Salameno School of American and International Studies (SSAIS)

Professor of History and Ancient Studies

Year Joined RCNJ: 1974

Contact Information:

• Phone: (201) 684-7420
• E-mail: ispar@ramapo.edu 
• Office: B-227
• Office Hours: TF 9:30-11:00 AM

Education:

• B.A., The American University
• M.A., Michigan State University
• Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Courses Offered:

• World Civilizations I & II
• Ancient Law
• Beginnings of Civilization
• Ancient Egypt

Teaching Interests:

• Biblical Archaeology and History
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome
• Akkadian I & II
• Approaching the Divine

Research Interests:

• Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Volume II: Literary and Scholastic Texts of the Second and First Millennia B.C., (ed./author) with W. G. Lambert, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005
• Marduk, King of the Gods- A Children's Story with Salle Vaughn, illustrator. Forthcoming web publication (Winter 2008) at Met Museum
• Articles on ancient Near East History and Literature in J. Sherman (ed.), Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore, Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 2008: "Abzu," "Adad," "Adapa," "An/Anu," "Anzu," "Bull of Heaven," "Creation Stories," "Dilmun," "Dumuzi," "Enki," "Enkidu," "Enlil," "Enmerkar," "Erra," "Etana," "Gilgamesh," "Lugalbanda," "Nanna-Suen," "Nergal," "Ninurta/Ningirsu," "Utu/Shamash"
• Articles on "The Amarna Letters," "Cedars of Lebanon," "An Old Assyrian Trial Deposition," in J. Aruz (ed.), Before Babylon, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2008
• Articles on: "The Origins of Writing," "The Flood Story," "Gilgamesh," "Divine Kingship in Mesopotamia," "Gods and Goddesses of Canaan," "Enuma Elish" in The Timeline of History Met Museum (forthcoming, December 2008)