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Honour Schools in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

A 

  • 1. The Board of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies will be responsible for the Examinations for the following Honour Schools: 
    • Arabic, 
    • Assyriology,
    • Chinese, 
    • Egyptology,   
    • Hebrew,  
    • Japanese,  
    • Jewish Studies,  
    • Persian,  
    • Sanskrit,  
    • Turkish. 
  • 2. The Board of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies will be responsible for the Examinations for the above Honour Schools (main subject) in combination with a subsidiary language or, in the cases of Assyriology or Egyptology only, with Archaeology and Anthropology. The specific permitted main subject and subsidiary language combinations are given in the table at the end of these regulations. 
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  • 3. Candidates taking Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Persian or Turkish as their main subject may take a subsidiary language as specified below.
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  • 4. Candidates taking Sanskrit must take a subsidiary language as specified below.
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  • 5. Candidates taking Assyriology or Egyptology must take either a subsidiary language or Archaeology and Anthropology as specified below.
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  • 6. No candidate shall be admitted to examination in any of these schools unless they have either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination. 
  • 7. Candidates taking Arabic or Turkish or Persian as their main subject will be required to spend a period of at least one academic year on an approved course of language study in the Middle East.
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  • 8. Candidates taking Chinese or Japanese as their main subject are required to spend a period of at least one academic year on an approved course of language study in East Asia.
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  • 9. Candidates taking Hebrew shall take either Course I or Course II. Candidates taking Hebrew Course II as their main subject will be required to spend a period of at least one academic year on an approved course of study in Israel.
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  • 10. Candidates may be examined viva voce.

B 

  • 1. Teaching for some option subjects and languages may not be available in every academic year.
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  • 2. Candidates, except in the case of Arabic, proposing to offer a Special Subject not included in the lists below must obtain the approval of the board both for their subject and for the treatises or documents (if any) which they propose to offer with it. Except in the case of Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, if the candidate so desires and the Board of the Faculty thinks it appropriate, such a Special Subject may be examined in the form of a dissertation.
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  • 3. Dissertations must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by 12 noon on the Friday of Week 10, Hilary Term of the final year of the Honour School. Dissertations previously submitted for the same Honour School within the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies may be resubmitted. No dissertation will be accepted if it has already been submitted, wholly or substantially, for another Honour School or degree of this University, or for a degree of any other institution. The dissertation shall not exceed 15,000 words. 
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  • 4. Oral examinations for Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew (Course II), Japanese, Persian, and Turkish will be held in early Trinity term in the final year of the Honour School.

Main Subjects 

Arabic  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. Arabic unprepared translation into English and comprehension 
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  • 2. Composition in Arabic 
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  • 3. Oral 
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  • 4. Arabic literature 
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  • 5. Islamic history 
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  • 6. Islamic religion 
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  • 7. A Further Subject taught in Year 3 chosen from a list published in the course handbook
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  • 8. and 9.  A Special Subject taught in Year 4  (to be examined in two papers), chosen from a list published in the course handbook.
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  • Special Subjects will be examined by means of a timed paper, and by means of an extended essay. The extended essay shall not exceed 6,000 words and shall be on a topic or theme selected by the candidate from a question paper published by the examiners on Friday of week 4 of Michaelmas term of year 4. Essays must be submitted by 12 noon on Friday of  week 0 of Hilary term of year 4. 
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  • 10. A dissertation 

Arabic with a subsidiary language  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • (a) Papers 1-6 and 10 as given for Arabic above.  
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  • (b) Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language. 

Assyriology

Candidates must take ten papers as set out in (a) and (b) below: 

(a) Candidates must take the following papers 

    1. Akkadian: Translation Paper
    2. Akkadian: Prepared Texts
    3. Akkadian: Text Edition Essay: a submitted essay (take-home paper).
    4. A Special Option, to be chosen from a list of topics published at the beginning of Michaelmas Term each year for examination in the following academic year. Candidates may instead propose their own Special Option, which must be approved by the Board of the Faculty by Friday of 0th week of Michaelmas Term of the candidate's final year. 
    5. Selected Mesopotamian artefacts together with essay questions on material culture. 
    6. A General Paper on Assyriology. 
    7. A dissertation on a topic to be approved by the Board of the Faculty, of a different character from the topic chosen for paper 4 (the topic will typically relate to the main subject but could relate to the subsidiary language or Archaeology and Anthropology or to an area of overlap). 

(b) Candidates must take the following papers 

Either 

     Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language.  

Or 

    1. The Nature of Archaeological and Anthropological Enquiry
    2. One further Archaeology paper from the list published in the course handbook
    3. One further Anthropology paper from the list published in the course handbook. 

