Akeem Burgess

Akeem Burgess is a Ph.D. student in Hebrew Bible in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. He holds a B.A. in Biblical Literature from Oral Roberts University, an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and an M.T.S. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard Divinity School. His research centers on the history of ancient Israelite religion within its broader ancient Near Eastern context. He is particularly interested in three interrelated areas: (1) the shifting conceptions of Yhwh’s ontology and embodiment in the Pentateuch and their relationship to ancient Near Eastern notions of divinity; (2) the political and linguistic interactions between ancient Israel and Egypt, including the role of interpreters and interlingual exchange; and (3) Israelite creation narratives as sites of critical engagement with other mythic traditions and what they reveal about ancient models of metaphysical thought. His research also considers broader interpretive frameworks, namely historicism, critical theory, and the philosophy of religion, through which the texts and myths of ancient Israel can be understood as vehicles for reflection on divinity, history, and human experience.