Associate Professor of Classical Judaism
Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle
See my academia.edu page for PDFs of scholarly publications.
Academic Appointments
2021 – present Associate Professor of Classical Judaism, University of Washington, Seattle
2022 – 2024 Director, Stroum Center for Jewish Studies
2014 – 2021 Assistant Professor of Classical Judaism
Affiliations: Comparative Religion; Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures; Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies; Classical Studies.
Education
2014 Ph.D., Princeton University, Religion
Dissertation: Israel among the Angels: A Study of Angels in Jewish Texts from the Fourth to Eighth Century CE (Advisors: Peter Schäfer and Martha Himmelfarb)
Recipient of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship in Jewish Studies, the Foundation for Jewish Culture
2011 – 2012 Tel Aviv University, Department of Hebrew Culture, Visiting Student
2008 M.A., University of Michigan, Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
Thesis: How Jewish were Jewish Burials in Late Antique Palestine? An Investigation of Funerary Practices
2005 B.A., Rollins College, Classical Studies with Honors, summa cum laude
Publications
Single-Authored Monographs
On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture. University of California Press, 2021.
Angels in the Religions of Late Antiquity. Cambridge Elements of Religion in Late Antiquity. Under contract, Cambridge University Press.
Co-Authored and Edited Volumes
Placing Ancient Texts: The Rhetorical and Ritual Use of Space. Edited volume with Alexander Koçar. Mohr Siebeck, 2018.
Key Concepts in Interreligious Dialogue: Spiritual Beings. Collaborative volume with Friedrich Reiterer and Stephen Burge. Under contract, De Gruyter Press.
A Bestiary of the Bible. Collaborative volume with Candida Moss. Under contract, Princeton University Press.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
“Exile and Forced Migration in Late Antique Jewish Sources.” The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Exile and Forced Migrations. Edited by Mark Hamilton and Martien Halvorson-Taylor. Forthcoming.
“Psyche in the Synagogue: Angelic Figures between Myth, Image, and Scripture.” Special issue of Studies in Late Antiquity. Forthcoming.
“Critical Fabulation and the Foundations of Classical Judaism.” Studies in Late Antiquity 7.1 (2023): 29–74.
“Reimagining the Gender and Class Dynamics of Premodern Scribal Composition.” Journal of Ancient Judaism 14 (2023): 321–354.
“A Woman of Valor in the Late Antique Synagogue: Yannai’s Qedushta to Leviticus 15:25.” Above, Below, Before, and After: Studies on Judaism and Christianity in Dialogue with Martha Himmelfarb. Edited by R. Boustan, D. Frankfurter, and A. Y. Reed. TSAJ. Mohr Siebeck, 2023.
“Gender and the Angels in Late Antique Judaism.” Jewish Studies Quarterly 29.1 (2022): 1–21. Top read article of 2022.
With Rena Lauer, “Women’s Movements in the Pre-Modern Era.” The Routledge Global History of Feminism. Edited by Bonnie G. Smith and Nova Robinson. Routledge, 2022.
“Jewish Towns and Neighborhoods.” The Blackwell Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism. Edited by Naomi Koltun-Fromm and Gwynn Kessler. Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.
“Analogies of Violence in Rabbinic Literature.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 34.2 (2018): 59–74.
With Sarit Kattan Gribetz, “The Daughters of Israel.” Jewish Quarterly Review 108.1 (2018): 1–27.
“The Spatial and Social Dynamics of Jewish Babylonian Incantations.” Placing Ancient Texts: The Rhetorical and Ritual Use of Space. Edited by Mika Ahuvia and Alexander Koçar. Mohr Siebeck, 2018.
“Darkness Upon the Abyss.” In the Beginning: Jewish and Christian Cosmogony in Late Antiquity. Edited by Lance Jenott and Sarit Kattan Gribetz. Mohr Siebeck, 2013.
With John Gager, “Some Notes on Jesus and his Parents: From the New Testament Gospels to the Toledot Yeshu.” Envisioning Judaism: Studies in Honor of Peter Schäfer on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday. Edited by Ra’anan Boustan et al. Mohr Siebeck, 2013.
Encyclopedia Entries
“Mysticism” and “Liturgy.” The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization. Edited by Carol Bakhos. Yale University Press, 2025.
