November 25, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

November 16, 2007

New article by Robert Ritner:

  • Ptolemy IX (Soter II) at Thebes
    This article was presented on October 14, 2006 at the Seventh Chicago-Johns Hopkins Theban Workshop and will be published in the volume, Perspectives on Ptolemaic Thebes, in the Oriental Institute’s SAOC series, to be published in 2008.

Two new articles by Norman Golb:

new additions to the Mapping the World from Ancient Babylon to the Ottoman Empire show

November 8, 2007

Nomads, Tribes, and the State in the Ancient Near East: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives

Announcing our upcoming symposium: Nomads, Tribes, and the State in the Ancient Near East: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives March 7–8, 2008.

November 2, 2007

The Oriental Institute 2008 Calendar

The Oriental Institute 2008 Calendar is now for sale in our Museum Store, the Suq. The images contained in the 2008 Oriental Institute Calendar were submitted and selected by Oriental Institute members, donors, staff, faculty, and researchers. Throughout the calendar, you will find listed famous dates in archaeological history as well as the history of the Oriental Institute. You will also find event listings for Oriental Institute programs throughout 2008, such as education classes, lectures, travel programs, museum exhibits, and the Suq sales.

October 30, 2007

The Oriental Institute announces a new research project, the Persepolis Fortification Archive.

In 1933, Oriental Institute archaeologists working at Persepolis, clearing the ruined palaces of Kings Darius, Xerxes, and their Achaemenid Persian successors, found clay tablets in two small rooms of a bastion in the fortification wall at the edge of the great stone terrace. There were tens of thousands of tablets and fragments. These were records produced by the operations of a single administrative organization in the years around 500 BC, all strands of a single information system. Most of the Fortification tablets came to the Oriental Institute in 1936, on loan for study and analysis.

October 29, 2007

Oriental Institute Job Posting: Assistant Professor of Assyriology

The Oriental Institute and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of the University of Chicago seek applications for a tenure-track faculty position in Assyriology, at the rank of Assistant Professor.

The appointment is expected to begin in the Fall Quarter of Academic Year 2008–09. The successful applicant must hold the Ph.D. degree before the appointment begins.

The successful applicant should be able to teach a wide range of courses in Akkadian grammar, texts, and epigraphy and undergraduate courses on Mesopotamian civilization or history, to supervise M.A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations, and to carry out independent research and publication. Advanced knowledge of Sumerian or another ancient Mesopotamian language is highly desirable.

Applicants should send a letter of interest, a detailed curriculum vitae, a list of publications, a list of names, addresses and email addresses of at least three persons who can provide references, and a statement about plans for research and teaching to:

Chair, Assyriology Search Committee
The Oriental Institute
1155 East 58th St.
Chicago, IL 60637 USA
Tel. (USA) 773-834-8098
Fax: (USA) 773-702-9853
email: oi-administration@uchicago.edu

No other materials are requested at this time. Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2007.

The University of Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

October 29, 2007

Article: The Dead Sea Scrolls As Treated In A Recently Published Catalogue by Prof. Norman Golb.

October 29, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

September 20, 2007

Article: Observations on the Ancient Tunnel Recently Discovered in Jerusalem by Prof. Norman Golb.

August 28, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

August 23, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

August 10, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

August 7, 2007

Oriental Institute Job Posting: Head of Research Archives

The University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute is an internationally recognized research center for studying the archaeological and textual record of the Ancient Near East. A primary unit within the Institute is its Research Archives, a rapidly growing research facility with over forty thousand volumes covering the full range of scholarship of the Ancient Near East. As a staff position, the Head of Research Archives ensures the quality of the collections of the library and provides objective assessment of needs in all areas of scholarship on the Ancient Near East; manages day to day operations, supporting the acquisition, recording, cataloguing, maintenance and security of the collections; and supervises and trains all Research Archives support staff.

