Dr Lindsey Arielle Davidson (formerly Askin) is a senior lecturer in Jewish Studies in the Department of Religion and Theology, School of Humanities, starting at Bristol in 2018.

Lindsey is an ancient historian with main interest in Jewish antiquity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Her teaching and research is in the history of ancient Israel and Judah (1200-331 BCE) and the history of Greco-Roman Judaism (331 BCE to 400 CE) in the Mediterranean and Near East. Much of her historical research is concerned with Jewish scribal culture and economic history. She is interested in digital humanities and issues of provenance in cultural heritage. She is an affiliate of Bristol Digital Futures Institute.

Current research projects are under "Projects." Publications are under "Research Outputs."

Current research areas:

• History of ancient Israel and Judah (1200-331 BCE)
• History of Greco-Roman Judaism (331 BCE to 400 CE)
• Hebrew (Classical Biblical Hebrew and Late Biblical Hebrew)
• Scribal culture and manuscript studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Hebrew Bible, Septuagint (LXX), and early Jewish non-literary writing (papyri, ostraca, and inscriptions)
• Aramaic studies including Syriac
• Digital humanities, digital and AI ethics, responsible AI

Recent Digital Humanities events organised: In 2023 Lindsey was a lead organiser for an IGRCT- and ICS-funded conference, Alpha, Aleph and AI, together with ECRs in Classics and Ancient History (Benjamin Folit-Weinberg, Maiken Mosleth-King and Martina Delucchi). YouTube videos of many of this conference's papers can be viewed here.

Website: "The Biblical Toolkit" collates databases and resources for ancient history, biblical, and early Jewish and Christian studies, especially geared for remote work, teaching, and research: https://biblicaltoolkit.wordpress.com/.

Social accounts: hebraicaveritas (X profile, b.sky profile, Insta); LinkedIn profile

Teaching and Supervising

Undergraduate: Lindsey teaches specialised optional units in Dead Sea Scrolls, the history of ancient Israel and Greco-Roman Judaism, and introductory Biblical Hebrew language. She contributes to much of the teaching in core mandatory units across the Religion and Theology programme, including: general religious studies issues and methods, introduction to Judaism, the Holocaust/Shoah, antisemitism studies, Jewish medicine and magic, and the Arab-Israel conflict.

Postgraduate supervision: *Lindsey is currently on maternity leave for 2026-27 (starting July 2026) and can take on new PGR students for 2027-28, if proposed projects are strictly within her current research areas (above). Please get in contact to discuss ideas.*

Highlighted roles (more under Activities)

• Secretary of the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies (2023 - present), previously Treasurer (2020-23)
• Co-Director of Second Temple Early Career Academy (2022 - present), previously co-steer (2020-22)
• Member of Turing AI for Arts Steering Group, The Alan Turing Institute, London
• Affiliate of Bristol Digital Futures Institute
• Affiliate of Turing Humanities and Data Science Special Interest Group, The Alan Turing Institute, London
• Editorial board member, Journal of Theological Studies, OUP

Background

Past academic roles prior to Bristol:

• Honorary research associate, University of Exeter (2017-18)
• Editorial assistant, Journal of Theological Studies (2016-18)
• Visiting postdoctoral Polonsky fellow, Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University of Oxford (spring 2016)
• Supervisor (tutorial teaching), Hebrew and Old Testament, University of Cambridge (2015-17)

Education:

• PhD in Divinity, University of Cambridge (Queens' College, 2012-16), supervisor: Professor James K. Aitken
• MA in Biblical Studies, Durham University (Hild-Bede, 2011-12), supervisor: Professor Robert (C.T.R.) Hayward
• PG Cert in Theory of Education, Durham University (Hild-Bede, 2010-11), Religious Education at secondary level
• MA Honours (undergraduate) in Divinity, University of Edinburgh (2006-10)
• Originally from Connecticut and Massachusetts, USA