“Mediator,” “Memra,” “Metatron,” “Michael.” Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. De Gruyter, 2020.
“Angelology.” Routledge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, 2016.
“Popular Religion and Magic” and “Sexual Violence in Early Judaism.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies, 2014.
Book Reviews
Review of Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought: Becoming Angels and Demons by M. David Litwa. Review of Biblical Literature, April 26, 2025.
Review of When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven: Rabbis and the Reproduction of Species by Rafael Rachel Neis. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture 18 (2024). Open access.
Review of The Closed Book: How the Rabbis Taught the Jews (Not) to Read the Bible by Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 86.3 (July 2024): 608–610.
Review of Contested Cures: Identity and Ritual Healing in Roman and Late Antique Palestine by Megan S. Nutzman. Ancient Jew Review, November 26, 2023.
Review of The Mediterranean Diaspora in Late Antiquity: What Christianity Cost the Jews by Ross Shepard Kraemer. AJS Review 45.1 (2021): 172–174.
Review of The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts by Loren T. Stuckenbruck. Journal of the American Oriental Society 140.4 (2020): 1005–1007.
Review of Religious Studies and Rabbinics: A Conversation by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander and Beth Berkowitz. Ancient Jew Review, June 15, 2020.
Review of Writing on the Wall: Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity by Karen Stern. AJS Review 43.1 (2019): 199–201.
Review of Jewish Messiahs in a Christian Empire: A History of the Book of Zerubbabel by Martha Himmelfarb. Studies in Late Antiquity 1.3 (Summer 2017): 311–314.
Review of The Dynasty of the Jewish Patriarchs by Albert Appelbaum. Journal of Early Christian Studies 24.2 (Summer 2016): 293–294.
Honors and Awards
2021 – 2022 Society of Scholars Research Fellow, Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington
2020 – 2021 Invited Virtual Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies, Oslo, Norway
2018 – 2019 Royalty Research Fund Fellowship, University of Washington
2013 Stanley J. Seeger Fellowship, Princeton University
2007 Jean and Samuel Frankel Chair Award for academic excellence, University of Michigan
2006 Inaugural recipient, Jean and Stanley Frankel Fellowship Award
2005 Louisa Bornstein Prize for Arts and Education
Invited Lectures and Conference Papers (Selected)
“The Dazzling Angelic Body: Psyche Between Roman Myth, Provincial Art, and the Jewish Imagination.” Imagining the Dazzling Body: Ancient Sense Models and the Materialization of the Sacred. University of Texas, Austin. April 23–24, 2025.
“God is Enslaved with Them: Exile, Diaspora, and the Jews in Late Antiquity.” Melton Center for Jewish Studies, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. November 12, 2024.
“Reimagining the Foundations of Classical Judaism.” Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. September 12, 2024.
“Angels of Death between Myth, Magic, and the Bible.” Early Jewish and Christian Magical Traditions in Comparison and Contact. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. June 25–27, 2024.
“Spiritual Beings in Judaism.” Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses, Bavarian Research Center for Interreligious Discourses. Erlangen, Germany. June 27–28, 2024.
“The Handmaidens of Jewish History: Integrating Stories of the Enslaved into the Foundations of Judaism.” Texts and Imaginations Workshop, Religious Studies Department, UC Davis, CA. March 3–4, 2024.
“Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture.” Elizabeth A. Clark Center for the Study of Late Antiquity, Duke University. October 28, 2021.
“Ancient Jewess Magic.” Jewish Community Library of San Francisco. June 6, 2021.
Book launch of On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture. Department of Jewish Studies, Fordham University. April 29, 2021.
“Reimagining Literacy: The Gendered Dynamics of Pre-Modern Scribal Cultures.” Center for Advanced Study in Oslo, Books Known Only by Title Project. March 3, 2021.
“Can Feminism be Institutionalized?” Biblical Religions of the Ancient Near East (BRANE). September 15 and October 12, 2020.
“Women of the Book: Biblical Women in History, Memory, and Ritual Life.” Department of Jewish Studies, San Francisco State University. September 22, 2020.
Teaching
Courses developed at the University of Washington:
Intro to Judaism — redesigned required lecture course for the Jewish Studies major and minor.
