Daniel Fleming has taught in this department since he received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 1990. Long before the founding of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) in 2006, with its important new contributions to study of the ancient Middle (or “Near”) East, he was charged with incorporating cuneiform writing from Mesopotamia and Syria into the preparation of students in study of the Hebrew Bible. His research and writing engages both the world of Israel and the Bible on one hand and second-millennium BCE Syria on the other, with particular attention to Mari (18th century) and Emar (14th-12th centuries). Past projects have been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship (2004 and an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship (2004), and he was a Senior Fulbright Fellow to France (1998).
Fleming’s books best display the development of his research over time, reflecting ongoing commitment to biblical studies, cuneiform-based study, and historical investigation that incorporates a wide range of evidence for the region. Two long-term joint projects also reflect essential research interests that have resulted in articles rather than books. With Sophie Démare-Lafont of the University of Paris law school (Paris 2, Panthéon-Assas), he has developed a social history of Emar in Syria, especially from practical legal documents. And with Lauren Monroe of Cornell University, he has undertaken a reevaluation of the names available to explain the Iron Age political landscape before the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Intense collaboration with doctoral students to help them prepare for a lifetime of scholarship and teaching has been a particular commitment through Fleming’s years at NYU. The work of these students has spanned more than the range of his own research, though preoccupation with the Hebrew Bible has been the primary point of reference. Former students include Lauren Monroe (2004, Cornell University); Esther Hamori (2004, Union Theological Seminary of Columbia University); and Sara Milstein (2010, University of British Columbia).