A Master’s degree or higher in at least one field of Ancient Near Eastern studies is required; demonstrated background or advanced degree in the field of library sciences is required. A cover letter and curriculum vita are required to be considered for this position. To apply for this position, please apply online at the University of Chicago’s job posting website, Requisition #: 076834

Applications must be received by August 24th, 2007.

The University of Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

August 6, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf) publication of:

July 26, 2007

As a part of the Institute’s Electronic Publications Initiative, we have combined our two previous web pages for Print and Electronic catalogs into a single Catalog of Publications, using two different icons to link users to either Download an Adobe PDF version of a publication, if available, or to link the user to the David Brown website where they can Purchase the publication.

June 26, 2007

A brief biography of Erich F. Schmidt, Field Director of the Persepolis Expedition of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, from 1935 to 1939, has been written by John Larson, Oriental Institute Museum Archivist.

June 8, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new electronic publication:

After more than a half a century since their discovery, it is time for the texts discovered at Tell Asmar (ancient Eshnunna) to be published. The first step towards a systematic publication of the Eshnunna archives has now been taken by Robert Whiting, with this publication of all the Akkadian letters unearthed at that site. Robert Whiting’s book is indeed a fine example of a sound and exhaustive text publication. Beautifully drawn cuneiform copies are supplied at the end of the book. [From a review by Shlomo Izre’el in Revue Biblique 97 (1990) 600–03].

June 7, 2007

Article: “Fact And Fiction In Current Exhibitions Of The Dead Sea Scrolls—A Critical Notebook for Viewers” by Norman Golb.

May 24, 2007

An 2007 update on the status of Iraqi Libraries by Jeff Spurr, Middle East Librarians Association, Committee on Iraqi Libraries, entitled: “Iraqi Libraries and Archives in Peril: Survival in a time of Invasion, Chaos, and Civil Conflict, A Report.

May 17, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new electronic publication:

OIP 132: The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Volume 8. Middle Kingdom Copies of Pyramid Texts. James P. Allen.

The texts inscribed in coffins, sarcophagi, and tomb chambers during the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom (ca. 2100–1650 bc) are one of the richest sources for the language and religion of ancient Egypt. Known mostly as Coffin Texts, they are usually contemporary in composition with the objects on which they were inscribed. In many sources they also occur together with older compositions, copies of the Pyramid Texts that were first inscribed in royal tombs of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (ca. 2300–2200 bc). During the first half of the last century, the Oriental Institute’s Coffin Texts Project recorded more than one hundred Middle Kingdom sources inscribed with these two kinds of texts. The newer Coffin Texts were published in the first seven volumes of this series. This volume completes the series with the publication of Middle Kingdom Copies of Pyramid Texts. In addition to the material recorded by the Coffin Texts Project, this volume includes texts from a number of sources previously unpublished or only recently discovered.

May 14, 2007

The Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new print publication:

OIMP 26. Daily Life Ornamented: The Medieval Persian City of Rayy. Tanya Treptow, with the collaboration of Donald Whitcomb.

Order information for this print publication is available here.

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces publication of:

OIMP 26. Daily Life Ornamented: The Medieval Persian City of Rayy. Tanya Treptow, with the collaboration of Donald Whitcomb.

May 10, 2007

The Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new print publication:

OIP 129. Nippur V: The Area WF Sounding: The Early Dynastic to Akkadian Transition. Augusta McMahon, with contributions by Pamela Vandiver and David Reese.

Order information for this print publication is available here.

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces publication of:

OIP 129. Nippur V: The Area WF Sounding: The Early Dynastic to Akkadian Transition. Augusta McMahon, with contributions by Pamela Vandiver and David Reese.

April 27, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new electronic publication:

OIMP 25: Embroidering Identities: A Century of Palestinian Clothing. Iman Saca, in collaboration with Maha Saca.
This companion volume to the exhibit, Embroidering Identities: A Century of Palestinian Clothing, held at the Oriental Institute from November 11, 2006 to March 25, 2007, is an overview of the colorful and distinctive clothing of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Palestine. The richly illustrated text discusses the construction of traditional dresses, the materials and dyes employed, and clothing and embroidery in the years following 1948. Garments from many regions are illustrated and described. The volume includes a glossary of Arabic terms and a checklist to the exhibit.

