Kerry M. Sonia
Home institution
Washington and Lee University
Research project
Like a Woman in Labor: The Ritual and Social Dimensions of Childbirth in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel
Using textual and archaeological evidence, the project reconstructs the rituals of ancient childbirth and their relationship to the religious lives of Israelite women. It argues that the ritual and social dimensions of childbirth fundamentally shape the Israelite family and biblical ideologies about the god of Israel.
Profile
Kerry M. Sonia is a visiting assistant professor of religion at Washington and Lee University. She specializes in the Hebrew Bible, ancient Judaism, and religions of the ancient Near East. Her work examines the formation of the Hebrew Bible, the religious practices of the Israelite family, and mythology in ancient Israel and Second Temple Judaism.
Course
HDS 1404: Mothers, Diviners and Prophets: The Religious Lives of Women in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (Spring 2020)
Lecture
Making Babies: Childbirth and Ceramic Production in the Hebrew Bible and Israelite Religion
November 14, 2019