Introduction to the Sumerian Language, Script, and Culture

Online Class at the Oriental Institute

February 22, 2022 – April 26, 2022
Cost: Non-members ($392), Members ($314), Docents/Volunteers/OI Travellers ($157).

Lectures will be online via Zoom, Tuesdays, February 22 – April 26 (Class does not meet the weeks of March 22 and April 5)

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Colton Sigmund, a PhD candidate in Sumerology, will hold an online course of Sumerian for the Oriental Institute. This course aims to familiarize learners with the Sumerian language and the cuneiform script it was written in. Sumerian – an agglutinative linguistic isolate that was spoken in southern Mesopotamia from at least the fourth millennium BCE to sometime early in the second millennium BCE – is a fascinating language. It can, however, appear intimidating to independent learners due to conflicting views espoused in the secondary literature and various grammatical phenomena that are still imperfectly understood. This course aims to make the Sumerian language and the cuneiform script approachable and enjoyable.