Hello All,
So I'm a longtime lurker looking to get some feedback from the great NT/Late Antiquity group on here. Coming backwards from Islamic studies to LA is a little overwhelming on the language front :/
About me:
6 years of Arabic. Control of several dialects, Classical and Medieval Arabic, MSA
Some Comparative Semitics: A bit of Hebrew, Akkadian, and Ugaritic but definitely not at a full research competency. Some formal linguistics and epigraphy courses
Greek and Latin: Doh. Bringing them back where they should be if I hadn't let them drop off at uni. By application season I should be in ok shape but definitely behind some peers.
Now the bad...most of my professors are recommending I apply to Byzantine history PhDs. They are telling me I will need:
Syriac
More advanced Hebrew (particularly Mishnaic)
Coptic
Pahlavi
Dig experience
Sabaic and North Arabian would be nice icing on the cake
I feel a bit out of my depth. While they've reassured me I can do lots during the PhD, their advice has mainly been "learn as much as you can." I am thinking of prioritizing Syriac before application season but would appreciate any insight.