The registration desk will stay open through 12:00 PM on Friday 12 July, so if there are significant queues on Monday morning please return to the registration desk at a later moment.
Dean Pirjo Hiidenmaa, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
Professor Saana Svärd, chair of 69th RAI organising committee, director of the Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires, University of Helsinki
Professor Walther Sallaberger, president of IAA, University of Munich
Social Materials and Archaeological Politics: Towards New Narratives
Faced with an uncertain climatic future, and grappling with questions about what forms and scales of socio-political organisation might allow humanity to face the challenges that lie ahead, past people and how they coalesced and conducted their politics have come back into disciplinary, and to an extent also public, focus. But aside from rejecting traditional cultural evolutionary frameworks to conceptualise and study how communities come together, resolve the challenges of co-existence, collaboration, and conflict, where are we really at with this? In this lecture I will take stock of the archaeological study of people, politics, and polities in Southwest Asia and elsewhere, asking what the challenges are that we are facing, and sketching out our blind spots. Drawing on case studies from Southwest Asia, I will endeavour to define where a cutting edge might lie, and explore what bottom-up, practice-centred archaeological narratives may contribute towards re-imaging socio-political pasts, and perhaps also futures.
“One City Does Not Greet Another”: Constructed Persons, Incomplete States, and the Motor of the Polities
Concepts of identity have proven elusive in reconstructing the relations of individuals to collectives in Mesopotamian culture. Whether one wants to define what it means to be a state subject, a social being, or a member of a class or community of religious belief, the conditions of belonging known to us are necessary but not sufficient. That is, we can see many of the descriptive circumstances of membership in our evidence, but little gives us a sense of exclusive, definitional criteria. I will set aside the search for expansive and categorical social identities in favor of exploring how state projects of personhood came to fashion specific boundaries on aspects of individual identity. These rule-making systems—about what made people count and how—were intended to structure normative expectations about responsibilities, behavior, and belonging. The emphasis was not on the “rules” part, but the “system” part: we are not looking at individuals in state societies, but the discursive premises of individual-making. The modesty of the boundaries set by these state projects (and their policing) tells us how much these efforts relied on suggestion rather than imposed conformity. The goals of group-making in this world of incomplete states were much more modest than the ones we are used to in modernity, and the adoption of the proffered social and political identities by individuals was correspondingly limited. Despite the abstractions of the foregoing description (generically abstract!), this talk will be grounded in specific examples of the ways in which collectives imagined the individual (rather than the other way around), how these notions perennially fell short, and the continuing triumphs of hope over experience that made these dialectics the political motor of the polities.
Identity Politics in the First Millennium BC
When I somewhat provocatively called the title of this lecture "Identity Politics in the First Millennium BC", I was not aiming at the modern phenomenon of the political struggle for recognition of various groups. Although Bernd Stegemann, in his essay (Identitätspolitik. Berlin 2023, p. 12) described “identity politics” as the "oldest form of politics, as it binds the individual interest to a group identity", we can find examples of the negative effects, for example in the form of war propaganda, especially in nation states. Nation states did not exist in antiquity, but we can recognise attitudes and policies towards ethnic groups in ancient Near Eastern history. In my lecture I will give an overview of the representation of identity concepts and the handling of ethnicity in the three empires of the early and middle first millennium, starting with the Neo-Assyrian, through the Neo-Babylonian to the first Persian empire. The Cyrus Cylinder has been falsely described in many popular accounts as the first "charter of human rights" or as an "edict of tolerance". For a long time, the Achaemenids were considered more tolerant than their predecessors in the Near East, as they seemingly celebrated the multinational character of their empire in their inscriptions. The lecture examines how the approach to ethnicity and “nationality” differs in the three empires and what the possible reasons for these differences were.
The Unicafe Porthania canteen at the conference venue is open for lunch and snacks. There are numerous restaurants in the vicinity.
Unicafe Porthania buffet lunch 10,70€. (Price includes all main courses, sides, salad buffet, tea/coffee.)
Salad bowls and dessert are sold separately.
Student discount only available with a Finnish student ID.
Monday July 7 menu
Plant based patties & mango sauce (G, vegan)
Pasta limonello (vegan)
Chicken korma (G, L)
Salad bowl: Pulled oat & potato salad
Dessert: Blackcurrant quark
Session 14a
General track: Social History and Identity
(chair: Baker, Heather D.)
Live streamed
Nielsen, John: "Imagining Babylonia: Contemplating Nation in a Non-Modern Context"
Djabellaoui, Mustapha: "Political Construction in Babylonia during the Long Chaldean 8th century B.C."
Zilberg, Peter: "Different paths, similar outcome- The Case of Carians in Babylonia"
Session 14b
General track: Change and Collapse
(chair: Debourse, Céline)
Sharlach, Tonia: "The Brink of the Collapse: Economic Decision Making about Common Pool Resources in the Southern Provinces of the Ur III State"
Fijałkowska, Lena: "Mechanisms of change in ancient Near Eastern law. A case study of documents from Emar, Ekalte, and Nuzi"
Session 14c
Workshop: Ancient Identities under Empire
(chair: Töyräänvuori, Joanna)
Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô: "Female self-presentation and social status in Kassite period letters"
Manasterska, Sara: "Strategies of presenting in-group identity in I millennium BCE epistolography"
Kipfer, Sara: "How to Narrate Defeat: 1 Sam 4:1b-22 and Social Identity Theory"
Session 14d
Workshop: The Ancient Western Asian Image: a Weapon and Victim
Hussein, Laith M.: "Iraqi Cultural Heritage between Destruction and Rehabilitation"
Reinikainen, Samuel: "Taming the hunter"
Orosz, Adrienn: "Three Ivory Frontlets from Nimrud Featuring the Figure of Bes"
Session 14e
Workshop: Intertextuality in Cuneiform Literature and Beyond
Bach, Johannes: "Nebuchadnezzar's war with Elam - Neo-Assyrian contributions to the narrative?"
