Matthew Susnow’s research deals with Bronze Age archaeology of the southern Levant, religion in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, functional analysis of Canaanite temples, space syntax analysis, Iron Age religion, ceramic and bone analysis, text (Akkadian, Ugaritic, Biblical Hebrew, Attic Greek), ritual theory and palatial economies. His research also focuses on methods and theory in the field of archaeology, integrating topics such as “liminality” and “ideology” into his archaeological analysis. Matt also investigates the topics of impurity, sin and morality in ancient Near Eastern sources.

 

Projects:

Tel Abel Beth Maacah Excavation: In charge of analysis and publication of the Iron IIA astragali hoard and the site’s special finds (figurines, stands, etc.).

Tel Kabri Expedition: In charge of publishing the Middle Bronze Age pottery from 2013–2019 excavation seasons, focusing on the palatial storage rooms and surrounding area.

Tel Burna: Publication of the Late Bronze Age pottery from Area B1, the Late Bronze Age cultic enclosure.

 

Select Recent Publications:

Susnow, M. forthcoming. The Practice of Canaanite Cult. The Middle and Late Bronze Ages. Ägypten und Altes Testament 106. Zaphon: Münster.

Susnow, M. 2021. The Space Syntax of Canaanite Cultic Spaces: A Unique Category of Spatial Configuration within the Bronze Age Southern Levant. BASOR 385: 131–152.

Susnow, M., Horowitz, W., and Yahalom-Mack, N. 2021. Perforated Astragali in the Levant and Four Babylonian Omens. JNES 80(1): 91–100.

Susnow, M. 2020. Liminality and Canaanite Cultic Spaces: Temple Entrances, Status Transformations and Ritual in Threshold Contexts. PEQ. https://doi.org/10.1080/00310328.2020.1836769

Susnow, M. 2020. Traditionalism and Transformations in Canaanite Cultic Architecture: A Viewfrom MB Megiddo.” Pp. 149–162 in The Woman in the Pith Helmet: A Tribute to Archaeologist Norma Franklin, eds. J. Ebeling and P. Guillaume. Lockwood Press.

Susnow, M. 2020. The House of the Deity: A Perspective from the Bronze Age Southern Levant. Pp. 81–104 in Cult, Temple, Sacred Spaces: Cult Practices and Cult Spaces in Hittite Anatolia and Neighboring Cultures. Proceedings from the First International HFR Symposium, 3–5 June, 2019, eds. S. Görke and C. Steitler. Weisbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

Susnow, M., Bechar, S., and Yasur-Landau, A. 2020. Hazor Rulership and Ritual Manipulation. PEQ 152(2): 121–146.

Yasur-Landau, A., Cline, E.H., Koh, A.J., Ratzlaff, A., Goshen, N., Susnow, M., Waiman-Barak, P., and Crandall, A. 2018M. The Wine Storage Complex at the Middle Bronze II Palace of Tel Kabri: Results of the 2013 and 2015 Seasons. AJA 122 (2): 309–38.

Waiman-Barak, P., Susnow, M., Nickelsberg, R., Cline, E.H., Yasur-Landau, A., and Shahack-Gross, R. 2018. Technological Aspects of Middle Bronze Age II Production of Pithoi at Tel Kabri, Israel: Specialized Pottery Production in a Palatial System. Levant 50 (1): 32–51.

Samet, I., Susnow, M., and Yasur-Landau, A. Ceramic Assemblages of MB and LB Palaces and Temples: A Comparative Study. IEJ 67: 129–50.