Karen Radner

Last updated

Karen Radner (11 May 1972) is an Austrian Assyriologist, the Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Ancient History at the University of Munich. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Karen Radner started her studies at the University of Vienna in 1990 in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Archaeology. She graduated in 1994 with an MA (summa cum laude) and 1997 with a PhD (summa cum laude). [2] Her doctoral work was titled Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden als Quelle für Mensch und Umwelt ("The Neo-Assyrian Private Legal Documents as Source for Mankind and Environment"). This study was published in 1997 as part of the State Archives of Assyria Studies Series (Vol. 6) based at the University of Helsinki.

Following her doctoral studies, Radner spent two years in the University of Helsinki as a junior research fellow (1997-1999) and one year at the University of Tübingen as a research fellow (1999). In 1999, Radner moved to the University of Munich as a research assistant and started her Habilitation, which was completed in 2004 and is entitled "Die Macht des Namens. Altorientalische Strategien zur Selbsterhaltung" ("The Power of a Name: Ancient Near Eastern Strategies for Self-Preservation"). This was published in 2005. From 2005-2015, Radner worked at University College London as a lecturer, reader, and then professor in Ancient Near Eastern History. During this time, she was also a guest professor at the University of Verona, the University of Innsbruck, UCL Qatar, Doha, and Koç University, Istanbul.

Humboldt Professorship

In 2015, Radner won an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Award in Classical and Ancient Studies. [3] As part of this award, she received a professorship at the University of Munich, where she is the Alexander von Humboldt-Professur für die Alte Geschichte des Nahen und Mittleren Ostens (Alexander von Humboldt Professor for the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East) as part of the Faculty of History and the Arts, Department of History: Ancient History program. [4] She is also a member of the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Munich.

Project leadership

Radner has led several projects, including ("'Assyrian empire builders:' Governors, Diplomats and Soldiers in the Service of Sargon II and Tiglath-pileser III, Kings of Assyria" and "Knowledge and Power in the Neo-Assyrian Empire".

Other honors and awards

In 2016, Radner was elected to the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities). Since 2015, Radner has also been an Honorary Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at University College London.

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyria</span> Major Mesopotamian civilization

Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC, then to a territorial state, and eventually an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinsharishkun</span> Assyrian king (died 612 BC)

Sîn-šar-iškun was the penultimate king of Assyria, reigning from the death of his brother and predecessor Aššur-etil-ilāni in 627 BC to his own death at the Fall of Nineveh in 612 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assur</span> Former Assyrian capital, now archaeological site in Iraq

Aššur (; Sumerian: 𒀭𒊹𒆠 AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: Aš-šurKI, "City of God Aššur"; Syriac: ܐܫܘܪ Āšūr; Old Persian: 𐎠𐎰𐎢𐎼 Aθur, Persian: آشور Āšūr; Hebrew: אַשּׁוּר ʾAššūr, Arabic: اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1363–912 BC), and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC). The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, the Little Zab, in what is now Iraq, more precisely in the al-Shirqat District of the Saladin Governorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabal (state)</span> Neo-Hittite state

Tabal, later reorganised into Bīt-Burutaš or Bīt-Paruta, was a Luwian-speaking Syro-Hittite state which existed in southeastern Anatolia in the Iron Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyana</span> Ancient city

Tyana, earlier known as Tuwana during the Iron Age, and Tūwanuwa during the Bronze Age, was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sîn-šumu-līšir</span> King of Assyria

Sîn-šumu-līšir or Sîn-šumu-lēšir, also spelled Sin-shum-lishir, was a usurper king in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, ruling some cities in northern Babylonia for three months in 626 BC during a revolt against the rule of the king Sîn-šar-iškun. He was the only eunuch to ever claim the throne of Assyria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simo Parpola</span>

Simo Kaarlo Antero Parpola is a Finnish Assyriologist specializing in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Professor emeritus of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warpalawas II</span> King of Tuwana

Warpalawas II was a Luwian king of the Syro-Hittite kingdom of Tuwana in the region of Tabal who reigned during the late 8th century BC, from around c. 740 to c. 705 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashur (god)</span> Ancient Assyrian national deity

Ashur, Ashshur, also spelled Ašur, Aššur was the national god of the Assyrians in ancient times until their gradual conversion to Christianity between the 1st and 5th centuries AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neo-Assyrian Empire</span> Fourth period of Assyrian history

The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East throughout much of the 8th and 7th centuries BC, becoming the largest empire in history up to that point. Because of its geopolitical dominance and ideology based in world domination, the Neo-Assyrian Empire is by many researchers regarded to have been the first world empire in history. It influenced other empires of the ancient world culturally, administratively, and militarily, including the Babylonians, the Achaemenids, and the Seleucids. At its height, the empire was the strongest military power in the world and ruled over all of Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt, as well as parts of Anatolia, Arabia and modern-day Iran and Armenia.

