Ugarit was a Canaanite neighbor-city to Israel’s north, and its language was a Semitic one (related to Hebrew). We have no Biblical texts in this language, but texts which are contemporary to the Tanakh exist in this language and give us some historical-cultural background regarding some of Israel’s pagan neighbors. A few Ugaritic words creep into the Bible here and there, and these will be explored where they can be identified.

Rather than rushing through the material, this course will be organized into 15 modules rather than the usual 12. Students are free to work ahead if they find that the material is easy enough to attain proficiency in or to take extra time on lessons that don't click as easily.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate:

• Da’at (Theoria): basic knowledge of the grammatical structure of Ancient Ugaritic
• Binah (Praxis): ability to read and comprehend Ancient Ugaritic
• Chochma (Poiesis): practical exegesis of Ancient Ugaritic texts and idioms therein

Textbooks

The textbook selected for this course is a 3-in-1 grammar, workbook, and lexicon. Lecture videos are available for purchase from the publisher or may be viewed at no additional cost within the framework of this course platform.

• Williams, Michael. Basics of Ancient Ugaritic. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2012. ISBN 978-0-310-49592-5.

Ugaritic Font (free download)

• Dry Heaves Ugaritic (zip file)

Semitic Parsing Grids