Rotem Avneri Meir (MA, Ancient History, Tel-Aviv University) is a doctoral student at the Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires (ANEE). He is writing his dissertation on the topic of “The Rise of Hasmonean Power on the Margins of the Seleukid Empire.” In his research, he explores the emergence of local elites as imperial power-holders in the Hellenistic ancient Near East, taking as a case study the rise of the Hasmonean dynasty around the mid-second century BCE. His study aims to identify this group’s unique elite identity, as well as the groups with which it came into contact, and perhaps competed with over power and authority on the margins of the Seleukid empire. His research is informed by a social-scientific and interdisciplinary approach that tests and refines sociological and anthropological theories with the help of recent studies of elite groups in ancient Near Eastern empires. In this way, it seeks to further our understanding of the processes by which local populations interacted with empires.

2017 MA, Ancient History, Tel-Aviv University

2012 BA, History and Philosophy, Tel-Aviv University