Dr Nathaniel Greene

Biography

After completing an undergraduate degree in biblical studies and MDiv in Old Testament, I moved on to undertake my graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I matriculated into what was, at the time, the Hebrew and Semitic Studies Department. I spent the duration of my time in the Badger State honing expertise in Northwest Semitic languages and literatures with specializations in Northwest Semitic epigraphy, paleography, the composition history of the Deuteronomistic History, and archaic state formation. Upon finishing my doctoral studies in 2018 and spending a year on faculty at my alma mater, I moved back to greater Boston for a short-term post at Brandeis University. After finally emerging from the long dark of COVID-19 lockdowns, I moved here to Aberdeen with my golden retriever, Odin (who you will likely see if you spend any time on campus in our department). 

I otherwise enjoy spending time exploring Scotland, cooking and baking, and attempting to enjoy the time I have.

External Memberships

Society of Biblical Literature

American Society of Overseas Research

Colloquium for Biblical and Near Eastern Studies

Prizes and Awards

British Academy Talent Development Awards 2023–2024 (£10,000): Digitising Pre-Modern Material Culture: Foundations and Innovations (with Dr. Karl Kinsella)

Research Overview

Dr. Greene's research focuses on the relationship between scribes, states, and literary production in the ancient southern Levant. With specialization in Northwest Semitic languages, he utilizes advanced imaging techniques such as Reflectance Transformation Imaging to bring ancient inscriptions to life in new ways, allowing him to reimagine the scribal and literary landscape of Iron Age Israel. He brings the results of this work to bear on the texts contained within the Deuteronomistic History to help investigate Israel's origins and its state formation at the earliest stages of its formation. He also works in conceptual metaphor theory and metaphorical expression within Northwest Semitic literatures. These interests have also lead him to work extensively in Palmyrene Aramaic epigraphy.