The Minerva Center
for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times
Prof. Angelika Berlejung, Co-Director
University of Leipzig
Angelika Berlejung studied Theology, Assyriology and Semitic Languages in Heidelberg and Munich (1980-88), received a diploma in Theology from the University of Heidelberg (1988) and a doctorate degree in Theology (Old Testament Studies) at Heidelberg (1997; scl). Her PhD won the Ruprecht-Karls-Award (1998). In 1999-2004 she held the chair of "Languages and Cultures of Syria and Palestine" at the University of Leuven/Belgium. Since 2004 she holds the chair of "History and History of Religion of Israel and its Neighbors" at the University of Leipzig/Germany.
Since 2009 she is professor extraordinaire at the Department of Ancient Studies at the University of Stellenbosch/South Africa, and since 2017 Visiting Full Professor for Biblical Archaeology at Bar Ilan University/Israel. Since 2015 she is co-director of the Minerva center for the "Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times". Since 2017 she is Member (o.m.) of the Saxonian Academy of Science.
Editorials:
She is member of the Editorial Board of 'Oriental Religions in Antiquity' (since 2008), 'Old Testament Essays' (since 2009), 'Biblical Tools and Studies' (since 2016), 'Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times' (since 2016), and 'Alter Orient und Altes Testament' (since 2019).
Major Research Interest:
Old Testament Studies; History and History of the Religions of Ancient Israel and the surrounding cultures; biblical archaeology, magic, intercultural contacts, cultural anthropology, social scientific approach to the Bible, Semitic languages.
Selected Publications:
Books:
-Die Theologie der Bilder. Das Kultbild in Mesopotamien und die alttestamentliche Bilderpolemik unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Herstellung und Einweihung der Statuen, OBO 162, Göttingen, Fribourg 1998
-With J.C. Gertz, K. Schmid, M. Witte, Grundinformation Altes Testament, Göttingen 2006, 20072, 20083, 20104, 20165, Engl. transl.: Handbook of the Old Testament, T&T Clark, New York/London 2012
-Náboženské dějiny starověkého Izraele, Prag: Vysehrad Verlag 2017
-Divine Secrets and Human Imaginations, Studies on the History of Religion and Anthropology of the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament, ORA, Tübingen 2021
Selection of Articles:
-Twisting Traditions: Programmatic Absence-Theology for the Northern Kingdom in 1 Kgs 12:26-33* (the „Sin of Jeroboam“), JNSL 35/2, 2009, 1-42
-There is Nothing Better than More! Texts and Images on Amulet 1 from Arslan Tash, JNSL 36/1, 2010, 1-42
-The Assyrians in the West: Assyrianization, Colonialism, Indifference, or Development Policy?, in: M. Nissinen (ed.), Congress Volume Helsinki 2010, VT.Sup. 148, Leiden u.a.: Brill 2012, 21-60
-Shared Fates: Gaza and Ekron as Examples for the Assyrian Religious Policy in the West, in: N.N. May (ed.), Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond. Papers from the Oriental Institute Seminar Held at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, April 8–9, 2011. Oriental Institute Seminars (OIS) 8. Chicago, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2012, 129-152
-Divine Presence for Everybody: Presence Theology in Everyday Life, in: N. MacDonald/I. J. de Hulster (ed.), Divine Presence and Absence in Exilic and Post-Exilic Judaism, FAT II/61, Tübingen 2013, 67-94
-The Aramaeans outside of Syria: Palestine, in: H. Niehr (ed.), The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria, Handbuch der Orientalistik 106. Section 1, Leiden/Boston 2014, 339-365 & pl. XLIV.
-Living in the Land of Shinar: Reflections on Exile in Gen 11:1-9?, in: P. Dubovsky/D. Markl/J.-P. Sonnet (ed.), The Fall of Jerusalem and the Rise of the Torah, FAT 107, Tübingen 2016, 89-111.
-Family ties: Constructed Memories about Aram and the Aramaeans in the Old Testament, in: I.J. de Hulster/M. Oeming/O. Sergi (ed.), In Search for Aram and Israel. Politics, Culture, and Identity, ORA 20, Tübingen 2016, 355-377.
-New Life, New Skills, and New Friends in Exile: The Loss and Rise of Capitals of the Judeans in Babylonia, in: I. Finkelstein/C. Robin/T. Römer (ed.), Alphabets, Texts and Artifacts in the Ancient Near East, Studies Presented to Benjamin Sass, Paris: Van Dieren 2016, 12-45.
-The Origins and Beginnings of the Worship of Yhwh: The Iconographic Evidence, in: M. Witte/J. van Oorschot (ed.), The Origins of Yahwism, BZAW 484, Berlin/Boston 2017, 67-92
-Social Climbing in the Babylonian Exile, in: A. Berlejung/A. Maeir/A. Schuele (ed.), Wandering Arameans. Arameans Outside Syria. Textual and Archaeological Perspectives, LAOS 5, Wiesbaden 2017, 101-124
-Social Demarcation Lines and Marriage Rules in Urban Babylonia and Their Impact on the Golah, in: I. Shai (Hg.), Festschrift Aren Maeir, ÄAT, Wiesbaden 2018
-Masks in the Old Testament? Masks in Ancient Palestine/Israel!, in: A. Berlejung/J. Filitz (ed.), The Physicality of the Other: Masks as a Means of Encounter/Die Leibhaftigkeit des Anderen: Masken als Medium der Begegnung, ORA 27, Tübingen 2018
-Katalog der anthropomorphen Masken der südlichen Levante vom präkeramischen Neolithikum B bis zum Beginn der hellenistischen Zeit (9. Jt. – 4. Jh. v. Chr.), in: A. Berlejung/J. Filitz (ed.), The Physicality of the Other: Masks as a Means of Encounter/Die Leibhaftigkeit des Anderen: Masken als Medium der Begegnung, ORA 27, Tübingen 2018
-Forever Foreign? Marriage Rules in Urban Babylonia and Their Impact on the Exiles and Returnees, in: A. Berlejung/M. Grohmann (Hg.), Foreign Women – Women in Foreign Lands. Studies on Foreignness and Gender in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East in the First Millennium BCE, ORA 35, Tübingen 2019, 237-261.
-Solomon's Soulmate: The Queen of Sheba as a Foreign Woman, in: A. Berlejung/M. Grohmann (Hg.), Foreign Women – Women in Foreign Lands. Studies on Foreignness and Gender in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East in the First Millennium BCE, ORA 35, Tübingen 2019, 29-38.
-Identity Performances in Multilinguistic Contexts: The Cases of Yarih-ʿezer from Amman and Ikausu/Achish from Ekron, WdO 49, 2019, 252-287.