Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Cambridge
Graduate Studies
Admission to the University of Cambridge for graduate degrees (M.Phil. and Ph.D.) is handled through the Board of Graduate Studies. You are, however, very welcome to write directly to the Graduate Administrator at the Department of Archaeology, or directly to any of the teaching officers, for information and advice about the academic content and structure of the courses.
Masters Degrees
One-year M.Phil.
The 1-year M.Phil in Assyriology aims both to introduce students with little or no previous experience of the subject to the study of ancient Mesopotamia and to allow those already with some knowledge of the region's archaeology or languages to enhance this by studying one or more aspects to greater depth.
The course consists of three modules and a dissertation, allowing a fully-rounded approach to the subject. For those with no Akkadian, there is a module in Elementary Akkadian, which involves learning the language, grammar and most popular scripts and reading basic cuneiform texts. For those who already have a year or more of Akkadian, there is a module in Advanced Akkadian language and texts; the course also offers the opportunity to learn Sumerian. Additional modules cover Mesopotamian literature, religion & science, prehistoric through early historic archaeology or the later historical archaeology of Mesopotamia, and advanced topics in history and archaeology. Assessment is made through essays during the year and/or written examinations in June, with the dissertation due at the end of August. For full details, please see the Department of Archaeology Assyriology MPhil webpage.
PhD Research
We welcome applicants to undertake research into ancient Mesopotamian social and economic history, languages and literatures and into the prehistoric and historic archaeology of Mesopotamia and its neighbours. The PhD at Cambridge is a 3-year degree, and doctoral students should be in a position to begin independent research at the beginning of their course. PhD students are not required to attend lectures or take exams, although attendance at selected lectures and seminars is encouraged.
Your application for graduate admission should include a research proposal; please feel free to write to the teaching staff before applying, to discuss your ideas. You are also encouraged to look at the Research page for information on current research projects to which you might contribute.