Education
PhD, Brown University
MA, Brandeis University
MTS, Emory University
BA, Wake Forest University

Dr. Thompson is an expert in the religions, history, languages, and cultures of ancient Anatolia, Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia, using textual, archaeological, and socio-anthropological methods to examine the ancient Near East. He enjoys teaching classes on a range of topics concerning religion and ancient history to instill passion, understanding, and empathy towards ancient cultures and unfamiliar religious traditions. He is also the co-director and co-founder of Wesleyan’s Digital Humanities Lab which is the recipient of an NEH Spotlight Grant. In addition, he is a recent Kershaw Lecturer of Near Eastern Archaeology for the AIA.

Dr. Thompson has published and presented on an array of topics ranging from pedagogy to primary text editions. Recent projects, Displays of Cultural Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant: The Public Presence of Foreign Powers and Local Resistance (Routledge, 2023); Power and Identity at the Margins of the Ancient Near East (edited volume, University Press of Colorado, 2023), Understanding Power in Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Near East, Vol. 1: Approaches (Brill, 2025), and Understanding Power in Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Near East, Vol. 2: Manifestations and Responses (Brill, 2026) explore ancient Near Eastern power relationships in “peripheral” locales, as well as theoretical approaches to power in the ancient Near East. Recent articles focus on topics ranging from borders and power to games and West Semitic religion (for articles, see linked CV). In addition, Dr. Thompson has an interest in warfare, as well as daily life in the ancient Near East, including music.

He is Co-Chief Editor of Avar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Life and Society in the Ancient Near East and the book series, Life and Society in the Ancient Near East (LSANE). Dr. Thompson is also the former Co-Chair of the Hebrew Bible and ASOR Membered Sponsored Program Units for the American Academy of Religion Southeast (formerly Society of Biblical Literature Southeast).

Current Projects

Dr. Thompson is working on numerous current projects, highlighted by additional volumes, chapters, and articles on West Semitic religion and power. His next monograph focuses on the cult centralization of King Hezekiah at the end of the 7th c. BCE (Routledge). For additional projects and articles, see his CV.

Courses Recently Taught

REL 101 – Introduction to Religion
REL 115 – Religious Worlds
REL 191 – Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
REL 195 – Archaeology of Religion
REL 201 – Old Testament
REL 202 – New Testament
REL 320 – Studies in Biblical Life and Thought (rotating topics)
REL 350 – Israelite Religion: History, Texts, and Archaeology
REL 495 – The Bible and Film
REL 495 – Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian Religious Texts
REL 495 – Comparative Mythology