The focus of teaching is on providing skills in various areas of applied computer science relevant to the content of Ancient Studies. The core competencies of the courses cover digitality in the history and cultural studies and include the processing and analysis of a wide range of data sets, from text corpora to archaeological artefacts.

 

Profile Area: Archaeoinformatics

The Archaeoinformatics profile area—currently in development as part of a new interdisciplinary Master’s programme in Ancient Studies—focuses on developing key competencies at the intersection of ancient studies and applied computer science. Central to this area are digital methods and tools for the acquisition, processing, and analysis of a wide range of data in the humanities and cultural sciences, with particular emphasis on archaeological artifacts and contexts.

A core objective of this profile area is the critical adaptation, interdisciplinary transfer, and innovative development of computational methods tailored to the specific questions of ancient studies. In this way, Archaeoinformatics plays a vital role in establishing and advancing digital approaches as an integral part of research and teaching in the field of ancient studies.

MA Digital Studies of Ancient Texts

Working closely with the Institute of Egyptology and the Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, students in this English-language program learn digital and computational methods that are useful for the digitization, datafication, exploration, and analysis of Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Coptic, and Sumerian texts. The program can be studied with a focus on Ancient Near Eastern Studies or Egyptology.