LIAS faculty teach and carry out thesis supervision in many programs.

LIAS aims to advance the globally conscious vision of area studies, both within and outside the academic community. Focusing on Asia and the Middle East, the institute is a meeting place of multiple fields of inquiry, theories and methods, historical periods, and areas.

The project’s main aim was to build a reconstruction of a prehistoric house plan, without using any metal tools. How effective are tools made of stone, flint, bone, antler and wood? What are the constraints imposed by the various building materials? How much labour do we need and how much knowledge…

The Leiden–Birmingham Strategic Collaboration Fund provides support for colleagues from Leiden University and the University of Birmingham to undertake a research stay at one of the two partner institutions.

Competing Claims to an Idealized Past in Humanist Latin Poetry

The Leiden | Islam interview series contains short documentary-style videos including interview flashes with leading scholars in the field of Islam and Muslim societies. With this series, LUCIS aims to show the value of unconventional insights related to Islam and Muslim societies, and to relate them…

Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe

The master's in Assyriology, a specialisation of the Classics and Ancient Civilizations programme, at Leiden University provides you with a multidisciplinary study of the languages, literatures and cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia.

Mexico, between 500 B.C. and A.D. 900

Leiden’s expertise on the Middle East spans from ancient history to contemporary tensions in the region. By studying languages, cultures, religions, literature, art, and philosophy in in conjunction, we create an indispensable, in-depth understanding.

It may not seem necessary to install special tap water stations in University buildings, but it is very useful: every tap here also means a tap in a developing country. With the the 35 tap water stations that Leiden University installs, the slum area of Madoya in Nairobi will soon have clean drinking…

Learn about the newest research from the researchers who are performing it.

Get the most out of your studies at Leiden University by taking part in our extracurricular activities.

Find out how to apply for Hebrew and Aramaic Studies (research) at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Assyriology (research) at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

The Archaeology of Imperial Landscapes examines the transformation of rural landscapes and societies that formed the backbone of ancient empires in the Near East and Mediterranean. Through a comparative approach to archaeological data, it analyses the patterns of transformation in widely differing imperial…

Inspired by a critical reconsideration of current monolithic approaches to the study of Greek religion, this book argues that ancient Greeks displayed a disquieting capacity to validate two (or more) dissonant, if not contradictory, representations of the divine world in a complementary rather than…

The Leiden Papyrological Institute is the only papyrological institute in the Netherlands. The members of our staff publish Greek (and Latin), Demotic (and Abnormal-Hieratic) and Coptic papyri from collections all over the world, including our own collection.

The Women of Ramesside Deir al-Medina

Find out how to apply for Assyriology at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Classics at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

News, events, announcements, social media and more about the building of the new Middle Eastern Library in Leiden

Find out how to apply for Classics (research) at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Egyptology at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Hebrew and Aramaic Studies at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Egyptology (research) at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

To be eligible for Egyptology at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

A marvelous mosaic synagogue floor has been discovered at the Israeli excavation site of Horvat Kur. The timeworn stones of the mosaic clearly form the name ‘El’azar’. Leiden University researcher Jürgen Zangenberg and a group of Leiden students played a role in the excavation. ‘El’azar was likely an…

At the Faculty of Archaeology, we investigate the development of human societies worldwide, from the earliest beginnings to modern times. We also study the heritage of mankind, which evokes this deep history, and which connects with, and informs, contemporary society.

Overview of the main research projects at the Leiden Papyrological Institute.

The Leiden Papyrological Institute is the only papyrological institute in the Netherlands, and one of the few institutes in the world where study of Greek and Demotic Egyptian is combined. This is reflected in both teaching and research. Members of the Institute are active in publishing texts from various…

Tracking early human behaviour through plant processing and -exploitation.

Mazatec chants and ancient Mesoamerican pictography

How can theories about modern disinformation help to understand how Roman documentary fictions functioned?

To be eligible for the MA Ancient History at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for Hebrew and Aramaic Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Political scientist Corinna Jentzsch (Leiden University) explains why Mozambique is not (yet) a success story.

This project receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101054849 (PURANA).