Machteld Johanna Mellink (October 26, 1917, Amsterdam – February 23, 2006, Haverford, Pennsylvania) was an archaeologist who studied Near Eastern cultures and history.
[2] She began teaching in Bryn Mawr College's Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology in 1949 and retired in 1988; in 1972 she was appointed to the Leslie Clark Chair in the Humanities.
Mellink's most well-known work focused on the site of Karatas-Semayük in the Elmali plain in Lycia where she explored Early Bronze Age remains and tombs.
[6] Among the scholars she mentored was the archaeologist Theresa Howard Carter, who wrote her PhD dissertation on Kassite history and archaeology under Mellink's supervision.
[9] Her professional service included being President of the American Research Institute in Turkey from 1988 to 1991, President of the Archaeological Institute of America from 1980 to 1984, Trustee of the American Society of Oriental Research, Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College from 1955 to 1983, and Acting Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Bryn Mawr College from 1979 to 1980.