Iman and Maha Saca founded and maintain the Palestine Heritage Center in Bethlehem. The garments and accessories pictured in the volume are from the collections of the Oriental Institute and the Palestine Heritage Center.

April 26, 2007

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the electronic publication five out-of-print volumes:

  1. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Volume L. A. Leo Oppenheim et al., eds.
    The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD). The project was initiated in the early twenties, not long after James Henry Breasted founded the Oriental Institute in 1919 and barely one hundred years after the decipherment of the cuneiform script. This initial decipherment, and the soon-to-follow achievements in understanding the languages in which the hundreds of thousands of clay tablets were inscribed, opened an unsuspected treasure-house for the study and appreciation of the world’s oldest civilization.

    The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary was conceived to provide more than lexical information alone, more than a one-to-one equivalent between Akkadian and English words. By presenting each word in a meaningful context, usually with a full and idiomatic translation, it recreates the cultural milieu and thus in many ways assumes the function of an encyclopaedia. Its source material ranges in time from the third millennium B.C. to the first century A.D., and in geographic area from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Zagros Mountains in the east. With twenty of the projected twenty-one volumes published and the remaining volume in an advanced stage of preparation, with close to two million file cards the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary has become an invaluable source for the study of the civilizations of the ancient Near East, their political and cultural history, their achievements in the sciences of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and linguistics, and not least the perennial beauty of their poetry.
  2. OIP 102: The Tomb of Kheruef: Theban Tomb 192, The Epigraphic Survey, The Oriental Institute Of The University of Chicago.
    Theban Tomb Tomb 192 in the Theban necropolis is the largest private tomb known from Dynasty XVIII. It was intended to be the final resting place for Kheruef, royal scribe and steward to Amenhotep III’s principal wife, Queen Tiye, but the tomb was abandoned before completion and Kheruef was apparently buried elsewhere. The significance of the tomb comes from the superb artistic quality of its reliefs and the historical information provided by some of the scenes and accompanying inscriptions for the transition from Amenhotep III’s reign to that of his son and successor, Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten. The present volume, the outcome of a cooperative project started in 1957 by the Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and the Department of Antiquities of Egypt, is the definitive publication of the tomb.
  3. OIP 63: Pottery from the Diyala Region. Pinhas Delougaz.
    The hitherto published archeological material excavated by the Oriental Institute of Chicago in the Diyala region is completed by a new very important work of P. Delougaz about pottery. By the term of the “Diyala region” is meant a small area east of the Diyala river, tributary of the Tigris near Baghdad. Here the Oriental Institute of Chicago undertook from 1930 to 1937 several consecutive campaigns on four ancient sites of Khafajah, Tell Asmar, Tell Agrab and Ishchali. The pottery discovered there by the Iraq Expedition of the Oriental Institute with the material unearthed during two seasons at Khafajah by the University Museum of Pennsylvania and American Schools of Oriental Research in 1937/38 is the subject of the publication here under review. That the pottery from these four sites not far from each other is treated by the author as a whole has the advantage of helping us to trace the development of individual types much better than in dealing with insufficient material from one place only.
  4. OIP 42: Megiddo 1. Seasons of 1925-34: Strata I-V. Robert S. Lamon and Geoffrey M. Shipton.
    Megiddo 1, Strata I-V represent the latest domestic occupations of the mound, during the Middle and Late Iron periods. The architectural remains, including stables of Solomon, are fully discussed and illustrated. The various types of pottery, with references to parallels from other sites, are dealt with by Mr. Shipton. Other types of objects are fully illustrated, and a complete register of finds is given.
  5. OIP 21: The Excavation of Medinet Habu, Volume 1: General Plans and Views. Uvo Hölscher, with Foreword by J. H. Breasted.
    In conjunction with its epigraphic survey of the temples at Medinet Habu, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago has undertaken and carried to completion the excavation of the buildings surrounding the great temple of Rameses III, and is now publishing a comprehensive architectural survey of the site.

