Lecturer
PhD (Ancient Cultures), Stellenbosch University 
MA (Ancient Near Eastern Cultures), University of South Africa
BA Hons (Ancient Near Eastern Cultures), University of South Africa
Office: Arts 336
Email: vandijk-coombesr@sun.ac.za
Academia.edu Profile:
Areas of Specialisation
- Ancient Western Asian and North African Cultures
- Visual and Material culture of Ancient Western Asia and North Africa
- Ancient Western Asian Mythology
- Gender Issues in Ancient Western Asia
Courses Taught in 2023
- AKG 210 The Myths of the Ancient Mediterranean World: The Ancient Near East and Egypt
- AKG 220 Interpretation of Material Remains: The Ancient Near East and Egypt
- AKG 310 Social Aspects of the Ancient Near Eastern and Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds: The Ancient Near East and Egypt
- AKG 320 Verbal and Visual Expression in the Ancient World: Looking for Answers (supervision of third year students in the writing of a research project
Current Research Projects
Selected Publications - Books
2023. The Standards of Mesopotamia in the Third and Fourth Millennia BCE: An Iconographic Study. ORA (Orientalische Religionen in der Antike/Oriental Religions in Antiquity) 52. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/book/the-standards-of-mesopotamia-in-the-third-and-fourth-millennia-bce
- R. M. van Dijk-Coombes, G.R. Kotzé and L.C. Swanepoel
2021. From Stone Age to Stellenbosch: Studies on the Ancient Near East in Honour of Izak (Sakkie) Cornelius. ÄAT (Ägypten und Altes Testament) 107. Münster: Zaphon
https://www.zaphon.de/from-stone-age-to-stellenbosch/en
Selected Publications - Articles and Essays
- Resistance, Rage and Reenactment: Trauma Responses in the Sumerian Rape Narratives, in Narrating Rape: Lacunae and Shifting Perspectives in (Biblical) Literature and Popular Cultures. Ed. Claasens, J., Graybill, R. & Maier, C. London: SCM Press. (Forthcoming 2024.)
- Revisiting the 'kriegerischer Gott' of the Akkadian Period. Religions Special Issue: “Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Religion", Religions 14/9 2023. (1215): 1-18.
- The Many Faces of Enheduanna's Inana: Literary Images of Inana and the Visual Culture from the Akkadian to the Old Babylonian Period, in From Stone Age to Stellenbosch: Studies on the Ancient Near East in Honour of Izak (Sakkie) Cornelius. Ed. van Dijk-Coombes, R.M., Swanepoel, L.C. and Kotzé, G.R. p.25-44. 2021.
- Towards a New Understanding of the Curse of Eve: Female Sexual Pain in Genesis 3:16 and Other Ancient Texts. Scriptura (2020) 119/1:1-14.
- The Seated Figure from Rāmat Rāḥẹ̄l and the Neo-Assyrian Throne-Chariot. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 134/2:163-176, Taf. (2018) 13-14.
- Lions and Winged Things: A Proposed Reconstruction of the Object on the Right of the Lower Register of the Mythological Side of Eannatum's Stele of the Vultures. Welt des Orients (2017) 47/2:198-215.
- Cylinder Seals in the Collections of Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town and the Department of Ancient Studies of Stellenbosch University. Akroterion (2016) 61:1-23.
- A Neo-Sumerian Clay Nail of Gudea in the Collection of the Department of Ancient Studies of Stellenbosch University. Antiguo Oriente (2016.) 14:53-64.
Service/Committees
