Ancient Near East History
Ancient Near East History is a research topic within Archeology. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1950. 17.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to the ancient Near East, including Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Sumerian, and Hittite civilizations. It encompasses studies on ancient law, scribal traditions, cuneiform writing, economic activities, religious practices, royal libraries, diplomatic relations, and cultural interactions in the region.
- Mesopotamia
- Babylonian
- Assyrian
- Sumerian
- Hittite
- Akkadian
- Near East
- Ancient Law
- Scribal Traditions
- Cuneiform Writing
- Research works
- 11k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 1.9k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 17.2% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +39% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Ancient Near East History research?
By volume, Türkiye and the United States publish the most (317 and 288 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Türkiye 317 works
- 2 United States 288 works
- 3 France 194 works
- 4 Germany 153 works
- 5 Israel 145 works
- 6 Italy 131 works
- 7 United Kingdom 115 works
- 8 Russia 93 works
- 9 Spain 63 works
- 10 Poland 49 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Ancient Near East History research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Israel Antiquities Authority publishes the most Ancient Near East History research, followed by Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Ankara University.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Israel Antiquities AuthorityIsrael 70 works
- 2 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 29 works
- 3 Ankara UniversityTürkiye 20 works
- 4 Tel Aviv UniversityIsrael 19 works
- 5 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 18 works
- 6 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 17 works
- 7 Hebrew University of JerusalemIsrael 17 works
- 8 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 16 works
- 9 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 16 works
- 10 Leiden UniversityNetherlands 16 works
Who are the leading researchers in Ancient Near East History?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Ancient Near East History include Richard S. Ellis and Sturt W. Manning.
- 1 Richard S. Ellis United States 2.2k citations
- 2 Sturt W. Manning United States 1.5k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Ancient Near East History research done?
The largest centres of Ancient Near East History research in 2022–2025 are Jerusalem (Israel), Paris (France), Ankara (Türkiye) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Jerusalem, Venice and Yerevan.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- JerusalemIL · 90.2 works60×
- VeniceIT · 29.0 works40×
- YerevanAM · 25.9 works26×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Ancient Near East History than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Ancient Near East History?
Among universities, judged by research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University and University of Haifa score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hebrew University of JerusalemIsrael | 70.6 | 35.8% | 19.9× | 17 | +11.2% |
| 2 | Tel Aviv UniversityIsrael | 65.9 | 28.2% | 16.6× | 19 | +16.5% |
| 3 | University of HaifaIsrael | 65.5 | 35.7% | 32.2× | 16 | -32.4% |
| 4 | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany | 64.1 | 12.4% | 13.0× | 18 | +275.8% |
| 5 | Istanbul UniversityTürkiye | 63.1 | 33.5% | 15.8× | 13 | +9.8% |
| 6 | Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly | 62.9 | 20.7% | 54.7× | 29 | — |
| 7 | Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland | 61.6 | 27.3% | 9.1× | 8 | +212.5% |
| 8 | University of HelsinkiFinland | 60.8 | 33.1% | 7.6× | 10 | +89.5% |
| 9 | Ankara UniversityTürkiye | 59.3 | 10.0% | 20.4× | 20 | +275.5% |
| 10 | University of WürzburgGermany | 58.8 | 15.8% | 18.5× | 9 | +181.8% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Ancient Near East History research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 39% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Ancient Near East History.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.