About

Eckart Frahm is a professor of Assyriology at Yale University with a primary research focus on Assyrian and Babylonian history and Mesopotamian scholarly texts of the first millennium BCE. His work explores the civilization of ancient Mesopotamia, which spanned more than 3000 years, and includes detailed studies of cuneiform texts, historical and literary documents, and the cultural achievements of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Frahm has contributed to understanding the long and complex history of Mesopotamian civilization, including its literature, legal systems, and religious practices. His publications include comprehensive studies on topics such as the rise and fall of Assyria, the interpretation of Mesopotamian texts, and the socio-cultural aspects of ancient Near Eastern societies. Frahm's research also involves the analysis of the disappearance of cuneiform writing in Assyria and Babylonia, as well as the examination of historical inscriptions and funerary texts. His work aims to make the achievements and history of ancient Mesopotamia accessible to modern audiences, emphasizing the significance of these ancient civilizations in shaping the course of world history.

Research topics

• History
• Ancient history
• Geography
• Archaeology
• Philosophy
• Art

Selected publications

• Assyria Through the Looking-Glass:

  Penn State University Press eBooks · 2025-05-29

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
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• <b>Michael Streck,</b> Altorientalistik. Einführung, Baden-Baden (Nomos) 2023, 290 S., ISBN 973-3-8487-8197-3 (brosch.), € 29,–

  Klio · 2025-06-02

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Article Michael Streck, Altorientalistik. Einführung, Baden-Baden (Nomos) 2023, 290 S., ISBN 973-3-8487-8197-3 (brosch.), € 29,– was published on June 30, 2025 in the journal Klio (volume 107, issue 1).

  PublisherDOI

• 43Pandemic, Climate Change, and an Unknown Rebel King: Crisis and Empire in Mid-eighth Century BCE Assyria

  2025-12-29

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
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• Chapter 7 Assyria Through the Looking- Glass : The Hebrew Bible as Opposition Literature

  Penn State University Press eBooks · 2025-06-06

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
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• Enuma Elish outside the cuneiform tradition

  2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  other1st authorCorresponding
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• Rezension von: Alber, Wolfgang; Frahm, Eckart, Waßner, Manfred, Baden-Württemberg

  Württembergisch Franken · 2023-05-17

  articleOpen access

  Wolfgang Alber, Eckart Frahm, Manfred Waßner, Baden-Württemberg. Kultur und Geschichte in Bildern, Stuttgart (Theiss) 1999. 160 S„ 230 meist färb. Abb.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nineveh

  Encyclopedia of the Bible Online · 2023-04-13

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• The Intellectual Background of Assyrian Deportees, Colonists, and Officials in the Levant

  Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel · 2022 · 4 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Ancient history
  • History
  • Archaeology

  It is widely acknowledged that the Assyrian subjugation of the Levant during the period between 880 and 640 BCE, and the two-way deportations of hundreds of thousands of people accompanying it, prompted major political, economic, and ethnolinguistic changes in the region. Far less clear is to what extent, and in which ways, it reshaped the Levants intellectual culture. Based on a careful study of the texts related to Assyrian representatives in the West, this article explores the possible impact Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform culture had there, especially during the age of Assyrian »high-imperialism« that began in the second half of the eighth century. The article concludes that Assyrias imperial agents influenced the religions and cultures of the Levant mostly in indirect ways and not through the active dissemination of cuneiform lore.

  PublisherDOI

• Marduk‐apla‐iddin II (Merodach‐baladan)

  The Encyclopedia of Ancient History · 2022-06-15

  other1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Marduk‐apla‐iddin II, known from the Bible as Merodach‐baladan, was a leader of the Chaldaean “tribe” of Bit‐Yakin who ruled as king of Babylon from 722 to 710 bce and then again for nine months in 704 or 703.

  PublisherDOI

• Ashur

  The Encyclopedia of Ancient History · 2022-06-15

  other1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Ashur (modern Qal‛at Širqāṭ, located 110 km south of Mosul on the right bank of the Tigris) was the religious, and for much of its history, the political center of the land of Assyria. The city's beginnings can be traced back to the third millennium bce . Ashur suffered major destruction by Median troops in 614 bce but remained an important local town until the Sasanian conquest.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel Schwemer

  5 shared

• Klaus Meister

  4 shared

• Ulrich Eigler

  4 shared

• Josef Rist

  4 shared

• Martin Hose

  4 shared

• Karl Jansen-Winkeln

  Berlin Heart (Germany)

  4 shared

• Josef Wiesehöfer

  Kiel University

  4 shared

• Wolfgang Alber

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute…