Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou

Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion

4290

01392 724290

Overview

I'm Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion here at the University of Exeter.

I studied Theology, and then the Hebrew Bible, at the University of Oxford, where I also completed my doctorate. I spent a further three years teaching and researching in Oxford as a Junior Research Fellow, before joining Exeter's Theology and Religion team in 2005. I was appointed to a personal chair in 2011. Alongside my research and teaching, I also undertake various media activities, including writing and presenting the BBC TV documentary series Bible's Buried Secrets, which was recently re-aired on Netflix US and is currently streaming on BBC Select.

My research is primarily focused on ancient Israelite and Judahite religions, and portrayals of the religious past in the Hebrew Bible. More specifically, I'm interested in biblical traditions and ancient religious practices most at odds with Western cultural preferences, especially those bound up with the materiality and sociality of the body - whether living or dead, divine or human. Much of my research has been supported by grants awarded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, and the Leverhulme Trust.

My most recent book deals with ancient constructs of God's body: God: An Anatomy (Picador/Knopf 2021) won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for non-fiction, was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize, named a best book of the year in both the Economist and Sunday Times, and serialised in abridged form on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week.

My first book explored the misrepresentation of the religious past in the Hebrew Bible: King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities (de Gruyter, 2004). In my second book, Land of Our Fathers: The Roles of Ancestor Veneration in Biblical Land Claims (T&T Clark, 2010), I furthered my somewhat morbid interests by examining the relationship between the veneration of the dead and territorial claims in the Hebrew Bible. The dead have proved to be stimulating company: I've since published a number of works examining the social and religious impacts of the human corpse upon the living, and I'm currently working on a monograph called The Social Life of the Corpse - Within and Without the Bible (forthcoming).

I've edited a number of scholarly books: Life and Death: Social Perspectives on Biblical Bodies (T&T Clark, 2021); Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah (with John Barton; T&T Clark, 2010); Ecological Hermeneutics (with Exeter colleagues David Horrell, Cherryl Hunt and Chris Southgate; T&T Clark, 2010). I'm founder and general editor of Bloomsbury's new Hebrew Bible in Social Perspective series, and I work closely with Oxford University Press as founder and co-editor of a series of monographs focusing on biblical characters, called Biblical Refigurations.

Alongside my specialisms in ancient Israelite and Judahite religions, my research interests include material religion; ancient constructs of the body and personhood; anthropological and archaeological approaches to ancient religion; the materiality and sociality of death and dying; ancient visual cultures and the Hebrew Bible; mythology and ritual; kingship in ancient southwest Asia; history and ideology in the Hebrew Bible; methods of historical reconstruction; constructs of ‘popular’ and ‘official’ religion; and ‘secular’ approaches to teaching and learning in biblical studies. I supervise a number of doctoral students working on a wide range of topics pertaining to the Hebrew Bible/early Judaisms and the socio-religious cultures of ancient southwest Asia.

I teach a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules focusing on the Hebrew Bible and its texts and language; ancient southwest Asian religions; the early cultural history of God; social and cultural constructs of death and dying; the relationship between religion and material culture; the role and place of the Bible in the modern world; and religious constructs of the body in ancient and contemporary societies.

Supervision

I supervise a number of doctoral students. I am happy to consider working with candidates working on any aspect of ancient Israelite and/or Judahite societies and religions, including their mythologies, rituals, and mortuary practices; the history and literature of the Hebrew Bible; reconstructions of the past in biblical studies; personhood, gender, sexuality in ancient southwest Asia; Levantine mortuary practices; ancient materiality and material-critical approaches to the study of ancient religions; anthropology of ancient religions; anthropology of the societies giving rise to the Hebrew Bible and/or early Judaisms; cultures of the body and body modification in ancient southwest Asian and eastern Medierranean societies.

Candidates interested in working with me are very welcome to send me a 500 word outline of their proposed research and a copy of their CV.

Research students

Daniel O. McClellan, 'Divine Agency in the Ideologies of the Hebrew Bible: Cognitive Perspectives'

Rebekah Welton, ‘A Study of Meat and Wine in the Hebrew Bible in Relation to the Law of the Rebellious Son (Deut. 21:18-21)’ (AHRC funded)

Bethany Wagstaff, ‘An Anthropology of Clothing in the Hebrew Bible’ (AHRC funded)

Alan Hooker, ‘You Shall Know Yahweh: God’s Penis and Divine Sexuality in the Hebrew Bible’ (AHRC funded)

Elisabeth Cook, ‘The Foreign Women of Ezra 9-10: Identity and Exclusion in the Hebrew Bible’

David Beadle, ‘Royal Ritual Heavenly Ascent and Netherworldy Descent in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judah’ (AHRC funded)

Jonathan Morgan, ‘Land, Sin and Sacrifice in Leviticus: Towards an Environmental Ethic’ (AHRC funded)

Stuart Macwilliam, ‘Queer Theory and the Prophetic Marriage Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible’

Publications

_{Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.}

| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |

2023

Stavrakopoulou F. (2023) Gods, gifts and writing in ancient religious imaginations, Gifts and Books: From Early Myth to the Present, Bodleian Library, 6-21.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2023) Visual Cultures of the Hebrew Bible, Understanding the Hebrew Bible: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study, Oxford University Press.

2022

Stavrakopoulou F. (2022) What's the World's Oldest Religion?, BBC History, pages 56-56.

2021

Stavrakopoulou F. (2021) Public Menace: Spectrums of Abuse from the Personal to the Professional.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2021) The Materiality of Life and the Sociality of Death, Life and Death: Social Perspectives on Biblical Bodies, T&T Clark, 1-23.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2021) God: An Anatomy, Picador.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2021) Life and Death: Social Perspectives on Biblical Bodies, Bloomsbury/T&T Clark.

2019

Stavrakopoulou F. (2019) Curating King Saul: The Transformation of a Troublesome Corpse, To Gaul, to Greece, and Into Noah’s Ark: Essays in Honour of Kevin J. Cathcart on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, Oxford University Press, 19-35.

2016

Stavrakopoulou F. (2016) The Historical Framework: Biblical and Scholarly Portrayals of the Past, The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Companion, Princeton University Press, 24-53.

2015

Stavrakopoulou F. (2015) Religion at Home: The Materiality of Practice, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Ancient Israel, 346-365, DOI:10.1002/9781118774199.ch19.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2015) Our Own Gods, Times Literary Supplement, no. January 30 2015, pages 24-24.

2014

Stavrakopoulou F. (2014) Female academics: Don't power dress, forget heels - and no flowing hair allowed.

2013

Stavrakopoulou F, Nissinen M. (2013) Introduction: New Perspectives on Body and Religion, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, volume 2, no. 4, DOI:10.1628/219222713x13933396528243.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2013) Monotheism, Disbelief, and the Hebrew Bible.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2013) Atheism and Feminism: Are Atheists 'Truer' Feminists?.
Stavrakopoulou F, Nissinen M. (2013) New Perspectives on the Body and Religion, Hebrew Bible & Ancient Israel, volume 2, pages 453-457.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2013) Making Bodies: On Body Modification and Religious Materiality in the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, volume 2, pages 532-553.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2013) The Jerusalem Tophet: Ideological Dispute and Religious Transformation, Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici, volume 29-30, pages 137-158.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2013) Materialism, Materiality, and Biblical Cults of Writing, Biblical Interpretation and Method, Oxford University Press, 223-242.

2012

Stavrakopoulou F. (2012) ‘God's Ex-Wife: what price monotheism?’ A ‘Discussion’ with Prof. Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Modern Believing, volume 53, no. 1, pages 43-46, DOI:10.3828/mb.53.1.43.

2011

Stavrakopoulou F. (2011) Making Bible's Buried Secrets (BBC blogpost).

2010

Stavrakopoulou F, Barton J. (2010) Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah, T&T Clark.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2010) Blessings for the Beloved: Ancient Israelite Child Sacrifice in its Near Eastern Contexts, Children and Violence in the Western Tradition, Oxbow.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2010) Abraham's Inheritance (The Bible: A History, Channel 4). [PDF]
Stavrakopoulou F, Barton J. (2010) Introduction: Religious Diversity in ancient Israel and Judah, Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah, T&T Clark, 1-8.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2010) Land of Our Fathers: The Roles of Ancestor Veneration in Biblical Land Claims, T&T Clark.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2010) Gog's grave and the use and abuse of corpses in Ezekiel 39:11-20, Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 129, pages 67-84.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2010) 'Popular' Religion and 'Official' Religion: Practice, Perception, Portrayal, Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah, T&T Clark International, 37-58.

2009

Stavrakopoulou F. (2009) Ancestor ideologies and the territoriality of the dead in Genesis, A Palimpsest: Rhetoric, Ideology, Stylistics and Language Relating to Persian Israel, Gorgias Press, 73-92.

2008

Sabri D, Rowland C, Wyatt J, Stavrakopoulou F, Cargas S, Hartley H. (2008) Faith in academia: integrating students' faith stance into conceptions of their intellectual development, TEACH HIGH EDUC, volume 13, no. 1, pages 43-54, DOI:10.1080/13562510701794043.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2008) Review of N. Laneri (ed.), Performing Death: Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, Welt des Orients, volume 38, pages 272-275.