Chinese 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. Modern Chinese I 
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  • 2. Modern Chinese II 
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  • 3. Oral 
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  • 4. Classical I 
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  • 5. Classical II 
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  • 6. Modern China 
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  • 7. Dissertation on a subject approved by the Board of the Faculty. The dissertation will be in the same area as that chosen in Special Options I or II or Linguistics (if available) 
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  • 8. Special Option I: Texts and Essays 
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  • 9 . Special Option II: Texts and Essays 
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  • 10. Special Option III: Extended Essay 

Chinese with a subsidiary language

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • (a) Papers 1-7 as for Chinese above.  
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  • (b) Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language. 

Egyptology

Candidates must take ten papers as set out in (a) and (b) below:  

(a) Candidates must take the following papers 

    1. Egyptian: Translation Paper
    2. Egyptian: Prepared Texts
    3. Egyptian: Text Edition Essay: a submitted essay (take-home paper).
    4. Either 

(i) A Special Option, to be chosen from a list of topics published at the beginning of Michaelmas Term each year for examination in the following academic year. Candidates may instead propose their own Special Option, which must be approved by the Board of the Faculty by Friday of 0th week of Michaelmas Term of the candidate's final year.  

Or 

(ii) Egyptian Art and Architecture. Selection of this paper is subject to approval by the Subject Group. 

    1. Selected Egyptian artefacts together with essay questions on material culture. 
    2. A General Paper on Egyptology. 
    3. A dissertation on a topic to be approved by the Board of the Faculty, of a different character from the topic chosen for paper 4 (the topic will typically relate to the main subject but could relate to the subsidiary language or Archaeology and Anthropology or to an area of overlap). 

(b) Candidates must take the following papers 

Either 

Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language.  

Or 

    1. The Nature of Archaeological and Anthropological Enquiry
    2. One further Archaeology paper from the list published in the course handbook
    3. One further Anthropology paper from the list published in the course handbook. 

Hebrew Course I 

Candidates for Course I must take the following papers:  

  • 1.  Hebrew composition and unprepared translation 
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  • 2. Prepared texts I: Biblical texts 
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  • 3. Prepared texts II: Rabbinic and Medieval Hebrew texts 
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  • 4. Prepared texts III: Modern Hebrew literature 
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  • 5.  History, Culture and Society
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  • 6. and 7.  Two option papers of which at least one must be chosen from any of sections I, II, and III as published in the Jewish Studies course handbook. Not more than one paper may be taken from Section V as published in the Jewish Studies course handbook.
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  • 8.  Dissertation  

Hebrew Course II 

Candidates for Course II must take the following papers: 

  • (a) Essay in modern Hebrew and unprepared translation 
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  • (b) Papers 2-8 as given for Hebrew Course I above  
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  • (c) Oral 

Hebrew with a subsidiary language 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • (a) Papers 1-4 and 8 as given for either Hebrew Course I or Hebrew Course II above. 
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  • (b) Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language.  

Japanese 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. Modern Japanese I 
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  • 2. Modern Japanese II 
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  • 3. Oral 
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  • 4. Classical Japanese 
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  • 5. Dissertation on a subject approved by the Board of the Faculty 
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  • 6. Special text option I 
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  • 7. Special subject option I 
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  • 8. Special text option II 
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  • 9. Special subject option II 
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  • 10. Either Special Text option III or Special subject option III 

Japanese with a subsidiary language 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • (a) Papers 1-7 as given for Japanese above. 
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  • (b) Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language.

Jewish Studies 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. One paper on one of the following languages: Biblical and Rabbinic, Medieval Hebrew, Modern Hebrew or Yiddish.  Papers for Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew, Medieval Hebrew and Modern Hebrew are the same papers for subsidiary languages under Hebrew a(1), (b)1 and (c)1 as given below under Subsidiary Languages.  
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  • 2. History, Culture and Society 
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  • 3.- 7.  Five options, of which at least one must be chosen from each of sections I, II, and III as published in the course handbook. At least three must be chosen from papers which require study of set texts in the original language. Not more than one paper may be chosen from section V as published in the course handbook.  
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  • Papers in section V will be examined in the form of two essays not exceeding 5,000 words in total. The subjects will be published at 10 a.m. on Monday of week 2 of the Trinity term in the final year of the Honour School, and must be submitted no later than 12 noon on Monday of week 3 of the same term.  
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  • A Special Subject may be offered instead of one of the five options subject to the approval of the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Board. 
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  • 8. A dissertation  

Persian 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. Unprepared translation from Persian 
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  • 2. Translation into Persian and essay in Persian 
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  • 3. Oral 
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  • 4. Persian literature: 1000 – 1400 
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  • 5. Persian literature: 1400 – 1900 
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  • 6. Persian literature: 1900 – the present 
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  • 7. Themes in Iranian history 
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  • 8. and 9.  Option subjects in Iranian and Middle Eastern History and Culture. The list of available option subjects will be available in the Course Handbook. 
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  • 10. Dissertation 

Persian with a subsidiary language 

Candidates must take the following papers:  

  • (a) Papers 1., 2., 3., 7., and 10. as given for Persian above  
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  • (b) Two papers from a choice of papers 4., 5., and 6 as given for Persian above 
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  • (c) Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language. 

