Near East, Middle East, Southwest Asia & North Africa

Near Eastern Studies

Study the languages, literatures, cultures, religions and history of regions from ancient Sumer to the modern Middle East.

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Undergraduate Major Courses Faculty Language Study Grad Field Faculty Ph.D. Program Support the department

What is the "Near East"?

Map of the "Near East" extends from Morocco (and medieval Spain) across North Africa, through Egypt, the Levant (Israel and Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan), Turkey and South-West Asia

The Near East is an older term for the Middle East. As defined by the department, the “Near East” extends from Morocco (and medieval Spain), through Egypt, the Levant (Israel and Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan), Turkey, Southwest Asia and North Africa.

Faculty specializing in the earliest millennia of the region’s history bring a range of disciplines, methods and theoretical orientations to bear on the study of what is conventionally called the ancient Near East. Geographically, our vision is wide, extending from the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the lowlands of Mesopotamia, from the highlands of Anatolia and the Caucasus to the plains of southwestern Iran.

Learn more about our faculty, research, undergraduate study and graduate study.

Near Eastern Studies News

Ancient ship underbody, just a skeleton of wood

Manning honored for contributions to archaeology

Sturt Manning, received the P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) in Boston in November.

Klarman Fellow wins Middle East Studies dissertation award

Olga Verlato's dissertation, “Languages of Power and People: Multilingualism, Politics, and Resistance in Modern Egypt and the Mediterranean,” received the Malcolm H. Kerr Award from the Middle East Studies Association of North America.

Call for Applications: Stanford H. Taylor Postdoctoral Associate position beginning August 2025

The Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University invites applications for a two-year Stanford H. Taylor Postdoctoral Associate position beginning August 2025. Application deadline is January 15, 2025.

University celebrates top faculty for outstanding teaching, mentoring

Eleven teaching faculty from across the university have been awarded Cornell’s highest honors for graduate and undergraduate teaching, Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff announced Oct. 22.

Archaeology conference focuses on cultural erasure

“Unearthing Unseeing: Archaeology, Heritage, and Forensics in the Shadow of State Violence” will highlight new approaches to cultural remains caught up in contemporary conflicts and past trauma.

A&S announces membership in MLA Strategic Partnership Network

“We felt this is an important resource that should be available to our humanists at all levels, whether they have the resources to pay for membership or not,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author from Jerusalem to speak Oct. 10

Nathan Thrall will talk about his most recent book, “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy.”

Modeling an ancient house and garden in 3D

Cornell researchers have received a $150,000 NEH Digital Humanities Advanced Grant to create a 3D virtual modeling project based on the Casa della Regina Carolina, a large Pompeian house.

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Engage and Learn

students seated around a table listening to their professor speak

Study a Middle Eastern language

Take Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, or Persian to fulfill the College of Arts & Sciences language requirement!

We also offer instruction in some of the ancient Middle Eastern languages like Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew, Hieroglyphic Egyptian, and Sumerian.

Student writes in Arabic on a chalkboard

Major in Near Eastern studies

Interested in exploring the languages, literatures, cultures, religions, and history of the Middle East from antiquity to the modern day? Consider pursuing a major in Near Eastern studies.

We also offer undergraduate minors in Arabic and Near Eastern studies.