    In six seasons’ work the architectural and excavatory branch of the expedition, under the capable and experienced leadership of Professor Uvo Holscher, has cleared all the ground enclosed within the temenos wall of the main temple group, as well as certain selected areas lying outside the enclosure, notably a large expanse of terrain to the northwest of the temenos, where there was discovered a temple built by King Aye of the XVIIIth Dynasty and usurped by his successor, the Pharaoh Horemheb. The results of this work are embodied in the present folio plate volume (published in the same format used in the plate volumes of the Institute’s epigraphic survey, 24×19 inches); and in three text volumes, employing a smaller format, which are to appear in the future.

April 24, 2007

Oriental Institute Job Posting: Post-Doctoral Scholar

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago invites applications for the Oriental Institute’s Annual Post-Doctoral Scholar Conference program for the 2007–2008 academic year. This is a twelve month, non-renewable appointment. The Post-Doctoral Scholar will organize and conduct a two day conference at the Oriental Institute on key comparatively-oriented theoretical or methodological issues in the field of ancient studies (archaeological, text-based, and/or art historical avenues of research). We encourage cross disciplinary proposals that deal with the ancient Near East (including Egypt) or that compare the Near East with other cultural areas. The conference will take place in early to mid March 2008. After the conference, the Post-Doctoral Scholar will work with publication staff to assemble and edit the proceedings for publication in the “Oriental Institute Seminars” series. The incumbent is also encouraged to pursue his or her own research while in residence and to interact with the Oriental Institute community.

Information on past Oriental Institute Annual symposia can be viewed at: http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/symposia/

Qualifications: Ph.D. in a discipline relating to ancient studies must be complete at the time of application. Applicants should send:

  1. 5-page proposal outlining nature and structure of the conference (including names and paper topics of six to eight key participants who have agreed to make presentations, should the conference be funded)
  2. curriculum vitae
  3. 3 letters of reference (these may be sent under separate cover).

Electronic submissions are welcome. Deadline for completed applications is May 15, 2007. Start date is September 1, 2007. Please send applications to:

Post-Doctoral Scholar Program
attn. Joshua Best, Oriental Institute
University of Chicago
1155 East 58th St.
Chicago, IL 60637

Or e-mail to: oi-administration@uchicago.edu

The University of Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

April 11, 2007

Oriental Institute Job Posting: Persepolis Fortification Archives Research Project Professionals

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago seeks to appoint two new staff members to make digital images of Aramaic texts and of seal impressions on tablets from the Persepolis Fortification archive.

Knowledge of Aramaic epigraphy and/or Achaemenid glyptic and/or the Persepolis Fortification archive is highly desirable. Comfort with digital technology, familiarity with computers and a variety of computer programs is essential. Graduate work in some area of ancient Near Eastern studies is required. Applicants with these qualifications who have completed PhDs in areas pertinent to research on Achaemenid texts and art, as well as applicants admitted to PhD candidacy in these areas, are encouraged to apply.

The successful applicants will receive training in large-format very high-resolution digital scanning and Polynomial Texture Mapping and in making, processing, and uploading images. They will then capture images of Aramaic texts and of seal impressions on clay tablets from Persepolis, under the supervision of the Persepolis Fortification Archives project team, and process the scans for uploading and editing.

The work is to begin on July 1, 2007 and continue through December 31, 2008. Salary for each post is $22,000 (July–December 2007) + $44,000 (January–December 2008), with benefits.

Funding for these positions is assured from July, 2007 through December, 2008. There is a possibility that additional funding will be obtained and that the positions can be extended.

To apply for this position, please apply online at the University of Chicago’s job posting website at http://jobs.uchicago.edu (requisition #075728 or 075622—Research Project Professional)

Applications must be received by May 15th, 2007.