Sanskrit 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. Sanskrit I: Kāvya
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  • 2. Sanskrit II: Śāstra
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  • 3. Sanskrit III: Ancient Indian linguistics 
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  • 4. Sanskrit IV: The historical philology of Old Indo-Aryan 
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  • 5. Sanskrit V: Option paper
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  • 6.Sanskrit VI: Essay questions on classical Indian literature, history and culture 
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  • 7. Dissertation 
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  • 8., 9., 10. Three papers on an approved subsidiary language as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language. 

Turkish 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. Unprepared translation from Ottoman and modern Turkish 
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  • 2. Translation into Turkish and essay in Turkish 
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  • 3. Oral 
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  • 4. Ottoman historical texts 
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  • 5. Turkish political and cultural texts, 1860 to the present 
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  • 6. Modern Turkish literary texts 
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  • 7., 8., 9.  Three papers from a list of options published in the course handbook 
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  • 10.  A dissertation 

Turkish with a subsidiary language 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • (a) Papers 1-6 and 10 as given for Turkish above. 
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  • (b) Three papers from one of the approved subsidiary languages as listed in the Table at the end of these regulations. The papers required for each subsidiary language are listed below under the relevant subsidiary language.  

Subsidiary Languages  

Akkadian  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Akkadian as subsidiary language: Translation paper 
  2. Akkadian as subsidiary language: Prepared texts
  3. Akkadian as subsidiary language: Text edition essay: a submitted essay (take-home paper)

Instead of either paper 2 or paper 3, candidates may take one of papers 4, 5, or 6 as specified for Assyriology above. Any such substitution will be subject to the approval of the Subject Group. 

Arabic 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Arabic prose composition and unprepared translation 
  2. Additional Arabic: literary texts. This will include selected classical and modern Arabic prose. 
  3. Additional Arabic: Islamic texts. This will include selected Arabic religious texts.  

Aramaic and Syriac  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Syriac prose composition and Aramaic and Syriac unprepared translation 
  2. Aramaic prepared texts 
  3. Syriac prepared texts 

Classical Armenian 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Classical Armenian prose composition and unprepared translation 
  2. Prepared religious texts 
  3. Prepared historical and other texts 

Modern Armenian 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Modern Armenian prose composition and unprepared translation 
  2. Prepared texts from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries 
  3. Prepared texts from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries 

Papers 2 and 3 will include questions on the subject-matter and grammar of the texts offered, and Paper 3 will also include questions on Armenian language, literature, and history. 

Chinese  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Chinese Prescribed Texts 
  2. Either (a) Modern Chinese language, or (b) Classical Chinese  
  3. History and Culture of China 

Coptic  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Translation paper 
  2. Prepared texts  
  3. Text edition essay: a submitted essay (take-home paper) 

Demotic 

Candidates must take the following papers:  

1. Demotic: Translation paper  

2. Demotic: Prepared texts   

3. Demotic: Text edition essay: a submitted essay (take-home paper) 

Early Iranian 

Candidates must take three papers from those listed below with at least one but no more than two from group (a).  

  • (a) Old and Middle Iranian Language 
    • 1. Avestan texts 
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    • 2. Old Persian texts 
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    • 3. Middle Persian texts 
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  • (b) Religion and Philology of Ancient and Late Antique Iran 
    • 4. Zoroastrianism 
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    • 5. Indo-Iranian Philology 
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  • (c) History of Ancient and Late Antique Iran 
    • 6. The Achaemenid Empire, 550-330 BC 
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    • 7. The Sasanian Empire, 224-651 AD 
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  • (d) Early Iranian Texts and Topics 
    • 8. Texts and Topics 

For paper 8, candidates will choose two of the subjects 1 to 7 above. Candidates may not choose under (d) a subject which they are also offering from groups (a)-(c), and in addition may not choose under (d) a subject from group (a) if they are already offering two subjects from group (a). 

Egyptian  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Egyptian as subsidiary language: Translation paper
  2. Egyptian as subsidiary language: Prepared texts 
  3. Egyptian as subsidiary language: Text edition essay: a submitted essay (take-home paper)

Instead of either paper 2 or paper 3, candidates may take one of papers 4, 5, 6, or 8 as specified for Egyptology above. Any such substitution will be subject to the approval of the Subject Group. 

