John F. Robertson
John F. Robertson received his B.A. in history from St. Joseph's College in 1971, and his M.A. (1977) and Ph.D. (1981) from the University of Pennsylvania.
Research and Teaching Interests
Professor Robertson's research interests focus principally on the social and economic history of the ancient Near/Middle East, with particular concentration on the study of ancient Mesopotamian systems of social and economic organization and their mechanisms in the third and second millennia B.C.E., as well as on the study of early urbanization, state formation, and cross-cultural interaction in the ancient Near/Middle East and Egypt, as well as the Bronze Age Aegean. His interest in the social and economic history of the ancient world also encompasses the Classical Mediterranean and Hellenistic and Roman/Byzantine Near/Middle East.
He has also developed a scholarly and strong teaching interest in the history of the Islamic era and, especially, the modern (nineteenth- and twentieth–century) Middle East, with particular focus on the history of the relationships between the Middle East and the West, including the Arab-Israeli relationship and conflict.
Recent Publications
Cursed Cradle: A Short History of Mesopotamia/Iraq(Oxford: One World Publications, forthcoming).
"Social Tension in the Ancient Near East," in Blackwell's Companion to the Ancient Near East, ed
D. Snell (London: Blackwell, forthcoming).