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Dr Dylan Johnson
Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern History
School of History, Archaeology and Religion
- JohnsonD9@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 29208 76874
- John Percival Building, Room 4.58, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
- 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
- Johnson, D. 2024. Wisdom motifs in the legal images of near Eastern Kings and their rejection in Biblical tradition. Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte
- Johnson, D. 2024. Law in kings. In: Richelle, M. and McKenzie, S. eds. Oxford Handbook on Kings. Oxford University Press
2023
- Johnson, D. R. 2023. The woman from Tekoa (2 Sam. 14) and the character of judicial wisdom in Ancient Israel. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 48(1), pp. 50-68. (10.1177/03090892231170645)
- Johnson, D. R. 2023. Review of legal writing, legal practice: the biblical bailment law and divine justice, by Yael Landman.. Review of Biblical Literature 3
- Johnson, D. R. 2023. La prééminence du droit dans la bible hébraïque. Revue Française D'histoire Des Idées Politiques 2023/1(57), pp. 97-116. (10.3917/rfhip1.057.0097)
2022
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. The allotment of Canaan in Joshua and Numbers. Journal of Biblical Literature 141(3), pp. 427-447. (10.15699/jbl.1413.2022.2)
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. City dwellers and backcountry folk: Ritual interactions between mobile peoples and urban centers in Late Bronze Age Syria. In: Leonard-Fleckman, M. et al. eds. “A Community of Peoples” Studies on Society and Politics in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Honor of Daniel E. Fleming., Vol. 69. Harvard Semitic Studies Vol. 69. Leiden/Boston: Brill, pp. 139-158., (10.1163/9789004511538_010)
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. The Torah and the King: Zedekiah’s Edict (Jer 34) and Deuteronomistic redaction. Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 134(1), pp. 40-54. (10.1515/zaw-2022-0002)
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. Light of the land, sun of the people: The solarization of ancient Near Eastern and Biblical lawgivers. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 22, pp. 16-54. (10.1163/15692124-12341326)
- Johnson, D. . R. 2022. Review of the laws of Hammurabi: at the confluence of royal and scribal traditions, by Pamela Barmash. Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte 28, pp. 265-270.
2021
- Johnson, D. R. 2021. "I established justice and equity in the mouth of the land." A new proposal for LH Prologue col. v, 20ʹ–24ʹ. Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 4, pp. 251-254.
- Johnson, D. 2021. The "Spirit of Yhwh" and Samson's martial rage: a Leitmotif of the biblical warrior tradition. Vetus Testamentum 72(2), pp. 214-236. (10.1163/15685330-bja10060)
2020
- Johnson, D. R. 2020. Sovereign authority and the elaboration of law in the Bible and the ancient Near East. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe. JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
2017
- Johnson, D. R. 2017. The prophetic lawsuit of Jeremiah 2-3: Text, law, and education in biblical prophecy. Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte 23(1), pp. 229-243. (10.13173/zeitaltobiblrech.23.2017.0229)
2014
- Johnson, D. R. 2014. Redemption at Ugarit: KTU 3.4 in light of Akkadian legal traditions at Ugarit. In: Dietrich, M. and Kottsieper, I. eds. Ugarit Research., Vol. 45. Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 209-226., (10.5167/uzh-183293)
Articles
- Johnson, D. 2024. Wisdom motifs in the legal images of near Eastern Kings and their rejection in Biblical tradition. Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte
- Johnson, D. R. 2023. The woman from Tekoa (2 Sam. 14) and the character of judicial wisdom in Ancient Israel. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 48(1), pp. 50-68. (10.1177/03090892231170645)
- Johnson, D. R. 2023. Review of legal writing, legal practice: the biblical bailment law and divine justice, by Yael Landman.. Review of Biblical Literature 3
- Johnson, D. R. 2023. La prééminence du droit dans la bible hébraïque. Revue Française D'histoire Des Idées Politiques 2023/1(57), pp. 97-116. (10.3917/rfhip1.057.0097)
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. The allotment of Canaan in Joshua and Numbers. Journal of Biblical Literature 141(3), pp. 427-447. (10.15699/jbl.1413.2022.2)
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. The Torah and the King: Zedekiah’s Edict (Jer 34) and Deuteronomistic redaction. Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 134(1), pp. 40-54. (10.1515/zaw-2022-0002)
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. Light of the land, sun of the people: The solarization of ancient Near Eastern and Biblical lawgivers. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 22, pp. 16-54. (10.1163/15692124-12341326)
- Johnson, D. . R. 2022. Review of the laws of Hammurabi: at the confluence of royal and scribal traditions, by Pamela Barmash. Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte 28, pp. 265-270.
- Johnson, D. R. 2021. "I established justice and equity in the mouth of the land." A new proposal for LH Prologue col. v, 20ʹ–24ʹ. Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 4, pp. 251-254.
- Johnson, D. 2021. The "Spirit of Yhwh" and Samson's martial rage: a Leitmotif of the biblical warrior tradition. Vetus Testamentum 72(2), pp. 214-236. (10.1163/15685330-bja10060)
- Johnson, D. R. 2017. The prophetic lawsuit of Jeremiah 2-3: Text, law, and education in biblical prophecy. Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte 23(1), pp. 229-243. (10.13173/zeitaltobiblrech.23.2017.0229)
Book sections
- Johnson, D. 2024. Law in kings. In: Richelle, M. and McKenzie, S. eds. Oxford Handbook on Kings. Oxford University Press
- Johnson, D. R. 2022. City dwellers and backcountry folk: Ritual interactions between mobile peoples and urban centers in Late Bronze Age Syria. In: Leonard-Fleckman, M. et al. eds. “A Community of Peoples” Studies on Society and Politics in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Honor of Daniel E. Fleming., Vol. 69. Harvard Semitic Studies Vol. 69. Leiden/Boston: Brill, pp. 139-158., (10.1163/9789004511538_010)
- Johnson, D. R. 2014. Redemption at Ugarit: KTU 3.4 in light of Akkadian legal traditions at Ugarit. In: Dietrich, M. and Kottsieper, I. eds. Ugarit Research., Vol. 45. Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 209-226., (10.5167/uzh-183293)
Books
- Johnson, D. R. 2020. Sovereign authority and the elaboration of law in the Bible and the ancient Near East. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe. JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
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
Research themes
Specialisms
- Ancient history
- Law and Religion
- legal history
- Relationships between Law and Religion
- Religion, society and culture