Intro to Western Religions — redesigned required lecture course in the Comparative Religion major and minor.
Gender, Sex, and Religion — new graduate and undergraduate elective developed with Religion and Women’s Studies.
Angels: From the Bible to American Spirituality — advanced elective seminar in Comparative Religion.
The Sages: Foundations of Classical Judaism — advanced elective seminar surveying rabbinic literature.
Beyond Comparison: The Historiography of Judaism and Christianity — advanced required seminar.
Contemporary Protest and Social Movements — capstone reading seminar in International Studies.
Visiting Teaching
Visiting Lecturer, Gratz College, Spring 2026. Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture (graduate seminar).
Visiting Lecturer, Spertus Institute, Spring 2027.
See the Courses page for current and upcoming teaching.
Service
2022 – 2024 Director, Stroum Center for Jewish Studies
Oversaw academic programs, budget, and personnel for a multidisciplinary center serving 30 affiliated faculty and 900 students. Expanded public engagement and visibility, hosting national conferences, visiting scholars, and public lecture series connecting campus and community audiences. Secured external partnerships and funding, including grants and philanthropic donations to support new courses, faculty research, and student fellowships.
2020 – 2023 Co-Chair, Social History of Formative Judaism and Christianity unit, Society of Biblical Literature; Steering Committee member, 2014–2022
2014 – 2022 Chair, Jewish Studies Curriculum Committee
2020 – 2021 Member, International Studies Curriculum Committee
2015 – 2019 Center for Global Studies Executive Committee
2016 – 2018 Comparative Religion MA Committee
2016 – 2018 Elected member, JSIS Executive Faculty Council
Languages
Modern: Hebrew (native); French; German (reading).
Ancient: Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew; Greek; Latin; Aramaic.
Public Scholarship & Media
“Shelamzion Alexandra.” Bible Odyssey (forthcoming).
“The Angels of the Nations.” Pasts Imperfect (March 19, 2026).
“The Forgotten Jewish Queen: Shelamzion Alexandra.” My Jewish Learning (November 24, 2025).
“Publication Preview: On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel.” Ancient Jew Review (June 30, 2021).
“Judaism, Jewish History, and Anti-Jewish Prejudice: An Overview.” Hybrid public lecture and course lecture, Lessons (Not) Learned from the Holocaust. Stroum Center for Jewish Studies (October 6, 2020). Viewed by 245,895 people from 190 countries.
Contributor to “Judaism” entry in Why Faith Matters: Responding to Sexual Violence and Abuse. A Handbook for Advocates and Allies. FaithTrust Institute (December 2019).
“A Patriarchal Miseducation.” AJS Perspectives: The Patriarchy Issue (Summer 2019).
“Us vs. Them: Challenging Stereotypes about Judaism in the Wake of the Pittsburgh Shooting.” Stroum Center for Jewish Studies Blog (November 1, 2018).
“Reading the Rabbis in the Age of #MeToo.” Feminist Studies in Religion Blog (October 23, 2018).
“An Ancient Jewess Invoking Goddesses: Transgression or Pious Adaptation?” AJS Perspectives: The Transgression Issue (Summer 2017): 24–25.
“Jewish Queens: From the Story of Esther to the History of Shelamzion.” TheTorah.com (March 18, 2016). Translated into Hebrew (March 2022).
“A Jewish Historian’s Plea for Global Refugees.” Stroum Center for Jewish Studies Blog (September 9, 2015).
“A Quick Introduction to Toledot Yeshu.” Ancient Jew Review (December 25, 2014). Top read article of the decade.
Interviews and Podcasts
Douglas Batchelor (host). “The Origins of Angels with Mika Ahuvia.” What Magic is This. November 15, 2022.
Netanel Zellis-Paley (host). “Chagigah No. 1: Talmudically Accurate Angels.” Interleaved: A Talmudic Podcast 13.1. February 20, 2022.
“Angels in Antiquity: Judaism’s Long Relationship with Heaven’s Haloed Helpers.” Interview with Richard Tenorio, Times of Israel (November 21, 2021).
Rachel Adelman (host). “On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture.” August 9, 2021.
Faculty profile interview, The Whole U, University of Washington (May 13, 2016).
Last updated: August 2026.
Mika Ahuvia, Ph.D. 