2007

Stavrakopoulou F. (2007) Review of J. Job, Jeremiah’s Kings: A Study of the Monarchy in Jeremiah, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 31, no. 5, pages 128-128.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2007) Review of Prophets and prophecy in the ancient Near East, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 57, no. 2, pages 272-272.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2007) The development and symbolism of Passover until 70 CE, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 57, no. 2, pages 276-277.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2007) Review of The 'Livret Noir de Baal': The polemics between the Baal god in Hebrew Bible and ancient Israel, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 57, no. 2, pages 272-272.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2007) Review of The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 31, no. 5, pages 183-184.

2006

Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) A prophet in debate: The rhetoric of persuasion in the book of Amos, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 3, pages 429-429. [PDF]
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Anthropology and biblical studies: Avenues of approach, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 3, pages 424-425.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) A Companion to the Ancient Near East, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 30, no. 5, pages 154-155.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Israel's history and the history of Israel, TLS-TIMES LIT SUPPL, pages 26-26.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) A prophet in debate: The rhetoric of persuasion in the book of Amos, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 2, pages 285-285.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) God and World in the Old Testament, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 30, no. 5, pages 135-135.
Stavrakopoulou, F.. (2006) Ancestral Advocacy and Dynastic Dynamics in the Books of Kings, What is it that the Scriptures Say?: Essays in biblical interpretation and reception in honour of Henry Wansbrough OSB, T & T Clark International.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Exploring the Garden of Uzza: Death, Burial and Ideologies of Kingship, Biblica, volume 87, no. 1, pages 1-21.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Lesbian Biblical Hermeneutics, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 30, no. 5, pages 103-104.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Ancient Israel in Sinai - The evidence for the authenticity of the wilderness tradition, TLS-TIMES LIT SUPPL, pages 26-26.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Lords of the Scrolls, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 30, no. 5, pages 121-121.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Theories, Models and Concepts in Ancient History, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 30, no. 5, pages 46-47.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) The Old Testament in Its World, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 30, no. 5, pages 8-9.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) On the reliability of the Old Testament, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 2, pages 278-279.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their social and religious position in the context of the ancient Near East, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 3, pages 426-427.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their social and religious position in the context of the ancient Near East, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 2, pages 282-283.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Blood ritual in the Hebrew Bible: Meaning and power, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 4, pages 571-572.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2006) Anthropology and biblical studies: Avenues of approach, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 56, no. 2, pages 280-281.

2005

Stavrakopoulou F. (2005) Egypt on the Pentateuch's ideological map: Constructing biblical Israel's identity, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 55, no. 4, pages 577-577.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2005) Myth and Politics in Ancient Near Eastern Historiography, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 29, no. 5, pages 46-46.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2005) The great high priest: The temple roots of Christian liturgy, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 55, no. 4, pages 570-570.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2005) Waiting for Josiah: The Judges, VETUS TESTAMENTUM, volume 55, no. 4, pages 578-579.
Cargas S, Francis H, Rowland C, Sabri D, Stavrakopoulou F, Wyatt J. (2005) 'Like a good brisk walk': The relationship between faith stance and academic study in the experience of Theology students at the University of Oxford, Discourse, volume 4, no. 2, pages 43-82.
Stavrakopoulou, F.. (2005) The Blackballing of Manasseh, Good Kings and Bad Kings, T & T Clark International, 248-263.

2004

Stavrakopoulou F. (2004) King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities, W. de Gruyter.
Stavrakopoulou F. (2004) A Woman’s Place is in the House, Shofar, volume 23, pages 163-165.

External impact and engagement

Alongside my media work (see below), I also undertake a number of public speaking events. These include lectures at the British Museum and Smithsonian, events at the Hay Literary Festival and the London Thinks series, as well as lectures for Jewish synagogue communities, Christian cross-denominational societies, and atheist organisations. As a patron of Humanists UK, I have lectured on the roles of the Bible, religion, and atheism in ancient and contemporary societies at a number of Humanist conventions and conferences.

Contribution to discipline

Grants awarded

£45,572, Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, 2016-17
£45,560, AHRC Early Career Fellowship, 2011.
£7,110, British Academy, 2007-2009.
"Uses of the Bible in Environmental Ethics", with David Horrell. £196,333 + c. £45,000 PhD studentship, AHRC, 2006-2009.

