Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Berkeley's Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC), founded in 1894, is one of the oldest and most distinguished such departments in the country. MELC offers general instruction and specialized training, from antiquity to modernity, in the disciplines and areas of Archaeology, Art History, Assyriology, Egyptology, Ethiopic Studies, Iranian Studies, Jewish Studies, Islamic Studies, Literature, and Philology. A number of ancient and modern languages are taught in MELC, including Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, Ancient Egyptian, Akkadian, Sumerian, Old and Middle Iranian, Ge'ez, Aramaic, and more.