Current Ph.D. Research

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On this page a list is given of all Ph.D. research which is now in progress. New entries are welcome as long as they concern research in Cuneiform Studies (Assyriology, Hittitology, Ugaritology and Near Eastern Archaeology).

Guidelines for new Ph.D. entries:

Ahrens, Alexander (Munich/Germany) - Meaning, Socio-Political Function and Influence of Egyptian Imports (Aegyptiaca) and Egyptianizing Objects in the Northern Levant during the Second Millennium BCE
     The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the socio-political function and influence Egyptian imports and local Egyptianizing objects had on the northern Levantine elites during the 2nd millennium BCE. Contact

De Backer, Fabrice (Strasbourg/France) - La formation et l'utilisation du personnel militaire dans l'armée néo-assyrienne
     Cette recherche porte sur l'organisation, l'administration, le recrutement, l'équipement, l'entrainement, les techniques et le matériel de combat ainsi que les missions remplies par l'armée néo-assyrienne.
L'objectif principal de ces travaux est de comprendre en quoi la machine de guerre des rois néo-assyriens leur a permis de diriger une grande partie du Proche-Orient ancien. Les sources textuelles, matérielles et visuelles seront utilisées comme base de départ pour ce travail.  Contact

De Zorzi (Vienna/Austria) - The divinatory series Šumma izbu (La serie divinatoria Šumma izbu). Contact
Date of completion: 2011.

Gambashidze, Maya (Tbilisi/Georgia) - Weberei und Textilien in Altanatolien nach hethitischen Keilschriftquellen und archäologischem Material
     Wie im gesamten Orient, spielen in Anatolien Textilien eine wichtige Rolle (tägliche Bekleidung, Ehrengewänder, Geschenke u.a.). Da dieses Thema bisher noch nicht monographisch bearbeitet wurde, ist auf jeden Fall grundlegende Forschung zu betreiben und sind wichtige Ergebnisse zu erwarten. Mein Arbeitsplan ist folgendes: 1.Materialaufnahme: Inventare, Ritualtexte, Geschenksliste, Festbeschreibungen, Lexikalische Listen; 2. Bearbeitung des Materials: Termini für Stoffe, Farben, Terminologie der Weberei; 3. Bearbeitung der neu erscheinenden Keilschrifttexten sowie neuester Fachliteratur; 4. Vergleich des hethitischen Materials mit dem Befund im Mesopotamien (Sumer, Akkad). Neben dem philologischen Material ist auch kurz auf den archäologischen Befund einzugehen. Im historischen Rückblick sollte auch der Textilhandel des sog. altasses. Handelskolonien (20/19. Jhr. v. Chr.) einbezogen werden.  Contact

Giusfredi, Federico (Pavia, Italy) - Testi neo-hittita di argomento economico.   Contact
Date of completion: 2009.

Gräff, Andreas - Greek presence in the Ancient Near East between the Neo-assyrian Empire and the end of cuneiform culture.
     The Disseration aims at discussing all relevant sources for the presence of greek persons in Mesopotamia and Iran and determining the function of these people and changes in the role of greeks in the near east according to cuneiform as well as greek and latin sources.  Contact

Jiménez, Enrique (Madrid/Spain) - The Winds in Cuneiform Literature.
     This research project aims at understanding the phenomenon of the wind in the Ancient Mesopotamian world. First, meteorological wind will be examined taking into account modern and ancient records (archaeoclimatology). Secondly, the role of winds in Akkadian and Sumerian literature (mythological, medical, etc.) will be studied. The main purpose of this project is to analyze, compare and contrast the data collected in order to trace back harmonized streams of tradition as well as changes in the imagery of the winds. The project includes the edition of some hitherto unpublished tablets relevant to this subject.  Contact

Lang, Dr. Martin (Innsbruck/Austria) - Motive und Traditionen in den Altmesopotamischen Fluterzählungen (working title). Contact

