Jacob Lauinger

Jacob Lauinger is a Professor of Assyriology at Johns Hopkins University's Department of Near Eastern Studies, part of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. He serves as Director of Graduate Studies and has held previous academic positions including Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Research Fellow at University of Cambridge (2009-2010) and Assistant Professor at Roanoke College (2007-2009).

He holds a B.A. in Classical Art & Archaeology from Princeton University (1998), and M.A. and Ph.D. in Assyriology from the University of Chicago (2001, 2006). His research focuses on Akkadian cuneiform texts from the second millennium B.C., particularly 'peripheral' texts outside Mesopotamia. He leads archaeological projects with Koç University’s Tell Atchana (Alalah) Excavations and the University of Toronto’s Tayinat Archaeological Project.

Key publications include Following the Man of Yamhad (2015), The Labors of Idrimi (2024), and The Amarna Letters (2025). His work combines textual analysis with material evidence, such as his philological commentary on the Idrimi statue inscription and his annotated editions on the Amarna Letters via ORACC platform.

Research interests emphasize Bronze Age legal texts, territorial governance, and the intersection of material culture with textual evidence. He contributes to archaeological projects at Alalakh and Tayinat, focusing on migration patterns, resource taxation, and imperial-local dynamics in the Levant.