David I. Owen

Bernard and Jane Schapiro Emeritus Professor of Ancient Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

Image of David I. Owen
dio1@cornell.edu
607/254-1256

Education

  • PhD degree in Mediterranean Studies, Brandeis University 1969
  • M.A. in Mediterranean Studies, Brandeis University 1963
  • A.B. in Classical Civilization, Boston University 1962

Departments and programs

  • Near Eastern Studies

Affiliated Colleges

  • College of Arts and Sciences

Links

Overview

David I. Owen (Ph.D., Brandeis University, 1969) is the Bernard and Jane Schapiro Emeritus Professor of Ancient Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and was Curator of Tablet Collections in the Jonathan and Jeannette Rosen Ancient Near Eastern Studies Seminar and Tablet Conservation Laboratory. In addition to extensive archaeological fieldwork in Turkey Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel from 1961-1988, he has published widely in cuneiform studies, with over 150 articles and reviews, seven volumes of cuneiform texts and studies, and numerous edited books. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the series, Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians (Eisenbrauns and CDL Press) begun in 1981, and edited first with Professor Martha A. Morrison (Brandeis University and Boston College) and then with Professor Gernot Wilhelm (Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg) through its eighteenth volume in 2009. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of the Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology (CUSAS). Begun in 2007, the series includes the publications of cuneiform texts from the Cornell University and other collections, with over thirty volumes of cuneiform texts and studies published to date (2015). Professor Owen taught course in Sumerian, Akkadian languages, Near Eastern and Biblical History and archaeology and is currently retired from teaching.

Research Focus

  • Ancient Near Eastern History and Archaeology
  • Assyriology
  • Sumerology

Publications

BOOKS AUTHORED (Published and Forthcoming): 

  • 2016 The Nesbit Tablets (Nisaba, Studi Assiriologici Messinesi, Vol. 30), Winona: Eisenbrau’s. In press.
  • 2013 Unprovenanced Texts Primarily from Iri-Saĝrig/Āl-Šarrākī and the history of the Ur III Period, Volumes I-II (Nisaba, Studi Assiriologici Messinesi, Vol. 15). DiSc.A.M.: Messina, in preparation.
  • 2011 Garšana Studies (Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, Vol. 6), Bethesda: CDL Press. PP. xi + 457.   
  • 2009  An Analytical Concordance to the Garshana Archives (with Alexandra Kleinerman, Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, Vol. 4), Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. x + 793.   
  • 2007  The Garshana Archives (with Rudolf H. Mayr and Alexandra Kleinerman, Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, Vol. 3.), Pp.  xvi + 550 + 35 Plates.
  • 1991   Neo-Sumerian Texts from American Collections (Materiali per il     Vocabolario Neosumerico, Vol. 15). Rome: Unione Accademica Nazionale - Multigrafica Editrice. Pp. xi + 168 + 63 plates (copies) + xxvi plates (photos).   
  • 1982   Selected Ur III Texts from the Harvard Semitic Museum (Materiali per il Multigrafica Editrice. Pp. 44 + 54 plates (copies).   
  • 1982   Neo-Sumerian Archival Texts Primarily from Nippur in the University Museum, the Oriental Institute and the Iraq Museum: Catalogue and Texts. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. xiii + 83 + 213 plates (copies) + x plates (photos).   
  • 1975   The John Frederick Lewis Collection Texts from the Third Millennium in     the Free Library of Philadelphia (Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico, Vol. 3). Rome: Unione Accademica Nazionale - Multigrafica Editrice. Pp. 33 + cvi plates (copies) + 19 plates (photos).   
  • 1970   "The Loan Documents from Nuzu." 1969 Ph.D. Dissertation Brandeis University (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, No. 7012,031). Pp. ix + 193.

HONORARY VOLUME

  • 2010  Why Should Someone Who Knows Something Conceal It? Cuneiform Studies in Honor of David I. Owen on His 70th Birthday, Edited by Alexandra Kleinerman and Jack M. Sasson, Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. vi + 266.

