Ph.D., Brown University
MA, Brandeis University
MTS, Emory University
BA, Wake Forest University

Dr. Thompson is an expert in the religion, languages, and cultures of ancient Anatolia, Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia, using textual, archaeological, and socio-anthropological methods to examine the ancient Near East. He enjoys teaching classes on a range of topics concerning religion and ancient history to instill passion, understanding, and empathy towards ancient cultures and unfamiliar religious traditions.

He has published and presented on an array of topics ranging from pedagogy to primary text editions and is currently revising his dissertation, Power in Public: Displays of Cultural Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant (under contract with Routledge), into a book to be published in 2022.

He is Co-Chief Editor of Avar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Life and Society in the Ancient Near East and the book series, Life and Society in the Ancient Near East (LSANE). He currently serves as Co-Chair of the ASOR sessions Understanding Power in the Ancient World: Approaches, Manifestations, and Responses and Cultures of Mobility and Borders in the Ancient Near East. In addition, Dr. Thompson is the Co-Chair of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Study Group for the Society of Biblical Literature – Southeast Region.

Current Projects
Dr. Thompson is also the co-editor of the forthcoming volumes, At the Margins: Interconnections of Power and Identity in the Ancient Near East (University Press of Colorado), Music in the Ancient Near East (Transnational Press London), Sports and Games in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East (Transnational Press London), Power in the Ancient Near East, Volume I: Approaches (under review with Eisenbrauns), and Cultures of Mobility and Borders in the Ancient Near East (in progress).

In addition, he is working on articles concerning the reality of historical borders within the Book of Amos, conceptions of underworld borders between polities in the ancient Levant, and the concept of Maʿat in the Egyptian-controlled Levant. His next book project deals with the historical realities of King Hezekiah’s cultic reforms at the end of the 8th century BCE.

Courses Recently Taught
REL 101 – Introduction to Religion
REL 115 – Religious Worlds
REL 191 – Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
REL 195 – Archaeology of Religion
REL 201 – Old Testament
REL 202 – New Testament
REL 320 – Studies in Biblical Life and Thought (rotating topics)
REL 350 – Israelite Religion: History, Texts, and Archaeology
REL 495 – The Bible and Film
REL 495 – Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian Religious Texts

View Full CV >

About Me:

How long have you been at NCWU?
Since 2020

What's your favorite class that you teach?
Archaeology of Religion

What are your research & teaching interests?
Ancient Near East - power and religion

What is a fun fact or an interesting hobby of yours?
I fish and also collect Atlanta Braves Memorabilia