Dr. Jason Silverman is the project leader for WORK-IT. He is a social and religious historian specializing in the Persian Empire. He holds a docentship in Old Testament studies from the University of Helsinki and in the Cultural History of Ancient Persia from the University of Turku. Within this project he will be researching the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple in light of informal taxation and forced labor, and will be developing Bourdieusian methods for Ancient Near Eastern economics.
Jason Silverman will gladly comment on the Persian Empire in all forms of media in English and Swedish.
Dr. Lucia Cerullo is an archaeologist and art historian specializing in the material culture of ancient Iran, focusing on Elamite and Achaemenid civilizations. Currently, a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Helsinki and a member of ANEE, her research investigates archaeological evidence from Southern Levant during the Persian Empire to examine resource management, forced labor systems, and the construction and reconstruction of temple and cultic sites.
Lucia Cerullo will gladly comment on topics such as ancient Iranian material culture and Achaemenid temple economies via email in English and Italian.
Dr. Jeremy Land is an economic historian who, prior to joining WORK-IT, has studied primarily early modern global trade, the informal economy (i.e., smuggling) and state capacity. As part of the project, he will work to adapt Bourdieusian theory and methods to better understand the structures and application of informal taxation in the Ancient Near East and Persian Southern Levant, particularly in the building of temples in the region.
Jeremy Land will gladly comment on any of the topics above or related current events in all forms of media in English.
Dr. Mitchka Shahryari is a postdoctoral researcher within the WORK-IT Team. She specializes in the Persian Empire, focusing on the Idumean corpus, a collection of Aramaic ostraca.
Her doctoral research was conducted in the field of History, Civilizations, Archaeology, and Art of the Ancient Medieval Worlds, where she concentrated on the administration and imperial structure of the Persian Empire in the Levant, particularly through archaeology, history, and epigraphy, with a focus on the Idumean corpus. Her postdoctoral work continues to investigate the Idumean corpus and focuses on the fiscal system of the Persian Empire, conducted in collaboration with the broader WORK-IT project.
Mitchka Shahryari will gladly comment topics related to her field of study in all forms of media in English and French.
Filippo Pedron is a doctoral researcher, who graduated in archaeology studying the Elamite connection with Dravidian languages. He is currently expanding his expertise in Elamite producing a dictionary for its middle period. In this project, he will analyse Persepolis' archives and the status of workers under the Achaemenid Empire in light of informal taxation and forced labor.
Filippo Pedron will gladly comment on Elamite and Persepolis' archives for all forms of media in English, Italian and Spanish.
"They greet me and I reply in Elamite" (A praise poem of Šulgi (Šulgi C): c.2.4.2.03).
Daniele Soares is an economist, social scientist, theologian, and biblical expert. Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of Helsinki. Within the WORK-IT project she investigates the labor and taxation in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah during the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple and the city wall as a doctoral researcher.
Daniele Soares will gladly comment on topics related to her field of study in all forms of media in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.
Katri Dewald works as a project coordinator at WORK-IT.
Yasemin Murr works as a research assistant at WORK-IT. Yasemin is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in European and Nordic Studies.
Contact information: yasemin.murr@helsinki.fi