Born in Aleppo, Syria, on October 1, 1941, Sasson immigrated to the United States in 1955 after a significant stay in Lebanon where he attended the Alliance Israélite Universelle schools [REF].
Sasson was president of the American Oriental Society from 1996 to 1997 and of the International Association for Assyriology from 2005 to 2009 [REF].