A primer on Ugaritic : language, culture, and literature /
William M. Schniedewind, Joel H. Hunt.
- New York, New York : Cambridge University Press, (c)2007.
- xv, 226 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Ancient Ugarit -- School texts: introducing the language and alphabet -- Letters (KTU 2) : an inductive introduction to Ugaritic -- Administrative texts (KTU 4) -- Legal texts (KTU 3) -- Literary texts (KTU 1) -- Grammatical precis.
A Primer on Ugaritic is an introduction to the language of the ancient city of Ugarit, a city that flourished in the second millennium BCE on the Lebanese coast, placed in the context of the culture, literature, and religion of this ancient Semitic culture. The Ugaritic language and literature was a precursor to Canaanite and serves as one of our most important resources for understanding the Old Testament and the Hebrew language. Special emphasis is placed on contextualization of the Ugartic language and comparison to ancient Hebrew as well as Akkadian. In the Ugaritic Primer, Joel Hunt and William Schiedewind have given to the field its first introduction to the Ugaritic language ever to be produced in English. Informed by the most recent research, the authors provide a well-rounded and balanced treatment of grammatical information and texts. This book contains everything students beginning Ugaritic need: a fine introduction to the ancient city of Ugarit; a concise survey of the grammar; accessible introductions to the various genres of texts; a chrestomathy of more than twenty Ugaritic texts from different genres, along with helpful notes; a glossary of the words in the texts with cognates from various languages; and a listing of resources for further study. The work is user-friendly, clear and engaging. A very welcome addition to Ugaritic studies, this primer will serve generations of students.'