Jason Sion Mokhtarian

Name and title:

Jason Sion Mokhtarian, Associate Professor and Herbert and Stephanie Neuman Chair in Hebrew and Jewish Literature, Near Eastern Studies

Academic focus:

Rabbinic Judaism, Iranian studies, Talmud in its Sasanian context, Jews of Persia

Current research project: 

I just finished a book on the medical remedies in the Babylonian Talmud and am beginning a new project on the Jewish Aramaic incantation bowls from sixth-century Mesopotamia. 

Previous positions:

• Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University, 2018-2020
• Director, Olamot Center for Scholarly and Cultural Exchange with Israel, Indiana University, 2018-2020
• Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University, 2011-2018

​Academic background: 

• Ph.D., Late antique Judaism, University of California, Los Angeles, 2011
• M.A., Ancient Iranian studies, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007
• M.A., History of Judaism, University of Chicago Divinity School, 2004
• B.A., A.M., English and religious studies, University of Chicago, 2001

Last book read:

“The Ruined House,” by Ruby Namdar

In your own time/when not working:

Listening to music, playing soccer

Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:

Medicine, Magic, and Science in the Ancient Near East; Sacred Books of the Jews

What most excites you about Cornell:

Collaborating with my new colleagues in Near Eastern Studies and learning with Cornell’s amazing students