’s A Grammar of Akkadian, with The Epic of Gilgamesh.
While Huehnergard’s A Grammar of Akkadian is considered the gold-standard for Akkadian textbooks, it is quite dense, and can seem intimidating to a first-time learner of ancient languages. Dr. Thompson has designed Global Professor Group’s Akkadian course in a way that breaks A Grammar of Akkadian up into digestible morsels. In addition to the line-by-line reading of The Epic of Gilgamesh supplemented by Huehnergard’s text, Dr. Thompson shares his own hand-written notes from his studies to aid them in homework or learning on their own time. This incremental approach eases students into the Akkadian language while allowing them to build a firm base of comprehension as they work through the lectures and text. After completion of the 90-lesson course, students can continue to read Akkadian in a fourth course, which covers the rest of The Epic up to the last line 281. Students will have learned to perform their own independent research and to seek out new and exciting resources for continuing their studies.
Dr. Thompson’s students aren’t simply lectured at, but rather they are invited to participate actively in the discussion, working, and exploring as a group. This approach sets Global Professor Group apart from other Akkadian programs online.
Students who enroll in Richard Thompson Ph.D.’s Akkadian language program are given exclusive access not just to course materials, but also Dr. Thompson’s decades of linguistic expertise. The course textbook is supplemented with comprehensive notes and lecture slides, all of which are shared as .pdfs for future recall and reference.
Global Professor Group’s Akkadian curriculum follows John Huehnergard’s textbook, A Grammar of Akkadian. and divides the 38 chapters out across three separate courses. The first course, for instance, covers chapters 1-12, after which students should feel prepared to move forward with further exploration. After completion of the third course, one will have a thorough knowledge of Babylonian Akkadian and will feel confident in leading their own independent further study of the language.
Students prep by reading the assigned chapters of A Grammar of Akkadian on their own time, alongside Dr. Thompson’s exhaustive notes and additional materials.
Students of Professor Thompson's Akkadian courses begin a study of one of the great historical and literary subjects in human history. We explore the origins of writing itself, through a proven, hands-on approach. Our courses unlock knowledge previously only available at graduate-level courses at top universities.
Dr. Thompson is a top scholar of ancient languages and a dedicated, experienced online teacher. He teaches every one of Global Professor Group's Akkadian lessons personally, directing the classroom or the private student through each lesson.
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The Global Professor Group system has created a platform for other Professors (those holding Ph.D.s) to connect with a global pool of students, who want to learn and to participate in the ancient and universal concept of the University. In such a University, the professor earns a high percentage of the amount paid by each student to attend the course. It thus employs the methods based on the cumulative experience of education throughout the history of humanity. Dr. Richard Jude Thompson believes that this concept could create a revolution among exploited adjuncts across the world.
With Global Professor Group, Ph.D.s are allowed to teach any course within their expertise, create their own curricula, and connect with interested learners everywhere. Rather than hourly wages, the professors earn a high percentage of the amount paid by each student (The Ancient and Universal University Model) freeing up Ph.D.s to teach what they love and receive fair remuneration for their time—all while Unlocking Knowledge that heretofore was only available to pupils at high-level universities. Dr. Thompson refers to this process as demochratizing education (δήμῳ χράομαι / demoi chraomai “to use for the people”) just as in the great universities of the ancient world used to do.