Bazaya, Bāzāia or Bāzāiu, inscribed mba-za-a-a and of uncertain meaning, was the ruler of Assyria c. 1649 to 1622 BC, the 52nd listed on the Assyrian King List, succeeding Iptar-Sin, to whom he was supposedly a great-uncle. He reigned for twenty-eight years and has left no known inscriptions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyrian continuity</span> Continuity between ancient and modern Assyrians

Assyrian continuity is the study of continuity between the modern Assyrian people, a Semitic indigenous ethnic, religious, and linguistic minority in the Middle East, and the people of Ancient Mesopotamia in general and ancient Assyria in particular. Assyrian continuity and Mesopotamian heritage is a key part of the identity of the modern Assyrian people. No archaeological, genetic, linguistic, anthropological, or written historical evidence exists of the original Assyrian and Mesopotamian population being exterminated, removed, bred out, or replaced in the aftermath of the fall of the Assyrian Empire, modern contemporary scholarship "almost unilaterally" supports Assyrian continuity, recognizing the modern Assyrians as the ethnic, linguistic, historical, and genetic descendants of the East Assyrian-speaking population of Bronze Age and Iron Age Assyria specifically, and Mesopotamia in general, which were composed of both the old native Assyrian population and of neighboring settlers in the Assyrian heartland.

Aššur-uballiṭ II, also spelled Assur-uballit II and Ashuruballit II, was the final ruler of Assyria, ruling from his predecessor Sîn-šar-iškun's death at the Fall of Nineveh in 612 BC to his own defeat at Harran in 609 BC. He was possibly the son of Sîn-šar-iškun and likely the same person as a crown prince mentioned in inscriptions at the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 626 and 623 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire</span> Last war fought by the Neo-Assyrian Empire between 626 and 609 BC

The Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire was the last war fought by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, between 626 and 609 BC. Succeeding his brother Ashur-etil-ilani, the new king of Assyria, Sinsharishkun, immediately faced the revolt of one of his brother's chief generals, Sin-shumu-lishir, who attempted to usurp the throne for himself. Though this threat was dealt with relatively quickly, the instability caused by the brief civil war may have made it possible for another official or general, Nabopolassar, to rise up and seize power in Babylonia. Sinsharishkun's inability to defeat Nabopolassar, despite repeated attempts over the course of several years, allowed Nabopolassar to consolidate power and form the Neo-Babylonian Empire, restoring Babylonian independence after more than a century of Assyrian rule. The Neo-Babylonian Empire, and the newly-formed Median Empire under King Cyaxares, then invaded the Assyrian heartland. In 614 BC, the Medes captured and sacked Assur, the ceremonial and religious heart of the Assyrian Empire, and in 612 BC, their combined armies attacked and razed Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. Sinsharishkun's fate is unknown but it is assumed that he died in the defense of his capital. He was succeeded as king only by Ashur-uballit II, possibly his son, who rallied what remained of the Assyrian army at the city of Harran and, bolstered by an alliance with Egypt, ruled for three years, in a last attempt to resist the Medo-Babylonian invasion of his realm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qalat-i Dinka</span>

Qalat-i Dinka is an archaeological excavation site in Iraq, which is located on the Little Zab, in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, in the very north-east of the country. Excavations have been taking place there since 2016 after a fragment of a cuneiform tablet came to light by chance. The excavation results are available annually in preliminary reports and excavation publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rʻuth-Assor</span> 2nd century AD Assyrian ruler

Rʻuth-Assor, also transliterated Rʻuṯassor, Rʻūṯ’assor or Rʻūṯassor, was a local Assyrian king or city-lord in the early 2nd century AD, ruling the city of Assur under the suzerainty of the Parthian Empire. The continued veneration of Ashur and other Assyrian gods under Rʻuth-Assor and his predecessors and successors, as well as their stelae greatly resembling those erected under by the old kings of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, suggests that Rʻuth-Assor and the other rulers of Assur during this time saw themselves as the continuation of the ancient line of Assyrian kings.

The post-imperial period was the final stage of ancient Assyrian history, covering the history of the Assyrian heartland from the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 609 BC to the final sack and destruction of Assur, Assyria's ancient religious capital, by the Sasanian Empire c. AD 240–250, though Assyria was to endure as the geopolitical entity of Asoristan until the mid 7th century AD. There was no single independent Assyrian state during this time, with Assur and other Assyrian cities instead falling under the control of the successive Median, Neo-Babylonian, Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian empires. The period was marked by the continuance of ancient Assyrian culture, traditions and religion, despite the lack of an Assyrian kingdom. The ancient Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language went extinct however, completely replaced by Aramaic by the 5th century BC, a process that had begun during the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atuna (state)</span> Neo-Hittite state

Atuna or Tuna was a Luwian-speaking Syro-Hittite state which existed in the region of Tabal in southeastern Anatolia in the Iron Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Šinuḫtu</span> Neo-Hittite state

Šinuḫtu was a Luwian-speaking Syro-Hittite state which existed in the region of Tabal in southeastern Anatolia in the Iron Age.

References