Rosel Pientka-Hinz

Rosel Pientka-Hinz is an Associate Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. She holds adjunct professorships and has held visiting roles at institutions like the University of Vienna and Philipps University Marburg. Her research focuses on the cultural and religious history of the Ancient Near East, particularly exploring animal symbolism, architectural knowledge, color semiotics, and textual traditions from the 2nd millennium BCE.

Education: Studied Assyriology and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology at the Universities of Münster and Marburg. Earned her PhD with a thesis on the Old Babylonian Period and completed a habilitation on scorpion symbolism in Ancient Near Eastern literature.

Research interests include ritual practices, environmental interactions, and the intersection of mythological narratives with historical contexts. Her work bridges textual analysis (Akkadian/Sumerian) with interdisciplinary approaches, such as zooarchaeology and comparative religion. Recent projects investigate cross-cultural contacts between Iran and Mesopotamia, serpent cults, and aquatic symbolism.

Leadership roles include Principal Investigator of CRC 1475 'Metaphors of Religion' and Project Leader of Subproject C02. She actively engages in academic outreach, presenting at international workshops and contributing to public exhibitions on light/color symbolism and ancient religious practices.

Labs/Teams: Integral member of CERES Research Department and affiliated with the Käte Hamburger Kolleg. Her research integrates archaeological findings, philological analysis, and cultural theory to reinterpret ancient religious phenomena.