New Faculty 2023

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Timothy Harrison

Professor
Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia and North Africa; Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations; and the College
Director, Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia and North Africa

Timothy Harrison is a renowned academic leader and scholar with decades of research experience in the Middle East. His research focuses on the rise of early social complexity in the ancient Near East, specifically the complex societies of the Bronze and Iron Ages of the Levant. He has more than 35 years of experience conducting field research, primarily in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. Harrison has directed excavations at Tall Madaba in Jordan and has led the Tayinat Archaeological Project in southeastern Turkey since 2000. Recently, he led a team participating in the post-conflict documentation, preservation, and restoration of the cultural heritage of Iraq, primarily focused on Mosul (Nineveh).

His work has been published in PLOS One, American Journal of Archaeology, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Scripta Mediterranea, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Archaeology Odyssey, and Journal of Near Eastern Studies, among others. He has also contributed or co-authored chapters to more than two dozen scholarly books.

Harrison completed a BA with honors at Wheaton College and earned an MA and PhD in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago. He was most recently a professor of Near Eastern archaeology at the University of Toronto.

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