Susan Ackerman (biblical scholar)

Susan Ackerman (born September 24, 1958)[1] is an American Hebrew Bible scholar known for writing about biblical women.[2][3]

Ackerman majored in religion at Dartmouth College (A.B., 1980)[4] and Harvard University (M.T.S., 1982;[5] Ph.D. 1987).[6][7] Her dissertation was entitled Syncretism in Israel as Reflected in Sixth-Century Prophetic Texts.[8] She later taught at University of Arizona and Winthrop College.[9]

In 1990, Ackerman joined Dartmouth's faculty. There, she was a Preston H. Kelsey Professor of Religion; a Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and a Professor of Jewish Studies. She specialized in the religion of ancient Israel and its neighbors (Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan), especially women's religious history.[2]

She was president of the American Society of Overseas Research from 2014 to 2019.[10][11]

In 2024, Ackerman retired from teaching and remained in Hanover, New Hampshire, to complete Maturity, Marriage, Motherhood, Mortality, a book on women's rituals in ancient Israel.[2] Her parents George and Peggy Ackerman died during her work on the book. She published the book in 2025 and dedicated it to her sister Laura.[12]

Awards

  • Dartmouth Dean of Faculty Award for Exceptional Service (2023)[2]

Bibliography

Books

  • Under Every Green Tree: Popular Religion in Sixth-Century Judah (Scholars Press, 1992)
  • Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen: Women in Judges and Biblical Israel (Doubleday, 1998)
  • When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David (Columbia University Press, 2005)
  • Celebrate Her for the Fruit of Her Hands: Essays in Honor of Carol L. Meyers (Eisenbrauns, 2015), with Charles E. Carter and Beth Alpert Nakhai
  • Gods, Goddesses, and the Woman Who Serve Them (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022)
  • Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel (Yale University Press, 2022)
  • Maturity, Marriage, Motherhood, Mortality: Women's Life-Cycle Ritual in Ancient Israel (Oxford University Press, 2025)

Chapters

  • "The Blind, the Lame, and the Barren Shall Not Come into the House." Chapter 2, Disability Studies and Biblical Literature (edited by Candida Moss and Jeremy Schipper, 2011)
  • "'I have hired you with my Son's Mandrakes': Women's reproductive magic in ancient Israel." Chapter 1, Sex in Antiquity: Exploring Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World (edited by Mark Masterson, Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, and James Robson, 2015)

Articles

References

  1. ↑ "Ackerman, Susan". id.loc.gov. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Retiring Faculty Reflect on Dartmouth and Future Plans". Dartmouth. June 14, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  3. ↑ Bok, Oliver (March 13, 2015). "Off the Cuff: Susan Ackerman, professor of religion, Jewish studies and women's and gender studies at Dartmouth College". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  4. ↑ Welsh, Marcia (2019-05-07). "Is Dartmouth a Religion?'". Dartmouth Department of Religion. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  5. ↑ "Susan Ackerman". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  6. ↑ "Ackerman, Susan". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  7. ↑ Ackerman, Susan (2022). Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel. Yale University Press. pp. xi–xiv. ISBN 978-0-300-14178-8.
  8. ↑ Ackerman, Susan (1987). Syncretism in Israel as reflected in sixth-century prophetic texts (PhD thesis). Harvard University.
  9. ↑ "Susan Ackerman". Dartmouth Department of Religion. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  10. ↑ "Dartmouth Professor Leads Middle East Research Group". Dartmouth. 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  11. ↑ Herman, Felice (2019-12-20). "Susan Ackerman's 'President's Valedictory'". American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR). Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  12. ↑ Ackerman, Susan (2025). Maturity, Marriage, Motherhood, Mortality: Women's Life-Cycle Rituals in Ancient Israel. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197809655.
  13. ↑ Ackerman, Susan (January 2000). "What if Judges had been Written by a Philistine?". Biblical Interpretation. 8 (1–2): 33–41 – via Brill.
  14. ↑ Ackerman, Susan (Spring 2002). "Why Is Miriam Also Among the Prophets? (And Is Zipporah Among The Priests?)". Journal of Biblical Literature. 121 (1): 47–80 – via JSTOR.
  15. ↑ Ackerman, Susan (December 2003). "Digging up Deborah: Recent Hebrew Bible Scholarship on Gender and the Contribution of Archaeology". Near Eastern Archaeology. 66 (4) – via The University of Chicago Press Journals.
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