Assyriology (MA)
The master's in Assyriology, a specialisation of the Classics and Ancient Civilizations programme, at Leiden University provides you with a multidisciplinary study of the languages, literatures and cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia.
Why study Assyriology at Leiden University?
The master in Assyriology is a one-year programme that gives you the opportunity to study with internationally acclaimed academics immersed in the latest research and engaged in actively expanding our knowledge of the field. Your teachers are not only experts in languages and cultures of the ancient Middle East, but also active researchers engaged in innovative projects that constantly build bridges between cutting-edge research and the courses in your programme. The programme offers basic and advanced language and script training in the three major languages that were written in cuneiform (Akkadian, Sumerian and Hittite).
Tailor the programme to your interests
You will be able to tailor your study programme to your personal interests by creating your own combination of courses from the Assyriology programme or from other programmes within the Faculties of Humanities and of Archaeology. We encourage all our students to work with original clay tablets, kept at the Netherlands Institute of the Near East in Leiden. As a student of Assyriology you can join research programmes at one of our partner universities – including SOAS, University College London, Heidelberg, Würzburg and Münster. You may also benefit from the collaboration of classicists from different Universities in the National Research School in Classics (OIKOS).
Learn more about the study programme
What are your career prospects?
As a graduate of an MA in Classics and Ancient Civilizations at Leiden University you are qualified to work as a junior academic researcher in an academic environment or carry out further research work on a PhD programme. It is also possible to find employment within the fields of publishing or teaching, at policy-making departments of governmental bodies, within the education sector, or within cultural tourism.
Find out more about your career prospects
A centre of expertise on languages and cultures of the world
When it comes to languages and cultures, Leiden University is the university. The global expertise present places our university at the top. In Leiden and The Hague, we study languages and cultures from all regions of the world and from prehistory to the present day. In this way we create a broad view of the world; the key to mutual understanding.
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