In addition to directing ANEE, Saana Svärd is the Associate Professor in Ancient Near Eastern studies at the University of Helsinki and a docent in Assyriology. She is also a docent in Middle Eastern Cultural History at the University of Turku. Her research fields are Digital humanities, ancient history and Assyriology. Her studies of historical phenomena are based on the original text sources, such as ancient Near Eastern cuneiform writings. Studying these sources, she has especially focused on the status of women in ancient Mesopotamia. Svärd has published numerous scientific articles and two monographs, one of which by Cambridge University Press. In recent years she has focused on developing digital humanities methods for her field. Svärd is active in the Finnish scientific community as well, functioning as the Vice-Chair of the Board of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East and the Chair of Finnish Oriental Society.
Svärd comments on the award: “I’m very grateful to the City of Helsinki for the award, and feel that the award is a recognition of the excellent research that has been carried out in the field of ancient Near Eastern studies for decades. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank – in addition to the City of Helsinki – all my colleagues in ANEE as well as other colleagues in Helsinki who have carried out or supported the research on ancient Mesopotamia.”
You can also read the announcement in Finnish from here.