Saana Svärd

Saana Svärd, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies

Docent in Assyriology, University of Helsinki, Docent in Middle Eastern Cultural History, University of Turku

  • PL 4 (Fabianinkatu 24)

    00014

    Finland

20062025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Description of research and teaching

Saana Svärd is a professor of ancient Near Eastern studies who directs Center of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires  (2018-2025, funded by the Academy of Finland) and the project “Embodied Emotions: Ancient Mesopotamia and Today” (2022-2026, funded by SKR).

My dissertation and much of my subsequent research has focused on the Neo-Assyrian Empire (934-612 BCE) and the study of gender in Mesopotamia. On a more general level, I am interested in methodological and theoretical developments in the study of the ancient Near East. In my publications, I have adapted and developed approaches from gender studies, social sciences, digital humanities, language technology, and emotional history to gain new perspectives on cuneiform sources.

Curriculum vitae

For full CV (January 2025) and list of publications in pdf form, see here.

External positions

Docent of Cultural History of the Near East, University of Turku

2016 → …

Fields of Science

  • 615 History and Archaeology
  • Ancient Near Eastern Studies
  • Assyriology
  • 6121 Languages
  • Ancient Near Eastern Languages