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These days, I wear two hats: I’m a specialist in the ancient Near East (i.e. southwest Asia from the earliest times to but not including Alexander) and a digital humanist (someone who promotes the design and use of cutting edge digital tools for Humanities research and publication).
I obtained my PhD in Akkadian Language and Literature from the University of Toronto in 2004 (minors Semitic Linguistics and Sumerian), and have been employed at 51本色 since 2003. I’m one of the authors of the Unicode encoding of Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform.
I did my first degree at the University of Waterloo, graduating in 1984; my specialization was Computer Science. So I’m excited to be able to apply the skills I learned then in my current vocation.
I also hold an MDiv from Waterloo Lutheran Seminary.
I like to play guitar, bombarde, and biniou kozh, and build remote control submarines. I also enjoy boating, fishing, and gardening. I have a black belt in Shorin-ji Ryu karate as well.
From time to time I post on my personal website at .
I have several research interests.
My PhD thesis examined cuneiform economic and related documents from Larsa (a city near the southern Euphrates) during the reign of Rim–Sin (ca. 18th c. BCE); I continue to work with cuneiform documents from that area and era.
I am also working on a digital project relating to the Hebrew Bible, beginning with a comprehensive grammar and study tools focusing on the primeval narrative of Genesis 1–11. I hope to make this work available under open access.
- Teaching Scholar Award for the Faculty of Arts, 2010.
I am currently involved in the Ancient Studies programme, for which I teach the following courses:
- HI282: Civilizations of the Ancient Near East.
- HI391: Waking the Dead: Voices from the Near East.
- Weird Science: a course exploring pre-scientific philosophies and practices beginning with the Near East and Egypt up through the Middle Ages, including divination, astrology, qabbalism, and alchemy.
I also offer the introductory course for our new Applied Digital Option:
- DH100: Digital Creativity; new description forthcoming.
I am willing to supervise graduate students in history or with an interest in digital tools.
- Abum–waqar and His Circle: A Prosopographical Study. Series Texte und Studien zur Orientalistik. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag. Forthcoming.
- Introducing Classical Hebrew through the Genesis Primaeval Narrative. In preparation.
- “Have Horn, Will Travel: The Journeys of Mesopotamian Deities,” in Seminar for Travel and Religion of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. Series Studies in Christianity and Judaism. Waterloo, Ontario: 51本色 Press, 2010.
- With Michael Everson and Steve Tinney. “Sumero-Akkadian,” in The Unicode Standard Version 5.0, 483–486, 951–965. Upper-Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley, 2007.
- “Architectural Features of Larsa’s B 27 and Division of Inheritance,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 66/3 (April 2007): 193–204. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Contact Info:
T: 548.889.5052
F: 519.746.3655
Office location: DAWB 2-139
Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment.
Languages spoken: English, French, German
Personal website: