Year: 2024

DtrH: The Göttingen School and Neo-Nothians 6 min read

• History of Scholarship
• JHU Comps
• Literature Review

DtrH: The Göttingen School and Neo-Nothians

Matthew Saunders October 10, 2024 2

TL;DR: This post continues our series about the Deuteronomistic History by looking at the contributions made by advocates of the Göttingen model (Smend, Deitrich, and Veijola) as well as the Neo-Nothians (Van Seters and McKenzie).... Read More

My First Half Marathon 2 min read

• News and Events

My First Half Marathon

Matthew Saunders September 15, 2024

Today, I completed my first half marathon. In this post, I briefly summarize my experience, the apocryphal origins of marathon running, and my plan to achieve a faster pace in next year's DC Half Marathon.... Read More

The Deuteronomistic History: Two Milestones in the History of Scholarship 5 min read

• History of Scholarship
• JHU Comps
• Literature Review

The Deuteronomistic History: Two Milestones in the History of Scholarship

Matthew Saunders September 4, 2024

One of my doctoral seminars this semester is on the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH). This post is the first in a series that analyzes recent and current scholarship on the DtrH. In this inaugural post, we discuss Martin Noth’s initial theory of a single exilic author and Frank Moore Cross’s expansion to two deuteronomistic redactions, one during Josiah’s reign and the other during the exile.... Read More

Spring and Summer 2024 Semesters in Review at JHU 5 min read

• Digital Humanities
• News and Events
• Travel

Spring and Summer 2024 Semesters in Review at JHU

Matthew Saunders September 1, 2024

TL;DR: During the Spring and Summer 2024 semesters at JHU, I completed various advanced seminar courses, various projects, and extracurricular activities. I also traveled for research and vacation across Europe and the USA. For Fall 2024, I will continue my coursework both at JHU and CUA, anticipating a demanding but fulfilling semester.... Read More

Copenhagen: Digital Applications in Assyriology 4 min read

• Digital Humanities
• News and Events
• Travel

Copenhagen: Digital Applications in Assyriology

Matthew Saunders August 30, 2024

TL;DR: Today marked the end of my final summer school before commencing the Fall 2024 academic semester at Hopkins. I participated in the Digital Applications in Assyriology Nordic Summer School held at the University of Copenhagen from August 12-16 followed by a presentation of our final projects on August 30. Highlights included learning computational methods for digital Assyriology and collaborating with Adel Oubraham on a project comparing cuneiform collections from the British Museum and the Louvre.... Read More

Leiden SSLL and Amsterdam ISBL 6 min read

• News and Events
• Travel

Leiden SSLL and Amsterdam ISBL

Matthew Saunders August 7, 2024

TL;DR: For the past three weeks, I attended Leiden University’s Summer School in Languages and Linguistics, where I engaged in courses on Semitic and Indo-European languages, followed by the 2024 International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Amsterdam, which offered a plethora of insightful talks. Here’s a brief recap of the enriching experiences and valuable insights gained from both events.... Read More

Two Cases of a Pseudo-Dual in Biblical Hebrew 5 min read

• Comparative Semitics

Two Cases of a Pseudo-Dual in Biblical Hebrew

Matthew Saunders July 25, 2024

TL;DR: This post discusses the morphology of the Hebrew word for “sky, heaven” (שָׁמַיִם šāmáyim). I propose it is a pseudo-dual, i.e., historically a plural form that was reanalyzed as a dual. This perspective is supported by comparative Semitic evidence and pre-Masoretic orthographic conventions.... Read More

Venice Digital and Public Humanities Summer School 3 min read

• Digital Humanities
• News and Events
• Travel

Venice Digital and Public Humanities Summer School

Matthew Saunders July 14, 2024

TL;DR: I spent the past week at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice's Digital and Public Humanities Summer School. The five-day program focused on historical, archaeological, cultural, artistic, and literary materials from Venetian sites and institutions with an emphasis on gaining competency in both applying computational methods as well as digitizing sources and results. The best part was the social atmosphere, enhancing my appreciation for Venice's cultural heritage, valuable connections with fellow scholars, and of course aperol spritz!... Read More