Walker, Joel Thomas 1968–

views updated

Walker, Joel Thomas 1968–

(Joel Walker)

PERSONAL:

Born 1968. Education: Princeton University, Ph.D., 1998.

ADDRESSES:

Office—University of Washington, Seattle, Department of History, 315 Smith Box 353560, Seattle, WA 98195-3560. E-mail—jwalker@u.washington.edu.

CAREER:

Writer, professor, and archaeologist. University of Washington Seattle, Seattle, associate professor. Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Würtemberg, Tübingen, Germany, excavator, July, 1989; University of Texas at Austin, Metaponto Project, Crotone, Italy, excavator, June-August, 1990; Malheur National Wildlife Reserve, Princeton, OR, archaeology intern, June-August, 1991; French Ministry of Culture Excavation, Bliesbrück, Lorraine, France, excavator, July, 1993; North Carolina State Roman Aqaba Project, Aqaba, Jordan, trench supervisor, May-June, 1994; Tahirler Project, Galatia, Turkey, field director, 1997-98, 2000—.

WRITINGS:

(As Joel Walker; editor, with Scott Noegel and Brannon Wheeler) Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, Pennsylvania State University Press (University Park, PA), 2003.

The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including ARAM: The Journal of Syro-Mesopotamian Studies. Contributor to books, including La Persia e Bizanzio, 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Joel Thomas Walker is an archaeologist, professor, writer, and editor. While Walker was a student, he worked as an excavator on several archaeological sites worldwide. After earning his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1998, Walker worked as the field director at the Tahirler Project, an archaeological site in Galatia, Turkey. Walker is also an associate professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, and his scholarly contributions to the field include articles in periodicals such as ARAM: The Journal of Syro-Mesopotamian Studies. His first published book, Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, was released under the name Joel Walker in 2003. Walker edited the volume with Scott Noegel and Brannon Wheeler. The book is a collection of essays on the treatment of stars, religion, and magic in ancient texts, sculpture, art, and culture. The essays examine most ancient societies and a wide range of subjects from ancient Egypt to the Bible. Several of the essays focus on the relation between magic and religion, especially regarding the division between public and private religious practices. This division was constantly in flux during ancient times. Another essay looks at early Christians from 200 C.E. to 300 C.E. and their views of astrology. Reviews of the book were predominantly positive. For instance, Nicole Kelley, writing in Church History, commented on the book's scholarly tone, and she noted that the book wisely avoids attempting to define magic. Kelley stated that "the essays are painstakingly researched," adding that the book "is an important contribution to the study of magical and religious practices throughout the ancient world."

Walker's second publication, The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq, was released under the author's full name in 2006. Walker is the sole author of the book, which includes his translation of the legend of Mar Qardagh alongside text that places the legend in the context of ancient Iraq. The legend is the story of a martyr and originated around 600 C.E. Rather than focus overtly on the facts surrounding the "real" Mar Qardagh, Walker instead focuses his discussion on the themes of Iraqi literature at the time, and Iraqi culture in general. Church History critic Adam R. Gaiser noted that "the text of the early-seventh-century C.E. martyrdom narrative remains an important resource in its own right, and Walker is to be applauded for making it available in English for the first time." Gaiser added: "Equally laudable is Walker's extensive discussion of the text, which contextualizes the narrative within the worlds of Syriac Christianity, Sassanian-Zoroastrianism, and late antiquity in general."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Church History, March 1, 2005, Nicole Kelley, review of Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, p. 146; March 1, 2007, Adam R. Gaiser, review of The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq, p. 159.

History Today, May 1, 2003, review of Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, p. 65.

Isis, June 1, 2004, review of Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, p. 348.

Journal of Religion, April 1, 2005, Hans Dieter Betz, review of Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, p. 347.

Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, April 1, 2008, Robert A. Kitchen, review of The Legend of Mar Qardagh, p. 486.