Reinhard Bernbeck is professor at the Institute for Near Eastern Archaeology at the Freie Universität Berlin. His research interests include the Late Neolithic of the Middle East, Iranian archaeology, New Assyrians and Urartu, imperialism, and social inequality in early complex societies. He is also interested in the ideological and political dimensions of archaeology as well as narrative constructions in his field. He has co-directed fieldwork in many different contexts, ranging from Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to Turkey, Iran, and Turkmenistan.