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Dylan Johnson

Dr Dylan Johnson

Lecturer in Ancient Near ​Eastern History

School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Email
JohnsonD9@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29208 76874
Campuses
John Percival Building, Room 4.58, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

I am an ancient Near Eastern historian and biblical scholar (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament). My particular specialism is analysing ancient Near Eastern and biblical legal texts in their original Semitic languages, which enables me to work in both the Ancient History and the Religious Studies and Theology sections at Cardiff University. I deliver a variety of lectures on ancient legal history, Judaism (ancient to modern) and ancient Near Eastern history--including the history of Mesopotamia, Syria, Phoenicia, and Israel.

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2017

2014

Articles

Book sections

Books

Research

I am an historian of the ancient Near East and a biblical scholar, with a specialization in the legal cultures of these regions and time periods. My research and teaching straddles the academic fields of Assyriology and Hebrew Bible, with numerous publications that integrate the diverse sources of Mesopotamia, ancient Syria, and the Hebrew Bible to answer historical questions.

My current research explores the phenomenon of lawgiving in the ancient Near East, examining Mesopotmian and biblical depictions of both human and divine lawgivers, and exploring the conceptual basis of this practice. I am part of an on-going ERC-funded research project based at the University of Zurich, entitled "How God Became a Lawgiver," which brings together specialists in Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek legal cultures in a cross-cultural comparative project on ancient law.

Those with a general interest in ancient history and biblical studies can listen to my interviews on The Ancients podcast:

https://shows.acast.com/the-ancients/episodes/moses-the-exodus

https://shows.acast.com/the-ancients/episodes/the-ark-of-the-covenant

 

Teaching

Module Convenor and Instructor:

  • Ancient Israel: Portrait of a Near Eastern Society (HS3388)
  • The Near East, Greece, and Rome, 1000-323 BCE (HS3108)
  • Discovering Ancient Languages (HS3110)

Instructor:

  • Origins and Legacies of Religion in the Modern World (RT0101)
  • World Full of Gods (HS0001)
  • Investigating the Ancient World: Skills and Evidence (HS3103)
  • Ancient Objects, Then and Now (HS3107)
  • Greece and the Near East (HS3203)

Biography

Education and Qualifications

  • 2018: PhD Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near Eastern Studies - New York University
  • 2016: Master 2 History of Law, Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas
  • 2012: M. T. S. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; Harvard Divinity School
  • 2010: B. A. With Great Distinction History, University of Lethbridge

Honours and awards

  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Research Grant (2019)
    • (Awarded, but declined)
  • Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Founder’s Prize (2018)
  • Henry M. MacCracken Fellow, New York University (2012-2017)
  • Bourse d’excellence Eiffel (2015-2016)
  • Global Research Initiative Fellow (Paris), New York University (2015-2016)
  • American Schools of Oriental Research Heritage Fellowship (2012)
  • Pfeiffer Grant; Harvard Semitic Museum (2011)
  • Harvard University Associates in Canada Scholarship (2011)
  • Harvard University Associates in Canada Scholarship (2010)

Professional memberships

  • European Association of Biblical Studies
  • Society of Biblical Literature

Academic positions

  • 2022 - Present:   Lecturer, Cardiff University

  • 2020 - 2022:       Postdoctoral researcher, University of Zürich, Theological Faculty

  • 2018 - 2020:       Sessional (adjunct) instructor, University of Lethbridge, Canada

Supervisions

  • Hebrew Bible
  • Assyriology
  • Akkadian Language
  • Northwest Semitic Epigraphy
  • Ancient Israel and Judah
  • Ancient Near Eastern Legal History
  • Comparative Legal History
  • Lawgiving in the Ancient World
  • Religions of the Ancient Near East
  • Early Judaism
  • Dead Sea Scrolls

Specialisms

  • Ancient history
  • Law and Religion
  • legal history
  • Relationships between Law and Religion
  • Religion, society and culture