Lisman, Jan (Leiden/The Netherlands) - Cosmogony, theogony and anthropogeny in Sumerian texts (3000-1600 B.C.E.)
     In this research the ideas of the Mesopotamian people with respect to the origin and development of the cosmos, of the gods and of mankind will be studied on the basis of relevant Sumerian myths and other texts and with the aid of the god lists. The texts to be studied date from the beginning of the third millennium down to the Old Babylonian period. Given the length of the period and the change in population in Mesopotamia during this time, a point of specific attention will be possible changes in the conception(s) concerning cosmogony, theogony and anthropogeny. The Mesopotamian ideas will be compared with those of other contemporary peoples in the Ancient Near East. Contact

Olijdam, Eric (Durham/UK) - People without History: Dilmun during the late Early Dilmun Period (ca. 1900-1600 BC).
     The late Early Dilmun period is poorly understood as little physical evidence can unequivocally be attributed to this phase. The general consensus -based upon Mesopotamian textual sources and a dearth of archaeological material- is that a collapse of the maritime trade-network triggered a series of catastrophic events in Dilmun which led to an economic, political, social and cultural disintegration. It is true that Dilmun underwent a period of change, but at the same time cultural continuity can be observed to both the previous as well as succeeding periods. Main objectives of PhD: define late Early Dilmun assemblages; factual re-examination of the late early Dilmun period; place Dilmun in the geo-political context of the region during the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, especially its relation with the illustrious Sealand.  Contact

Patrier, Julie (Strasbourg/France)- L'alimentation en Anatolie centrale et en Syrie du Nord au IIe millénaire av. J.-C.
     Cette thèse a pour but de mener une étude sur les habitudes alimentaires des Anciens, notamment sur la façon dont ils se procuraient les ressources nécessaires à leur alimentation ; leurs techniques de stockage et de conservation ; les pratiques culinaires en vigueur à cette époque. Il s’agira également de déterminer s’il existe des différences d’alimentation au sein des diverses catégories de la population, et s’il est possible de distinguer les courtumes alimentaires des hommes, des défunts et des dieux. Le IIe millénaire est en rupture avec la période précédente, notamment par l’apparition de l’écriture en Anatolie ; la Syrie du Nord a fini par être intégrée dans l’empire hittite. Il me semblait donc intéressant de confronter les données de ces deux espaces complémentaires et ce, dès le début de la période considérée.  Contact

Peled, Ilan (Tel-Aviv/Israel) - The Third Gender in the Ancient Near East.
     The dissertation aims at investigating the concept of 'Third Gender' in the various societies and cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and the Near East, from as early as mid-third millennium BCE, up until the latest cuneiform texts. Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite and ancient Hebrew texts are surveyed and evaluated, in order to assess this widespread phenomenon of males who were ascribed feminine traits and behavior.   Contact

Pfoh, Emanuel (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) - Prácticas sociopolíticas en el Levante durante la época de El Amarna (siglo XIV a.C.).
     The study shall focus on the socio-political relationships between Hatti and her Anatolian and Syrian subjects as well as between Egypt and her Palestinian subjects during the El Amarna period. Practices of kinship, pseudo-kinship, friendship, patronage and statehood, involving prestige and power, shall be analysed from a historical-anthropological perspective.  Contact

Pitts, Audrey (Cambridge/USA) - The Royal Family of the Ur III Dynasty: Strategies and Practices of Political and Economic Control
     This dissertation will comprise a systematic study of the royal family of the Ur III Dynasty. The first part of the study will identify membership in the family, by both blood and marriage, interrelationships among members, and the various roles or functions attributed to members in the extant records. This evidence will be analyzed in the second part, with the aim of ascertaining how the dynasty gained and maintained political and economic control over Sumer, its peripheral regions, and its vassal states. Aspects to be considered will include various means of coercion and cooption, such as nepotism, diplomacy and military action, as well as the monopolization of goods, labor, institutions, and positions of prestige. Challenges and resistance to the dynasty's hegemony, and factors which led eventually to its loss of control will also be examined.  Contact

