Heidemarie Koch was born in Merseburg. She studied mathematics as her major between 1963 and 1966. Subsequently, she worked as a teacher in Hannover until 1972. In 1972, she started Iranian Studies at the University of Göttingen and received her doctorate in 1976. The topic of her dissertation under Walther Hinz was Religious Conditions under Darius I with Reference to the Elamite Tablets of Persepolis. Koch took as her minor subjects Classical Archaeology, Byzantine Art History, and Christian Archaeology. From 1977 to 1986 she was employed at the Department of Iranian Studies and Near Eastern Archaeology in University of Göttingen. In 1986, at the University of Marburg, she worked on the labor administration and the economy in the Persian heartland at the time of the Achaemenids. Then she taught as a lecturer. In 1990-91 Koch worked on research projects funded by German Research Foundation. Between 1993-94 she taught for two semesters as a substitute professor at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. Since 1995 she is a professor of Iranian Studies in the context of ancient history at the University of Marburg. Her main subject areas are the Persian history and Persian languages of the pre-Islamic period. She puts special emphasis on the cultural and economic history, the management and the religion. She utilizes both written sources and the archaeological remains. A second research focus is the exploration of Elam and its neighboring regions, especially in terms of the influences that they exerted on the subsequent Persian Empire. She is married to the Christian archaeologist Guntram Koch.
Works
Die religiösen Verhältnisse der Dareioszeit. Untersuchungen an Hand der elamischen Persepolistäfelchen, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977 / English: The Religious Conditions of the Time of Darius. Investigations with reference to the Elamite Persepolis Tablets. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977
Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte der Achämenidenzeit und ihr Fortleben, Reimer, Berlin 1983 / English: Art, culture and history of the Achaemenid and their survival, Reimer, Berlin 1983
Elamisches Wörterbuch, Reimer, Berlin 1987 / English: Elamite Dictionary, Reimer, Berlin 1987
Verwaltung und Wirtschaft im persischen Kernland zur Zeit der Achämeniden, Reichert, Wiesbaden 1990 / English: Management and Economics in the Persian heartland at the time of the Achaemenids, Reichert, Wiesbaden 1990
Es kündet Dareios der König... Vom Leben im persischen Grossreich, von Zabern, Mainz 1992 / English: So Says King Darius... Life in the Persian Empire, Saverne, Mainz 1992
Persepolis. Hauptstadt des achämidischen Großreichs, Farhangsara Yassavoli, Tehran 1997 / English: Persepolis: Capital of the Achaemid Great Empire, Farhangsara Yassavoli, 1997, Tehran
Persepolis: Glänzende Hauptstadt des Perserreichs, von Zabern, Mainz 2001 / English: Persepolis: Shiny Capital of the Persian Empire, Saverne, Mainz 2001
Königreiche im alten Vorderen Orient, von Zabern, Mainz 2006 / English: Kingdoms in the Ancient Near East, Saverne, Mainz 2006
Körner, Knollen, Brot und Wein. Die Geschichte unserer Esskulturen, Köppe, Köln 2006 / English: Grains, Tubers, Bread and Wine. The History of Our Food Cultures, Köppe, 2006, Cologne
Frauen und Schlangen. Die geheimnisvolle Kultur der Elamer in Alt-Iran, von Zabern, Mainz 2007 / English: Women and Snakes. The mysterious Culture of the Elamites in Old Iran, Saverne, Mainz 2007
