Faculty of Oriental Studies

Setting Conventions for the MPhil in Oriental Studies 2016-17

CUNEIFORM STUDIES

The formal procedures determining the conduct of examinations are established and enforced by the University Proctors. These conventions are a guide to the examiners and candidates but the regulations set out in the Examination Regulations have precedence. The examiners are nominated by the Nominating Committeein the Department and those nominations are submitted for approval by the Vice-Chancellor and the Proctors.

  • Numbering of papers follows that in the Examination Regulations 2016. The Examination Schools website ( gives information on the provisional start date of the examination.The date, time and location of individual papers will be published not less than 5 weeks before the start of the first examination. For the order of papers in the examination itself, please refer to the Examination timetable. Academic dress must be worn for all parts of the examination including the viva if applicable.
  • In order to maintain the anonymity of the examination, candidates are instructed to write their numbers, not their names, on their scripts.
  • When submission of written work is required, the penalty posed in case of late submission without Proctors’ permission, will range from outright failure of the submitted work to a reduction in the mark awarded, as stated in Guidelines for the setting and marking of Examinations.
  • Candidates should note that if they have any complaints or queries concerning the examination process, including results, these should be directed in the first instance to their colleges and notto the examiners or any member of the teaching staff.
  • As well as two hard copies of the dissertation, which it is compulsory for candidates to submit, we also request candidates to submit if possible a copy of their dissertation on CD in PDF format .
  • Candidates submitting written work (e.g. dissertation, extended essay, take-home essay etc...) to Examination Schools as part of their degree assessment are required to confirm the work is their own. You may do this by completing the declaration form (available from seal it in a separate envelope and put this inside the envelope containing your written work.
  • The Chairman of Examinations in Oriental Studies would like to advise candidates to obtain a signed receipt from Exam Schools for their submitted work (e.g. if you are submitting dissertations or take-home essays). Remember to write your candidate number and not your name on all submitted work.
  • Candidates may be examined by viva voce (oral examination) and so candidates should be prepared to travel to Oxford up until the final examiners’ meeting (no later than 4th July 2017).

Elements to be presented by all candidates

The following six elements are common to the assessment of all candidates.

Thesis. Thesis, of not more than 20,000 words, must be submitted to the Examination Schools not later than noon on Friday 5th May 2017.

Paper 1 (Prepared translations of Sumerian texts and related essay questions)

In three questions passages from the prepared texts will be set for transliteration into roman script, translation into English, and comment. All passages should be attempted. There will be three essay questions relating to the prepared texts. One essay question should be attempted. All four questions attract equal marks.

Paper 2 (Prepared translations of Akkadian texts and related essay questions)

In four questions passages from the prepared texts will be set for transliteration into roman script and translation into English. All passages should be attempted. Candidates will be required to transcribe two passages into roman script marking vowel lengths and to comment on two passages. There will be three essay questions relating to the prepared texts. One essay question should be attempted. All five questions attract equal marks.

Paper 3 (Unprepared translations of Akkadian)

Four unprepared passages from Akkadian texts will be set for transliteration into roman script and translation into English. Three passages should be attempted. One passage from an Akkadian text will be set in transliteration for translation into English and should also be attempted. Passages may be set from royal inscriptions of the Old Akkadian period and from texts of all categories from all other phases of the Akkadian language (both Babylonian and Assyrian) but excluding peripheral dialects (e.g. Nuzi, Elam, Boğazköy, Kültepe, Ugarit, Alalah and Amarna-Canaanite). All four questions attract equal marks.The use of A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian and R. Labat, Manuel d’épigraphie akkadienne, will bepermitted for Paper 3

Paper 4 (History and culture of ancient Mesopotamia)

Candidates are required to submit two essays each of not more than 5,000 words in length, which display knowledge of more than just a narrow range of topics relating to Mesopotamian history, including political, social, economic, and cultural developments.

Candidates are required to collect the subject of the essays from Weblearn, by noon, Friday of Week 1 of Michaelmas Term of the second year of the course for the first essay and by noon, Friday Week 1 of Hilary Term of the second year of the course for the second essay. The essays must be submitted to the Examination Schools by the end of Weeks 8 of Michaelmas Term and Hilary Term respectively. For each essay two printed copies and a signed form certifying that the essay is the candidate’s own work must be delivered in a parcel bearing the words "Essay presubmitted for the M.Phil. in Cuneiform Studies’ to the Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford OX1 4BG.”

Paper 5 (The cuneiform world in context and approaches to the study of Assyriology)

(a)Cuneiform world in context (one half paper): The cuneiform world and the later Near East. In one question a passage or passages from the prepared texts will be set for translation into English and comment. All passages set should be attempted. There will be three essay questions. One essay question should be attempted. All questions are equally weighted.

(b)Approaches to the study of Assyriology (one half paper). There will be six essay questions. Two questions should be attempted.

All four questions in Paper 5 attract equal marks.

To pass the M.Phil. in Cuneiform Studies a candidate is required:

(a) to pass a qualifying examination in Sumerian and Akkadian not later than the end of the third term after that in which his or her name has been placed on the register.

(b) to pass on each of the five written papers listed above and the thesis.

A viva voce examination in the subjects of the course will be held unless the candidate is specifically excused by the examiners.

Examiners: Dr J. Dahl, Dr F.S. Reynolds, Dr M. Weeden (SOAS)

Chairman of Examiners: Professor Jan Joosten

Michaelmas Term 2016

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