The postdoctoral scholar will independently do research on the sources of his / her specialization and contribute chapters on administration and taxation of the Achaemenid Empire to the final publication (an edited volume) planned by the project. He / she will give a scientific presentation during the project’s international workshop in 2018 and helps with the editing of the volume. The candidate will support the communication of our research to a lay audience, e.g. by giving public lectures and / or the publication of an article for a general readership. 
  

The prospective postdoctoral scholar:
• has an PhD in Ancient Studies at hand
• is specialized in a field relevant for the study of the administration and taxation of the Achaemenid Empire
• is able to place texts and archaeological data into their historical context
• is able to write chapters for the planned book and individual papers in good scholarly English
• has evident communicative and organisational skills
 
Familiarity with Achaemenid-period sources is essential for this position. Applicants are requested to submit a short project proposal (ca. two pages) which contains a description of the sources they are specialized in, and how they want to extract information on the administrative structure and the tax system of the First Persian Empire from these sources.
 
Other relevant details
The initial employment contract will have the duration of one year, and will be prolonged after a positive evaluation. The contract will end on 31 August 2019; a prolongation after this date is not possible.

The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel in education (salary scale 10). The project is seeking to fill the vacancy as of 1 September 2017 or the next possible starting date.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) is a leading, innovative and growing university that is at the heart of society and actively contributes to new developments in teaching and research. Our university has ten faculties, and provides work for over 4,500 staff and scientific education for more than 23,000 students.

Since September 2014 the research project “Paying for All the Kings’ Horses and All the King’s Men: A Fiscal History of the Achaemenid Empire”, funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) is being conducted under the leadership of Kristin Kleber. The project aims to investigate the systems of taxation and administration in the Achaemenid Empire. The emphasis lies on a combined study of the written documentation from Babylonia and Iran, but the sources from other areas from the Achaemenid Empire also play an important role. The project seeks to hire a postdoctoral scholar who is either an Assyriologist familiar with Neo-Babylonian, or a researcher specialized in Achaemenid-period source material from any of the other regions of the Achaemenid Empire.