For additional information, please contact:
Matthew Stolper
Oriental Institute
University of Chicago
1155 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 690093
m-stolper@uchicago.edu

The University of Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

April 10, 2007

The Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new print publication:

SAOC 61. Sacred Space and Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, Peter F. Dorman and Betsy M. Bryan, editors, with contributions by Mohammed el-Bialy, Martina Ullmann, Dimitri Laboury, Silke Grallert, Peter Brand, J. Brett McClain, Harold M. Hays and William Schenck, Catharine H. Roehrig, Boyo G. Ockinga, Heike Behlmer, and Kees van der Spek.

Order information for this print publication is available here.

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces publication of:

SAOC 61. Sacred Space and Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, Peter F. Dorman and Betsy M. Bryan, editors, with contributions by Mohammed el-Bialy, Martina Ullmann, Dimitri Laboury, Silke Grallert, Peter Brand, J. Brett McClain, Harold M. Hays and William Schenck, Catharine H. Roehrig, Boyo G. Ockinga, Heike Behlmer, and Kees van der Spek.

April 5, 2007

The Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new print publication:

OIP 125: Excavations at Tell es-Sweyhat, Syria, Volume 2: Archaeology of the Bronze Age, Hellenistic, and Roman Remains at an Ancient Town on the Euphrates River, Thomas A. Holland.

Order information for this print publication is available here.

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces publication of:

  1. OIP 92: Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Richard T. Hallock;
  2. OIP 125: Excavations at Tell es-Sweyhat, Syria, Volume 2: Archaeology of the Bronze Age, Hellenistic, and Roman Remains at an Ancient Town on the Euphrates River, Thomas A. Holland;
  3. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Volume T, Erica Reiner, Editor-In-Charge;
  4. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Volume Tet, Martha T. Roth, Editor-In-Charge

March 13, 2007

Oriental Institute Job Posting: Post-Doctoral Scholar

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago invites applications for the Oriental Institute’s Annual Post-Doctoral Scholar Conference program for the 2007–2008 academic year. This is a twelve month, non-renewable appointment. The Post-Doctoral Scholar will organize and conduct a two day conference at the Oriental Institute on key comparatively-oriented theoretical or methodological issues in the field of ancient studies (archaeological, text-based, and/or art historical avenues of research). We encourage cross disciplinary proposals that deal with the ancient Near East (including Egypt) or that compare the Near East with other cultural areas. The conference will take place in early to mid March 2008. After the conference, the Post-Doctoral Scholar will work with publication staff to assemble and edit the proceedings for publication in the “Oriental Institute Seminars” series. The incumbent is also encouraged to pursue his or her own research while in residence and to interact with the Oriental Institute community.

Information on past Oriental Institute Annual symposia can be viewed at: http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/symposia/

Qualifications: Ph.D. in a discipline relating to ancient studies must be complete at the time of application. Applicants should send:

  1. 5-page proposal outlining nature and structure of the conference (including names and paper topics of six to eight key participants who have agreed to make presentations, should the conference be funded)
  2. curriculum vitae
  3. 3 letters of reference (these may be sent under separate cover).

Electronic submissions are welcome. Deadline for completed applications is April 30, 2007. Start date is September 1, 2007. Please send applications to:

Post-Doctoral Scholar Program
attn. Joshua Best, Oriental Institute
University of Chicago
1155 East 58th St.
Chicago, IL 60637

Or e-mail to: oi-administration@uchicago.edu

Please repost this notice wherever there may be interest.

The University of Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

March 8, 2007

Article: “The Qumran-Essene Theory And Recent Strategies Employed In Its Defense,” by Prof. Norman Golb

March 2, 2007

The frequently updated Persepolis Fortification Archive Project blog presents information and resources relating to the Oriental Institute’s ongoing project to conserve, document, study, and publish the Elamite and Aramaic administrative documents and associated seal impression which form the Persepolis Fortification Archive.

February 7, 2007

Our new website design is now live!

January 9, 2007

Article: Museum Exhibitions Intensify Controversy Over Dead Sea Scrolls by Prof. Norman Golb.