Siddall, Luis Robert (Sydney/Australia) - Rethinking the Neo-Assyrian Hiatus: An Historical and Ideological Analysis of the Inscriptions from the reign of Adad-nirari III, King of Assyria (810-783 BCE)
     Studies of Assyrian history and royal ideology generally focus on the great kings of the Neo-Assyrian period. This thesis aims to elucidate the political history and ideological principles of a lesser Assyrian monarch, Adad-nirari III. The first part of the research establishes a chronology of the reign and a political history of the period. The second section focuses on the nature the royal ideology present in Adad-nirari's royal inscriptions. The findings from the second section are then compared and contrasted with the reckoning of current scholarship in order to broaden our understanding of Assyrian royal ideology.  Contact
Date of completion: 2010.

Solans, Bárbara E. (Zaragoza/Spain) - Assemblies, Councils, Magistrates and Monarchs: Seats and Nets of Political Power in Syria-Palestine (II-I Millenium B.C.)    Contact

Vacin, Ludek - Sulgi of Ur. Life, Deeds, Ideology and Legacy of a Mesopotamian Ruler
The cardinal aim of the thesis is to bring together our present knowledge regarding king Sulgi in one coherent study. Although the main focus is Sulgi´s royal ideology and his concept of divine kingship, the dissertation will discuss in detail all attested aspects of his life and rule, beginning with his family, going on to the history of reign as evidenced by historical sources and alluded to in relevant literary texts, eventually arriving at a treatment of his royal self-representation and legacy (concerning the economic organization of the state, its internal and foreign politicy as well as its cultural life) as left to his successors and future generations of Mesopotamian rulers, especially the kings of the Isin-Larsa period. Contact

Velhartická, Šárka (Berlin/Germany) - Studien zu den Huwaššanna-Texten (CTH 691-694)
This thesis aims to collect and catalogue all the texts belonging to the Huwassana-Rituals, CTH-Numbers 691-694. The stress is laid on the precise classification of the texts, their transcription, translation and commentary. This thesis is based on an uncompleted work of PD Dr. phil. Cord Kühne. Prof.Dr.Jörg Klinger is preparing his work for publication parallel to my thesis in order to make it possible to distinguish later from the original research of C.Kühne. Contact

Waal, Willemijn J.I. (Leiden/Netherlands) - The Source as Object: the Role of the Clay Tablet in the Hittite Empire
 
   This research will examine the role of the clay tablet in the information management of the Hittite Empire. The main focus will be on the clay tablet itself. The relations between the physical features, the text genre and the find spots of clay tablets will be investigated. The research will also include a lexical study regarding the different terms for writing, reading, and the various writing materials, as well as the terms for administrative handling procedures with tablets (e.g. sending, destroying, storing/retrieving of tablets). Furthermore, the research aims to reconstruct the archival practises based on archaeological en textual evidence (colophons, labels, shelf lists). The methods and theories of modern archival science will be applied in order to gain a better understanding of the Hittite record management.  Contact

Weedon, (London/UK) - Hittite Logograms: Studies in Their Origin and Distribution
    The dissertation will include 1) Reflections on the history of the Hittite cuneiform script including a review of Hittite cuneiform palaeography 2) a study of the usage of logograms in Hittite cuneiform script on the basis of a complete catalogue of all logograms occurring in the historical texts, 3) a comparison of Hittite cuneiform palaeography and orthography with that of neighbouring cuneiform cultures (e.g. Alalakh VII), 4) an investigation of all logograms which appear significantly differently in Hittite cuneiform to that of Mesopotamia, or which do not appear in Mesopotamia at all. Contact

Wheat, Elizabeth (Birmingham/UK) - Cartography in the Ancient Near East
    'Cartography in the Ancient Near East' is an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded PhD project which aims to provide a complete survey of mapping throughout Mesopotamian history, under the supervision of Dr Alasdair Livingstone at the University of Birmingham. Contact

 

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