Medieval Islam to Late Antiquity

[TurnDownForSemitics]

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.

 

[sacklunch]

PM'ing you.