Hebrew  

Candidates taking Arabic, Persian or Turkish may offer either (a) Biblical and Rabbinic or (b) Medieval or (c) Modern Hebrew. Candidates taking Assyriology or Egyptology may offer only Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew.  

The following papers will be set: 

  • (a) Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew: 
    • 1. Prose composition and unprepared translation 
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    • 2. Prepared texts I: Biblical texts 
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    • 3. Prepared texts II: Rabbinic texts 
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  • (b) Medieval Hebrew: 
    • 1. Unprepared translation 
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    • 2. Prepared texts I 
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    • 3. Prepared texts II 
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  • (c) Modern Hebrew: 
    • 1. Prose composition and unprepared translation 
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    • 2. Prepared texts I 
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    • 3. Prepared texts II 

Hindi  

Candidates may offer either (a) Elementary Hindi or (b) Literary Hindi or (c) Classical Hindi.

(a) Elementary Hindi:

           1. Hindi unprepared translation 

2. Hindi prepared texts 

3. Questions on Hindi language and literature

(b) Literary Hindi

           1. Literary Hindi unprepared translation 

2. Literary Hindi prepared texts 

3. Literary Hindi: Questions on language and literature

(c) Classical Hindi

1. Classical Hindi unprepared translation and text commentary;

2. Braj Bhāṣā prepared texts with questions on language and literature;

3. Avadhī, Sant Bhāṣā, Rekhtā and other prepared texts with questions on language and literature.

Hindi/Urdu  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Hindi and Urdu prose composition and unprepared translation 
  2. Hindi prepared texts with questions on language and literature 
  3. Urdu prepared texts with questions on language and literature 

Japanese 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

           1. Japanese Texts 

2. Japanese History and Culture

3.  Japanese Language 

Korean  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Korean texts 
  2. Korean History and Culture 
  3. Korean Language 

Pali  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Pali I: Text and translation 1
  2. Pali II: Text and translation 2
  3. Pali III: Essay questions on Pali language, literature, and culture

Persian  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Persian Language 
  2. Pre-Modern Persian Literature 
  3. Modern Persian Literature 

Prakrit  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Prakrit I: Text and translation 1
  2. Prakrit II: Text and translation 2
  3. Prakrit III: Essay questions on Prakrit language, literature, and culture

Sanskrit 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Sanskrit I: Text and translation 1
  2. Sanskrit II: Text and translation 2
  3. Sanskrit III: Essay questions on classical Indian literature, history, and culture

Sumerian 

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Translation paper 
  2. Prepared texts 
  3. Text edition essay: a submitted essay (take-home paper)

Tibetan  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  1. Tibetan prose composition and unprepared translation 
  2. Prepared texts, with questions 
  3. Questions on Tibetan culture and history 

Turkish  

Candidates must take the following papers: 

  • 1. Turkish prose composition and unprepared translation 
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  • 2. Either (a) Additional Turkish: Late Ottoman and modern Turkish literary texts 
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  • Or (b) Additional Turkish: Modern Turkish literary texts 
  • 3. Either (a) Additional Turkish: Political and cultural texts, 1860 to the present
  • Or (b) Additional Turkish: Political and cultural texts, 1920 to the present 

 

 

Table of permitted combinations 

Main subject  

Language options  

Arabic  

Akkadian  

Aramaic and Syriac  

Classical or Modern Armenian  

Biblical and Rabbinic, Medieval, or Modern Hebrew   

Early Iranian  

Hindi/Urdu  

Persian  

Turkish  

Assyriology


 

 

 

 

 

 

Arabic

Aramaic and Syriac

Early Iranian

Egyptian

Hebrew (Biblical and Rabbinic)

Hittite

Sumerian

Chinese  

Japanese  

Korean  

Sanskrit  

Tibetan  

Egyptology

 

Akkadian 

Arabic 

Aramaic and Syriac 

Early Iranian 

Coptic 

Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew  

Demotic

Hebrew  

Akkadian  

Arabic  

Aramaic and Syriac  

Egyptian  

Persian  

Turkish  

Japanese  

Chinese  

Korean  

Tibetan  

Persian  

Arabic  

Aramaic and Syriac  

Classical or Modern Armenian  

Early Iranian  

Hebrew  

Hindi/Urdu  

Turkish  

Sanskrit  

Early Iranian   

Hindi 

Persian  

Pali   

Prakrit  

Tibetan  

Turkish  

Arabic  

Classical or Modern Armenian  

Early Iranian  

Hebrew  

Hindi/Urdu  

Persian