Emmanuel Christian Seminary

Faculty Member, Old Testament and Semitic Studies

Toyozo Nakarai Professor of Semitic Studies

About

Christopher Rollston earned his MA and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in ancient Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures.  He works in more than a dozen ancient and modern languages, including various ancient Semitic languages (e.g., Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Ammonite, Moabite, Edomite, Ugaritic, Akkadian), several ancient and modern Indo-European languages (e.g., Ancient Greek, Latin; modern German, French), as well as Sahidic Coptic.  Rollston is a member of Phi Beta Kappa (Johns Hopkins University). 

Among the foci of his research are: Northwest Semitic epigraphy and palaeography, ancient writing practices, scribes and scribal education, literacy in the ancient world, origins and early use of the alphabet, ancient and modern epigraphic forgeries, inscribed ossuaries, personal names, prosopography, ancient religion, ancient wisdom literature, prophecy in the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean context, Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls.

Rollston's monograph entitled _Writing and Literacy in Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age_ was published by the Society of Biblical Literature (October 2010).  This volume was selected (in November 2011) by the American Schools of Oriental Research for the the prestigious "Frank Moore Cross Prize" as the most substantial volume in the field of Northwest Semitic Epigraphy.  Several years ago, Rollston edited a volume entitled _Gospels According to Michael Goulder: A North American Response_ (Trinity Press International, 2002), with contributions from Krister Stendahl, Alan Segal, John Kloppenborg, Bruce Chilton.

He is editing a volume tentatively entitled _Enemies and Friends of the State: Ancient Prophecy in Context_ Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2013), with contributors such as John Collins, Helene Sader, Eric Meyers, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Joel Burnett, Robert Wilson, JJM Roberts, Richard Horsley, Kyle McCarter (et al).  In addition, he is republishing the Reisner Samaria Ostraca, with additional contributors such as Jo Ann Hackett, Stefan Wimmer, Jason Bembry (et al).  He is holding contracts for two additional monographs on epigraphic subjects, both of which are nearing completion.

Rollston has published articles in a number of refereed journals, including the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, the Journal of Biblical Literature, Near Eastern Archaeology, Antiguo Oriente, Israel Exploration Journal, Tel Aviv, and MAARAV.  He has also published in Biblical Archaeology Review.

Rollston's research has been funded by various agencies and organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Schools of Oriental Research.  Moreover, he has excavated in Syria and in Israel and has conducted research at museums and departments of antiquity in Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Syria, and at various museums in the United States in Europe.

He has lectured and delivered invited papers in a number of venues, including Tel Aviv University, the Princeton Symposium on Ancient Jewish Burial Practices (in Jerusalem), the Duke Symposium on Archaeology and the Media, the Brown University Symposium on Archaeologies of Texts, as well as at Vanderbilt University, Baylor University, the University of Wisconsin (Madison), the University of Tennessee, and the University of Judaism.  During the coming months, he will be speaking at the University of Michigan, Brigham Young University, and Amherst College.

Rollston is active in the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Society of Biblical Literature (and has chaired and co-chaired epigraphic sessions for the annual meetings of both).  He has served for several years on the Governing Board of the American Schools of Oriental Research, and has also served on the Editorial Board of the Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research as well.  For ca. a decade, he has been the editor of the journal MAARAV.  He has also functioned as a reviewer for a number of additional journals and presses.  In addition, he continues to serve on a regular basis on Reaffirmation Committees (on-site and off-site) for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association of Theological Schools. 

Rollston has taught at the undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. levels.  Among the courses he has taught are: Critical Introduction to the Old Testament, Pentateuchal Texts, Deuteronomistic History, Wisdom Literature, Prophetic Texts, Second Temple Jewish Literature, Archaeology of Syria-Palestine, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gender and Ethnicity in the Bible, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Biblical and Epigraphic Aramaic, Biblical and Epigraphic Hebrew, Hellenistic Greek, Septuagint, Sahidic Coptic, Critical Introduction to the New Testament (at Johns Hopkins University), Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (Ph.D. course at Johns Hopkins University).

Contact Information