Ronan Head is a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Studies at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has a B.A. from the University of Birmingham in Ancient History (2000) and an M.Phil. from the University of Oxford in Oriental Studies (2002). He is currently doing research at the University of Vienna.

Bio


Ronan's primary research focuses on the civilisations of ancient Iraq. He reads the ancient cuneiform languages of Akkadian and Sumerian, and is writing a dissertation on slavery in Babylonia (“The Business Practices of Late Period Slaves”). He is also working on the cuneiform tablets in the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Collection.

Ronan has taught various college-level classes including Expository Writing and Akkadian language (at Johns Hopkins), and Old Testament, New Testament, and Comparative Religion (at Harford Community College).

Ronan has written popular articles for historical periodicals such as Archaeology Odyssey. He reads biblical Hebrew and has received graduate training in historiography, biblical studies, Egyptian history, and Near Eastern archaeology.

At Wolfson College, Oxford, Ronan served on the Finance and Academic Policy Committees, and as chairman of the Near Eastern Think Tank.

Scholarly memberships include the British School for Archaeology in Iraq, the American Oriental Society, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the International Association for Assyriology.

Articles

   
  • "A Neo-Babylonian Slave Archive," in preparation.
  • "Neo-Babylonian Tablets in the Johns Hopkins Collection," in preparation.
  • "An Old Babylonian Tablet in the Johns Hopkins Collection," in preparation.
  • "Assyria at Bisitun and the Universal Kingship of Darius the Great of Persia," Jeremy Black Memorial Volume (under review).
  • “The Impregnable Rock of Van," Archaeology Odyssey, November 2002.
  • Review of J. Black et. al., Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, Romulus (Wolfson College, Oxford), 2001.

Papers Read


  • "Balatu: A Neo-Babylonian Slave," SBL International Meeting and RAI, July 2007.
  • "The Business Practices of Neo-Babylonian Slaves," SBL Annual Meeting, November 2006.
  • "Assyria at Bisitun and the Universal Kingship of Darius the Great," AOS Annual Meeting, March 2006.
  • "Ancient Near Eastern Beekeeping," BYU Faculty Seminar, November 2005.

Fellowships and Awards


  • British Academy AHRB scholarship.
  • Brigham Young University Nibley fellowship.
  • Travel grant from the British Institute for Archaeology in Ankara.
  • Commonwealth Scholarship.
  • Johns Hopkins University Near Eastern Studies Department fellowship.
  • Summer fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  • Ernst Mach Grant, Austrian Academic Service.