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 of Archaeology, Art History, Assyriology, Egyptology, Iranian Studies, Jewish Studies, Islamic Studies, and teaches a number of ancient and modern languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, Ancient Egyptian, Akkadian, Sumerian, Old and Middle Iranian, Aramaic, and more.