Daniel C. Snell graduated from Stanford in 1971, took his PhD in Near Eastern Languages from Yale in 1975, and taught at several universities and colleges throughout his career. Now retired, he was L. J. Semrod Presidential Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. He has authored several books, including the basic workbook for learning cuneiform signs. Dr. Snell held a Fulbright Fellowship to Syria and a Mellon Fellowship at the City University of New York. His latest book is Ancient Near East: The Basics (Routledge, 2014).