Mark Geller

Professor Mark Geller serves as the Jewish Chronicle Professor of Jewish Studies at University College London's Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, where he has been a faculty member since 1976. He also directs the Institute of Jewish Studies at UCL, a position he has held since 1982, and previously served as Head of Department from 1984-1993. From 2010-2018, he was on secondment from UCL serving as Visiting Professor for the History of Knowledge at the Freie Universität Berlin.

Professor Geller completed his BA in Classics at Princeton University (1966-1970), including a year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and earned his PhD in Mediterranean Studies from Brandeis University in 1974. His academic journey includes significant research periods at the University of Munich's Institute for Assyriology and Hittitology (1980-81) and multiple fellowships at prestigious institutions across Europe.

Geller's research centers on the intersection of ancient Near Eastern studies and Jewish traditions, with particular emphasis on medical and magical texts. His groundbreaking work has demonstrated the survival of cuneiform script into the third century AD and established crucial connections between Akkadian and Aramaic medical traditions and later Jewish texts, especially the Babylonian Talmud. His interdisciplinary approach bridges philology, archaeology, medical history, and cognitive science.

Professor Geller's publications reveal a consistent trajectory of innovative scholarship connecting Mesopotamian knowledge systems with later traditions. Recent works examine Babylonian medical knowledge transmission, cognitive aspects of ancient thought through cuneiform texts, and the longevity of Akkadian linguistic influence in Syriac magic texts. His research demonstrates how ancient medical and magical practices evolved and influenced subsequent cultural traditions.

Professor Geller's distinguished career has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards:

• European Research Council Advanced Grant (BabMed, 2013-2018)
• Leverhulme grant (2022-23)
• Fellow at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study (2021-22)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa from New Bulgarian University (2009)
• Multiple Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung grants spanning three decades
• Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies fellowships
• Wellcome Trust grant for the History of Medicine

As Director of the Institute of Jewish Studies, Professor Geller has organized numerous scholarly conferences and public lectures. His ERC-funded BabMed project significantly advanced understanding of Babylonian medical knowledge transmission. Fluent in multiple ancient and modern languages including Hebrew, German, Dutch, French, Akkadian, Sumerian, Aramaic, and Ugaritic, Geller's linguistic expertise enables his unique cross-cultural research approach that continues to shape our understanding of ancient knowledge systems and their enduring legacy.