“The evolution of hieroglyphic classifiers resembles that of feathered wings. Feathers first developed for thermal insulation and competitive display; classifiers originated as markers of word border and ambiguity dispellers. Feathers enabled the evolution of wings, while classifiers developed into a complex categorization tool that mirrored the world organization a lost culture. Wings enabled birds to fly high and see vast landscapes, while classifiers allow us to observe the landscape of the ancient Egyptian mind.”
Positions
Head, Egyptology
Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University Jerusalem
Honorary Professor
University of Göttingen
Research interests
Definition of the role of linguistic registers in New Kingdom texts
The classifier system of the Egyptian hieroglyphs and its parallelism to other classification systems in various languages of the world
The genesis of the alphabet through the Egyptian hieroglyphs
Semiotics of the Egyptian pictorial scripts
Socio-Linguistic issues in the grammar of Ramesside Egyptian
Hieratic and hieroglyphic inscriptions in Canaan
Canaanite-Egyptian relations during the Late Bronze Age
Functions
Co-editor of the series: Classification and Categorization in Ancient Egypt, Göttinger Orientforschoungen IV. Reihe Ägypten 38 (Harrassowitz Verlag)
Vice chair, European COST Action A31 "Stability and Adaptation of Classification Systems in Cross-Cultural Perspective" (scientific committees, conferences planning and organization, various lectures)
Reviewer, School of Advanced Studies, Princeton
Representative of Israel in the International Association for Semiotic Studies
Other institutions
Visiting Professor, Harvard University, Boston 2005
Professor of "Collège de France", Paris, 2007
COLLEGIUM DE LYON c/o ENS Lettres et sciences humaines 2012
Göttingen University