UNISA Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies

The Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies is the result of two mergers:

In 2012 two departments that have a long history in South African Higher Education merged: Old Testament & Near Eastern Studies and New Testament & Early Christian Studies.

This was followed by a second merger in 2014 when the Classics unit (previously part of the Department of Classics and World Languages) joined the larger Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies.

With currently thirty staff members, administrative officers and contract workers, the department is among the biggest academic departments of biblical scholarship not only in Africa but also in the world. We are privileged to offer courses and modules in a range of academic disciplines, such as Old and New Testament, Classical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, Judaica, Biblical Archaeology, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Early Christian Studies, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient History, Classical Culture and Classical Studies.

The department hosts four academic journals and the academic staff members are actively engaged in academic societies with high quality publications and presentations in conferences every year.