Saul Olyan
Samuel Ungerleider Jr. Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies:
Judaic Studies, Program In
Phone: +1 401 863 7565
Saul_Olyan@Brown.EDU
Saul M. Olyan is the author of Disability in the Hebrew Bible: Interpreting Mental and Physical Differences (Cambridge University Press, 2008); Biblical Mourning: Ritual and Social Dimensions (Oxford University Press, 2004); Rites and Rank: Hierarchy in Biblical Representations of Cult (Princeton University Press, 2000); "A Thousand Thousands Served Him": Exegesis and the Naming of Angels in Ancient Judaism (Mohr/Siebeck, 1993); and Asherah and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel (Scholars, 1988).
Biography
Saul M. Olyan is Samuel Ungerleider Jr. Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University. He is author of Disability in the Hebrew Bible: Interpreting Mental and Physical Differences (Cambridge University Press, 2008); Biblical Mourning: Ritual and Social Dimensions (Oxford University Press, 2004); Rites and Rank: Hierarchy in Biblical Representations of Cult (Princeton University Press, 2000); "A Thousand Thousands Served Him": Exegesis and the Naming of Angels in Ancient Judaism (J.C.B. Mohr/Paul Siebeck, 1993); and Asherah and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel (Scholars Press, 1988). He is co-editor of a number of volumes, including Household and Family Religion in Antiquity (Blackwell, 2008, with John Bodel), and the author of various journal articles, essays and reviews.
Recent articles include "Mary Douglas's Holiness/Wholeness Paradigm: Its Potential for Insight and its Limitations," Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 8 (2008) article 10:1-9; "The Status of Covenant During the Exile," in Berührungspunkte: Studien zur Sozial- und Religionsgeschichte Israels und seiner Umwelt (FS Rainer Albertz; Ugaritverlag, 2008) 333-44; "Family Religion in Israel and the Wider Levant of the First Millennium BCE," in Household and Family Religion in Antiquity (ed. John Bodel and Saul M. Olyan; Blackwell, 2008) 113-26; "'Surpassing the Love of Women': Another Look at 2 Sam 1:26 and the Relationship of David and Jonathan," in Authorizing Marriage? Canon, Tradition and Critique in the Blessing of Same-Sex Unions (ed. Mark D. Jordan; Princeton University Press, 2006) 7-16, 165-70; "Some Neglected Aspects of Israelite Interment Ideology," Journal of Biblical Literature 124 (2005) 601-616.
Coordinating editor, Brown Judaic Studies, 2001-; member, editorial board, Anchor Yale Bible series, 2008-; member, editorial board, Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 2007-; editor (Hebrew Bible), Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series (1999-2002); member, Society of Biblical Literature Council (1999-2002); member, editorial board, Journal of Biblical Literature, 1993-98; member, editorial board, Journal of the History of Sexuality, 1996-2000.
Interests
The focus of my research is the history, literature and religion of ancient Israel, and the history of biblical interpretation. In recent years, textual representations of ritual and ritual's social dimensions (particularly, the production of inequality) have been abiding interests of mine. I have written on aspects of disability, death and the afterlife, social hierarchy, sexuality, purity and impurity, honor and shame, among other subjects. Currently, I am beginning work on a new book project: The Status of Covenant during the Exile.
Degrees
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1985;
Awards
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, December 2005.
Fellowship, Center for Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 1997-98.
Yale University Morse Junior Faculty Leave Fellowship, October 1988.
American Philosophical Society, research grant for Dead Sea Scroll publication project, February 1988.
Lady Davis Post-doctoral Fellowship, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1985 (declined)
Affiliations
Memberships:
Society of Biblical Literature
European Association of Biblical Studies
American Historical Association
Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.
Teaching
I teach an introductory course on the Hebrew Bible and the History of ancient Israel, various seminars on biblical books which require an advanced knowledge of Hebrew, seminars on Aramaic texts and language, as well as courses on topics such as death and afterlife in the biblical tradition, the history of biblical interpretation up to the Enlightenment, problems in Israelite history, problems in Israelite religion, biblical literature of the exile, and disability in antiquity.
Funded Research
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, December 2005: $24,000
Fellowship, Center for Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 1997-98: $30,000
Yale University Morse Junior Faculty Leave Fellowship, October 1988.
American Philosophical Society, research grant for Dead Sea Scroll publication project, February 1988.
Lady Davis Post-doctoral Fellowship, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1985 (declined)
Web Links
- New book: Disability in the Hebrew Bible
- New co-edited book: Household and Family Religion in Antiquity
