Heidemarie Koch


Heidemarie Koch was a German Iranologist.

Life and career

Koch was born in Merseburg, Saxony, Prussia, Germany. She studied mathematics as her major between 1963 and 1966. Subsequently, she worked as a teacher in Hanover, Lower Saxony, West Germany, until 1972.
In 1972, she started Iranian studies at the University of Göttingen and received her doctorate in 1976. The topic of her dissertation under Walther Hinz was the religious conditions under Darius I, based on Elamite tablets of Persepolis. Koch took as her minor subjects Classical archaeology, Byzantine art history, and Christian archaeology.
From 1977 to 1986 she was employed at the Department of Iranian Studies and Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Göttingen. In 1986, at the University of Marburg, she worked on the topics of labour administration and the economy in the Persian heartland at the time of the Achaemenids, and taught as a lecturer. In 1990–91 Koch worked on research projects funded by German Research Foundation. Between 1993 and 1994 she taught for two semesters as a substitute professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Since 1995 she was professor of Iranian studies in the context of ancient history at the University of Marburg.
Her main subject areas were the Persian history and Persian languages of the pre-Islamic period. She focused on cultural and economic history, management and religion, utilising both written sources and the archaeological remains. A second research focus was the exploration of Elam and its neighboring regions, especially in terms of the influences that they exerted on the subsequent Persian Empire.
Koch was married to the Biblical archaeologist. She died on 28 January 2022, at the age of 78.

Works

Koch's works included:Die religiösen Verhältnisse der Dareioszeit. Untersuchungen an Hand der elamischen Persepolistäfelchen, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977
  • : The Religious Conditions of the Time of Darius. Investigations with reference to the Elamite Persepolis Tablets. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977 Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte der Achämenidenzeit und ihr Fortleben, Reimer, Berlin 1983
  • : Art, Culture and History of the Achaemenids and their Survival, Reimer, Berlin 1983 Elamisches Wörterbuch, Reimer, Berlin 1987
  • : Elamite dictionary, Reimer, Berlin 1987 Verwaltung und Wirtschaft im persischen Kernland zur Zeit der Achämeniden, Reichert, Wiesbaden 1990
  • : Management and Economics in the Persian Heartland at the Time of the Achaemenids, Reichert, Wiesbaden 1990 Es kündet Dareios der König... Vom Leben im persischen Grossreich, von Zabern, Mainz 1992
  • : So Says King Darius... Life in the Persian Empire, Saverne, Mainz 1992 Achämeniden-Studien, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1993, Persepolis. Hauptstadt des achämidischen Großreichs, Farhangsara Yassavoli, Tehran 1997 Persepolis: Glänzende Hauptstadt des Perserreichs, von Zabern, Mainz 2001
  • : Persepolis: Shiny Capital of the Persian Empire, Saverne, Mainz 2001 Königreiche im alten Vorderen Orient, von Zabern, Mainz 2006
  • : Kingdoms in the Ancient Near East, Saverne, Mainz 2006 Körner, Knollen, Brot und Wein. Die Geschichte unserer Esskulturen. Köppe, Köln 2006 Frauen und Schlangen. Die geheimnisvolle Kultur der Elamer in Alt-Iran, von Zabern, Mainz 2007
  • : Women and Snakes. The Mysterious Culture of the Elamites in Old Iran, Saverne, Mainz 2007