EDITED AND COLLABORATIVE WORKS (Published and Forthcoming):

  • 2011 The Cornell University Cuneiform Texts. Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, vol. 15 (edited by Alhena Gadotti with N. Brisch, D. I. Owen, M. Sigrist). Bethesda: CDL Press. pp. xx + 184 + pl. 30, in press.
  • 2009 Analytical Concordance to the Garshana Archives Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, vol. 4 (with Alexandra Kleinerman). Bethesda: CDL Press, Pp.x + 795.
  • 2007 The Garshana Archives Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, vol. 3 (with Rudolf H. Mayr). Bethesda: CDL Press, Pp.xii + 528.
  • 2008 Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 17: State and Society in the Late Bronze Age Alalakh under the Mittani Empire by Eva Von Dasso (edited with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. xx + 593.
  • 2005 Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 16: The Nuzi Texts of the Oriental Institute: A Catalogue Raisonne by M. P. Maidman (edited with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. viii + 261.
  • 2005 Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 15: General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 11/1 (with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. viii + 330.
  • 2003 Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 14: Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi VIII by M. P. Maidman (edited with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. xii + 204.
  • 2002 Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 13: Die Personennamender Texte aus Emar, by Regine Pruszinsky (edited with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp.
  • 2002 Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 12: General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 10/3 (with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. viii + 330.
  • 2001 Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 11: The Pula-hali Family Archives, by Brigitte Lion and Diana Stein (edited with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. viii + 376.
  • 1999   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 10: Nuzi at Seventy-Five (with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. viii + 459.
  • 1998   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 9: General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 10/2 (with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. x + 397.
  • 1996   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 8: Richard F.S. Starr Memorial Volume (with G. Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. ix + 474.
  • 1995   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 5: General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/3. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. ix + 357.
  • 1995   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 7: Edith Porada Memorial Volume (with Gernot Wilhelm). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. x + 159.
  • 1995   Kitty Zilversmit (edited by D.I. Owen), Yours Always, A Holocaust Love Story (Occasional Publications of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Program of Jewish Studies, Cornell University, Vol. 2). Bethesda: CDL Press [1996]. Pp. xv + 295.
  • 1994   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 6: Two Hundred Nuzi Texts from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Part 1 by M.P. Maidman. Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. viii + 443.
  • 1993   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 4: The Eastern Archives and Excavations at Nuzi 9/2 (with M.A. Morrison). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. xii + 420.
  • 1993   Isaac Rabinowitz (edited by David I. Owen and R. Brann), A Witness Forever: Ancient Israel's Perception of Literature and the Resultant Hebrew Bible (Occasional Publications of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Program of Jewish Studies, Cornell University, Vol. 1). Bethesda: CDL Press. Pp. xvii + 148.
  • 1991   Adoption in Old Babylonian Nippur and the Archive of Mannum-me Šu-lissur (with E. Stone and an appendix by J. Mitchell) (Mesopotamian Civilizations, Vol. 3). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. x + 150 + 63 plates (photos).
  • 1989   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 3: The Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi, Vol. VII (with M.A. Morrison and M.P. Maidman). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. xii + 307.
  • 1988   The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 108 (with E. Bender, P. W. Kroll, J.A. Wakin and S. Kaufman). Pp. 685.
  • 1987   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Vol. 2: General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/1. (with M.A. Morrison). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. x + 723.
  • 1987   The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 107 (with E. Bender, P.W. Kroll and J.A. Wakin). Pp. 866.
  • 1986   The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 106 (with E. Bender, P.W. Kroll and J. A. Wakin). Pp. 924.
  • 1985   G. Reisner, Tempelurkunden aus Tello - Glossario (Studi per il vocabolario sumerico, Vol. I/3) (with G. Pettinato, H. Waetzoldt and J.-P. Grégoire). Rome: UniversitÀ di Roma Pp. v + 437.
  • 1985   The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 105 (with E. Bender, P.W. Kroll and J. A. Wakin). Pp. 832.
  • 1984   The John Frederick Lewis Collection, Vol. 2 (Materiali per il vocabolario neosumerico, Vol. 13) (with M. Sigrist and G.D. Young). Roma: Unione Academica Nazionale - Multigrafica Editrice. Pp. 35 + 155 plates (copies).
  • 1984   The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 104 (with E. Bender, P.W. Kroll and J.A. Wakin). Pp. 608.
  • 1981   Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians in Honor of Ernest R. Lacheman on his Seventy-First Birthday, April 29, 1981 (with M.A. Morrison). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. xxi + 496.
Top