Classics and Ancient Civilizations: Hebrew and Aramaic Studies

The master's in Hebrew and Aramaic Studies is delivered by internationally-acclaimed experts at Leiden University. You will benefit from a broad range of relevant adjacent disciplines for the study of ancient languages and civilisations – many of them rarely taught elsewhere – as well as from the famous library resources. Leiden University’s Chair of Hebrew and Aramaic actively contributes to scholarship in the field, and classes regularly reflect ongoing research.
Tailor the programme to your interests
The programme can be tailored towards your specific needs and is known for its close attention to individual interests. Languages and primary sources constitute the backbone; they equip you with a lasting set of tools. You may focus on the literature and culture of Ancient Israel against the backdrop of the world of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible/Ancient Judaism, from its emergence in around 1200 B.C.E. until its disappearance as a political entity in 135 C.E.
Within the limits of the programme, you may also expand your scope by putting a stronger focus on cognate languages: a great variety of pre-modern forms of Aramaic, Phoenician, Ugaritic, and other small corpus idioms, and their contribution to the region's wider cultural history. Electives from other fields offer additional possibilities for specialisation (e.g., Linguistics, Ancient History, etc.).