Paul Lawrence was educated at Trinity school of John Whitgift in Croydon (1971-1978) and the University of Liverpool where he studied Akkadian, Hebrew and Near Eastern archaeology (1978-1982). He holds a Ph.D from the University of Liverpool for his work on Assyrian generals and their relationship to the king (1982-1985). He went with his newly married wife Jane (in 1984) to northern Iraq where they worked for two months on a rescue dig by the banks of the Tigris river some 30 km north of ancient Nineveh. Paul was later to work with the Turkish Bible Society in Istanbul checking a translation of the Old Testament into modern Turkish (1986-1999) (published 2001), and took the opportunity to travel extensively in the country and in some of its neighbours. He has since worked as a research assistant to Professor Kenneth Kitchen at the University of Liverpool on a collection of ancient Near Eastern treaties, covenant and laws. Four times he has taught an adult education class Archaeology and the Bible (Department of Continuing Education, University of Liverpool). Paul and Jane have four children, Esther, Sophia, Daniel and Joel. Richard Johnson was previously Head of Biblical Studies at Redcliffe College, and is now a second-hand theological bookseller and freelance writer and teacher.
