معرفی
Troels Pank Arbøll is an Associate Professor in Assyriology at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, a position he has held since February 2025. Previously, he served as an Assistant Professor (January 2023-January 2025), funded by the Edubba Foundation. His academic journey includes a Carlsberg Junior Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford (2021-2022), postdoctoral research at the University of Copenhagen, and completion of his PhD at the same institution.
Arbøll's research focuses on ancient Mesopotamian medicine through the study of cuneiform texts, examining medical diagnoses, prescriptions, healing rituals, and plant descriptions. His work combines traditional philological methods with innovative interdisciplinary approaches, including ancient DNA analysis. His monograph Medicine in Ancient Assur (2021) provided the first detailed study of a single 7th century BCE healer's career, while his second monograph published by the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters contains text editions of early first millennium BCE scholarly cuneiform texts from Hama, Syria. His research extends to epidemics in ancient Mesopotamia, ancient conceptions of disease, anatomy and physiology, zoonotic diseases, and the iconography of demons and animals.
His recent publications reveal a strong trend toward interdisciplinary research, particularly the intersection of ancient texts with modern scientific methods. His work bridges humanities and natural sciences, as evidenced by publications in both Science and Scientific Reports. The research shows increasing attention to epidemic diseases in ancient contexts, with several publications examining historical epidemiology and disease transmission patterns. His work also demonstrates growing interest in the social and cultural dimensions of ancient medicine, including religious healing practices and gender aspects of medical knowledge.
- Member of the Young Academy under the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (from September 2024)
- Member of the Academy of Science Communication under the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (November 2023-May 2024)
- Article on earliest attested kiss nominated as one of the five most important Danish research results of 2023 by The Engineer (Ingeniøren)
- Carlsberg Junior Research Fellowship
Arbøll serves as Principal Investigator for the research project From Catastrophe to Culture: Understanding Epidemics in Ancient Mesopotamia, generously funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF). The project takes an interdisciplinary approach combining philological analysis, archaeological data, ancient DNA studies, and epidemiological modeling to examine six case studies of epidemic events in ancient Mesopotamia spanning 3rd to 1st millennium BCE. In collaboration with the PandemiX Center of Excellence, this work aims to reshape the timeline of ancient epidemics and provide historical depth to our understanding of humanity's early experiences with epidemic disease.
Arbøll's work connects with international research teams studying ancient DNA, epidemiology, and interdisciplinary approaches to historical diseases. His collaborations with the PandemiX Center of Excellence and researchers across disciplines demonstrate his integration into broader scientific networks examining disease history and transmission patterns across millennia.
