Jörg Klinger

Prof. Dr. Jörg Klinger is a leading scholar in Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, specializing in Hittite history, culture, and governance. He currently serves as project leader in the DFG Research Unit 2615 'Rethinking Oriental Despotism,' focusing on political structures in Bronze Age Anatolia. His work bridges archaeology, linguistics, and textual analysis to explore Hittite socio-political systems, cultural identity, and cross-cultural interactions. Key research areas include Hittite writing traditions, collective identities, and the evolution of governance forms in Anatolia.

• Education: Magister (1987, Konstanz), Habilitation (2002, Würzburg)
• Affiliations: Director of DFG 2615, Member of Berlin's Topoi Cluster, Former Editor of TUAT series

Research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to Hittite archives, including palaeography, ritual texts, and legal codices. His global contributions include translations of cuneiform texts and co-authored studies on Hittite language history. Ongoing projects investigate state formation in Anatolia and transmission of legal texts across ancient civilizations.

Publications span over 100 articles and monographs, including seminal works on Hittite historiography, governance structures, and cultural contact studies. Recent focus on digital humanities includes data management frameworks for archaeological research and open-access publications.