JoAnn Scurlock received her BA and PhD from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in Assyriology. She is the author of Magico-Medical Means of Treating Ghost-Induced Illnesses in Ancient Mesopotamia, and Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine, with co-author Burton Andersen, MD. She is the author of over sixty articles on the religion, medicine, history and culture of Ancient Mesopotamia and its impact on surrounding regions such as ancient Israel. She teaches in the history department at Elmhurst College.