Karel van der Toorn

Karel van der Toorn (born 8 March 1956 in The Hague) is a Dutch scholar of ancient religions. From 2006 to 2011 he was chairman of the Board at the University of Amsterdam, where he was a professor from 1998 until he became the chairman.

Van der Toorn previously taught at Utrecht University and Leiden University. In 2012 he was made a Commander of the French National Order of Merit.

Works Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible; co-editor. 1995, 1999. Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible. Cambridge, Mass., 2007, Harvard University Press Becoming Diaspora Jews: Behind the Story of Elephantine. New Haven, Conn., 2019, Yale University Press .