Mika Ahuvia

Princeton University, Ph.D. Religion, 2014

Mika Ahuvia is an associate professor of Classical Judaism in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. She teaches courses in Jewish Studies, Comparative Religion, and Global Studies.

Ahuvia was born in Kibbutz Beit Hashita in northern Israel. She researches the formative history of Jewish and Christian communities in the ancient Mediterranean world. Specializing in Late Antique Jewish history, she works with rabbinic sources, liturgical poetry, magical texts, early mystical literature, and archaeological evidence.

Her book “On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture” investigates conceptions of angels in foundational Jewish texts and ritual sources. In the book, Ahuvia uncovers how angels made their way into the practices and worldview of ancient Jews and makes sense of why angels continue to play such an important role within and outside of institutional religious settings.

Ahuvia teaches courses in Jewish Studies, comparative religion, and global studies in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and is also the Stroum Center’s Undergraduate Program Coordinator.

Research Interests

Jewish history, rabbinic literature, second temple Judaism, ancient Jewish magic, Jewish liturgy, Greco-Roman archaeology, New Testament and early Christianity