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Prof. K. (Karel) van der Toorn

Religion and Society
Faculty of Humanities
Capaciteitsgroep Religiestudies
Photographer: onbekend
Visiting address
  • Kloveniersburgwal 48
  • Room number: D1.10A
Postal address
  • Postbus 1622
    1000 BP Amsterdam
Contact details
  • Profiel

    Profile

    Karel van der Toorn (1956) is Faculty Professor of Religion and Society in the Faculty of Humanities. After a career as professor of ancient religions in the Universities of Utrecht and Leiden (1985-1998), van der Toorn served as dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam (1998-2004). From 2006-2011 he was president of the University of Amsterdam and the University of Applied Sciences of Amsterdam. 

    Throughout his academic career Karel van der Toorn has combined teaching and research, on the one hand, and high-level administration, on the other. His long-standing interest in the ancient Near East, with a focus on the Hebrew Bible in its cultural context, has led to such books as Family Religion in Babylonia, Syria, and Israel (1996) and Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible (2007). Since 2011 his research has shifted to religion in the contemporary world, all the while maintaining a strong presence in the field of Oriental Studies. He is currently working on a monograph on religion in the modern democracy, with special attention for India, Turkey, France, and the US.

    Van der Toorn was recipient of the Kluwer Prize for his books Sin and Sanction in Israel and Mesopotamia (1985) and From Her Cradle to Her Grave: Religion in the Life of the Babylonian and the Israelite Woman (1989). The Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (1995, 2nd edition 1998), for which he acted as managing editor, was acclaimed as "best book of the year" by Choice . As author of  Scribal Culture  (2007), van der Toorn was a finalist of the Independent Publisher Book Awards. The Society of Biblical Archaelogy awarded him its 2008 prize for the best publication of the year in the field of ancient Israel.

    Van der Toorn is member of the North American Biblical Colloquium . In 2012 he was distinguished as Commandeur dans l'Ordre du Mérite by the French president.

    Current administrative activities

    President of the board of the Stichting Frans Nederlandse Academie
    President of the board SIOO (Stichting Interuniversitair centrum voor Organisatie- en Veranderkunde)
    Curator of NINO/NIT (Netherlands Institute for the Near East)
    Member of the board Stichting   leerstoel Geschiedenis van de Hermetische Filosofie en verwante stromingen
    Member of the Jury of the NWO programme Religie in the moderne samenleving

  • Publications

    2018

    • van der Toorn, K. (2018). God in Context: Selected Essays on Society and Religion in the Early Middle East. (Forschungen zum Alten Testament; Vol. 123). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. https://doi.org/10.1628/978-3-16-156471-0 [details]
    • van der Toorn, K. (2018). Papyrus Amherst 63. (Alter Orient und Altes Testament; Vol. 448). Münster: Ugarit-Verlag. [details]
    • van der Toorn, K. (2018). Previously, at Elephantine. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 138(2), 255-270. [details]

    2017

    • van der Toorn, K. (2017). Family Religion in Babylonia, Syria and Israel: Continuity and Change in the Forms of Religious Life. (Studies in the history and culture of the ancient Near East; Vol. 7). Atlanta: SBL. [details]
    • van der Toorn, K. (2017). Celebrating the New Year with the Israelites: Three Extrabiblical Psalms from Papyrus Amherst 63 . Journal of Biblical Literature, 136(3), 633-649. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1363.2017.199794 [details]
    • van der Toorn, K. (2017). Ezra in Egypt? The Significancee of Hananyah's Mission. Vetus Testamentum, 67(4), 602-610. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-12341292 [details]
    • van der Toorn, K. (2017). Psalm 20 and Amherst Papyrus 63, XII, 11-19: A Case Study of a Text in Transit. In F. E. Greenspahn, & G. A. Rendsburg (Eds.), Le-ma'an Ziony: Essays in Honor of Ziony Zevit (pp. 244-259). Eugene, Ore: Cascade Books. [details]

    2016

    2015

    • van der Toorn, K. (2015). Speaking of Gods: Dimensions of the Divine in the Ancient Near East. In M. C. A. Korpel, & L. L. Grabbe (Eds.), Open-Mindedness in the Bible and Beyond: A Volume of Studies in Honour of Bob Becking (pp. 273-286). (Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies ; Vol. 616). London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780567663818.ch-021 [details]

    2014

    • van der Toorn, K. (2014). Dead That Are Slow to Depart: Evidence for Ancestor Rituals in Mesopotamia. In V. Rimmer Hermann, & J. D. Schloen (Eds.), In Remembrance of Me: Feasting with the Dead in the Ancient Middle East (pp. 81-84). (Oriental Institute Museum Publication; Vol. 37). Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. [details]

    2007

    • van der Toorn, K. (2007). Scribal culture and the making of the Hebrew Bible. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [details]

    2017

    • van der Toorn, K. (2017). Herodotus, Elephantine en de lange arm van Artaxerxes. Phoenix, 63(2), 61-75. [details]
    This list of publications is extracted from the UvA-Current Research Information System. Questions? Ask the library or the Pure staff of your faculty / institute. Log in to Pure to edit your publications. Log in to Personal Page Publication Selection tool to manage the visibility of your publications on this list.
  • Ancillary activities
    • Stichting Frans Nederlandse Academie
      President of the board
    • SIOO
      President of the board
    • NINO/The NIT
      Curator
    • Stichting leerstoel GHF
      Member of the board
    • NWO Religie in de moderne samenleving
      Member of the jury
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