van Soldt
Testimonial Prof. Van Soldt
“Mesopotamia can rightly call itself the birthplace of our civilisation.”
“Being able to read cuneiform script gives me access to a number of ancient languages of Mesopotamia, such as Akkadian and Sumerian. The language gives me access to the culture of the time; I experience how people lived then, how they thought, worked and practised science. Personally,
I am very interested in Babylonian astronomy... Without knowing about this past, we can hardly expect to explain the present day.
Our programme is located in the Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO) where there is a unique collection of cuneiform tablets.
Leiden University is specialised in six cuneiform languages. In addition, the expertise in Leiden is focused on the second and third millennium before Christ, in particular on Early Sumerian, Old Assyrian, Old and Middle Babylonian periods and Akkadian from peripheral areas.
The MA specialisation Assyriology is unique in the Netherlands. We work closely with the Universities of Ghent, Leuven, Heidelberg, Münster and Cambridge; students from the research master's programme spend at least one semester studying at one of these partner universities. Because each department has its own specialisation, we are able to offer complementarity."
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