Editorial positions

Biblical Refigurations series, OUP
Biblical Interpretation journal, Brill (2010-13)
Library of Hebrew Bible/OT Studies series, Bloomsbury
Hebrew Bible in Social Perspective series, Bloomsbury
Special issue of Hebrew BIble and Ancient Israel journal (co-edited with Martti Nissinen)

Academic society positions

Secretary of the Society for Old Testament Study, 2010-12

Media (selected)

Three-part BBC documentary series about the Bible and archaeology, called Bible's Buried Secrets, broadcast in the UK on BBC 2 in March 2011
'Talking head' contributions to various television documentaries. Regular appearances on BBC1's debate shows The Big Questions and Sunday Morning Live
Discussion of biblical scholarship on several TV and radio programmes for both national and international broadcasters

Informing international policy

Publication on corpse abuse cited at the Supreme Court of the United States in a case about the picketing of the funerals of US soldiers by members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church

Awards

Winner of the 2022 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for non-fiction
Shortlisted for the 2022 Wolfson Hisory Prize
Awarded the 2020 Rosalind Franklin Medal for public scholarship
Student Guild award for Research-inspired Teaching 2013

Media

Television series

Bible's Buried Secrets (BBC2, 2011; Netflix US). Presenter of this prime-time, three-part documentary series.

Television programmes (selected examples)

Searching for Exile - The Debate (BBC4, 2013)

The Big Questions (BBC1). Regular appearances on this Sunday morning programme.

Sunday Morning Live (BBC1). Regular appearances on this Sunday morning programme.

BBC Points of View (BBC1, 2011).

The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, studio interview on an Australian prime-time TV news/chat show (ABC, 2016)

The Real Star of Bethlehem: Sky at Night Christmas Special (BBC4, 2015)

Secrets of the Bible (ZDF, Germany/IMG worldwide, 2014).

Bible Secrets Revealed (History Channel, US, 2013).

The Bible: A History (Channel 4, 2010).

Online television (selected examples)

‘God’: a short film for the BBC’s Story of Now interactive documentary series (2015)

‘Are we wired to believe in a higher power?’: Two short films for the BBC iWonder Guide (http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3b6hyc)

‘The Real Garden of Eden’: interactive web material and film for the BBC iWonder Guide

Radio (selected examples)

Australian Broadcasting Corporations' God Forbid: a discussion with author Karen Armstrong about the history of God (13 August 2023)

BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week: an abridged serilsation of my book God An Anatomy (five episodes, 13-17 September 2021).

'God's Body' on BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking (4 November 2021).

Private Passions (BBC Radio 3, 19 September 2021).

Interview on RNZ's Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan (Radio New Zealand, November 2021).

Interview on Radio Cape Town's Afternoon Drive with John Maytham (February 2022).

Interview on FreeThought Radio, USA (January 2022)

BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze (14 October 2020)

Unbelieveable: Is Christianity Sexist? (Premier Christian Radio, 2018).

Living with the Gods: Contributor to two episodes of this major documentary series co-produced by the BBC and the British Museum, presented by Neil MacGregor (BBC Radio 4, 2017)

The Hollow Earth – A Travel Guide: Contributor to this documentary presented by Robin Ince (BBC Radio 4, 2015)

The Infinite Monkey Cage: Christmas Special (BBC Radio 4, 2014 and 2017)

Beyond Belief: Panellist on this discussion programme, debating the impact of archaeology on religion and faith (BBC Radio 4, 2014).

BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast Show: Hosting a debate with teenagers from a selection of faith schools in Manchester, and reporting back to the show live throughout the morning (2013)

Museum of Curiosity (BBC Radio 4, 2011).

Woman’s Hour (BBC Radio 4. 2011).

Nightwaves (BBC Radio 3, 2011): Panel discussion of TV series Bible’s Buried Secrets.

Podcast interviews (selected examples)

‘The truth about Easter’: an interview on Dan Snow’s History Hits podcast (http://www.historyhitpodcast.com/the-truth-about-easter-francesca-stavrakopoulou/)

‘The historical reliability of the Bible’: an interview on Dan Snow’s History Hits podcast (http://www.historyhitpodcast.com/the-historical-reliability-of-the-bible-francesca-stavrakopoulou/)

National Life Stories (in partnership with the British Library): 8 hours of interviews about my life, research, and career, recorded as an archive of podcasts (https://www.bl.uk/projects/national-life-stories)

‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’: live podcast for The Cosmic Shed, debating the relationships between science fiction and religion (http://thecosmicshed.com)

The Godless Spellchecker Podcast: podcast interview (https://www.gspellchecker.com/tag/francesca-stavrakopoulou/)

Teaching

Modules taught

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