Song, Yu: "Epistemic Education of Human Nature in Nippur Edubba: Lu2 = azlag2 and its Intertextuality in the Curriculum"
Myers, Kerrie: "Serpents of the Zagros Mountains: Allegories and Allusions to Mythology within Ur III Incantations"
Session 14f
Workshop: Early Emesal Texts
(chair: Delnero, Paul)
Lang, Martin: "The use of Emesal in The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur"
Birkner, Victoria: "Analysis of Emesal in the lament over Eridu"
Fink, Sebastian: "Emesal in the Nippur Lament"
Session 15a
General track: Social History and Identity (ctd)
(chair: De Graef, Katrien)
Live streamed
Anton, Emil: "Assyrian continuity: assessing the arguments"
Wallis, Caroline: "In defense of structures?"
Tavernier, Jan: "Drink till you drop. Dealing with inebriation in ancient Ugarit"
Session 15b
General track: Change and Collapse (ctd)
(chair: Mynářová, Jana)
Lacambre, Denis; Patrier, Julie & Parayre Dominique: "The fate of officials after Samsī-Addu's death: between execution, rallying and seizure of power"
Bigot, Cécile: "The Middle Diyala under the Cassite rule: an emblematic example of an efficient political and cultural agency"
Béranger, Marine: "The cult of the gods of Nippur in the face of war and exile"
Session 15c
Workshop: Ancient Identities under Empire (ctd)
(chair: Töyräänvuori, Joanna)
Steinmeyer, Nathan: "Society on the Edge: A Social Network Analysis of the Central Babylonian Fortress of Dūr-Abiešuḫ in the Late Old Babylonian Period (1711–1595 BCE)"
Curcio, Cloe: "My Garden is Greener than Yours. Defining Intercommunity Relations through Gardens and Parks in Ancient Mesopotamia"
Darby, Erin: "Excavating Identity along Imperial Borderlands?: The Shrine Artisans of Southern Israel"
Session 15d
Workshop: The Ancient Western Asian Image: a Weapon and Victim (ctd)
Achouche, Imane: "Death In Context. Recontextualizing Mesopotamian Statues"
Chike, Julian: "Cultural Memory and Structural Amnesia: Conceptualizing the (De-)Construction of Ancient Western Asian Standing Stones"
May, Natalie M.: Workshop concluding remarks
Session 15e
Workshop: Intertextuality in Cuneiform Literature and Beyond (ctd)
Helle, Sophus: "The Sumerian Bicycle: Circular and Chiastic Structures in the Uruk Poems"
Flores, Marc: "Gilgamesh, Huwawa, and the Netherworld"
Ballesteros, Bernardo: "Reversal of Fortune and Immortality: Tradition and Intertext in Babylonian and Greek Epic"
Session 15f
Workshop: Early Emesal Texts (ctd)
(chair: Fink, Sebastian)
Sahala, Aleksi : "Uru and uru₂ in the lamentation over the destruction of Ur: A statistical approach"
Kröll, Noah: "Sumerian Interjections and Emesal"
Workshop concluding discussion
Session 1a
General track: Literature and Narratives
(chair: Paulus, Susanne)
Live streamed
(First slot at 9:00-9:30 empty)
Lenzi, Alan: "The Prayer of Nabû-šuma-ukīn (BM 40474) in Light of Mesopotamian and Social Scientific Perspectives on Gossip, Slander, and Reputation"
Válek, František: "Tracking the Networks of Near Eastern Royal Epics"
Session 1b
General track: Scholarship
(chair: Konstantopoulos, Gina)
Renzi-Sepe, Maria Teresa: "Some Ideas on How to Explore Intertextuality in Mesopotamian Celestial Omens"
Wang, Tzu-Jang: "Divination by Division: Comparative Studies on Spatial Arrangements in Mesopotamia and Early China Divination Materials"
de Ridder, Alba: "The Great Star is for an attack by Subartu: Predicting the Future for the Polities in Enūma Anu Enlil"
Session 1c
Workshop: The Circulation and Adaption of Knowledge in the Ancient Near East
Middeke-Conlin, Robert: "Variety and Uniformity in the Old Babylonian Education"
Thavapalan, Shiyanthi: "Telling by Hand: Tacit and Scribal Knowledge in BM 120960"
Britton, Joshua: "Adoption, Adaption and Misunderstanding: Towards an approach to mistakes in the Old Assyrian archives"
Session 1d
Workshop: Digital and Open Assyriology
(chair: Alstola, Tero)
Borkowski, Sebastian; Novák, Mirko & Schrakamp, Ingo: "HyMes – The Hydrography of Mesopotamia. Rivers and Channels in Babylonia from the late 4th to the 1st Millennium BCE"
Pedersen, Olof: "New evidence for the Ishtar Gate and the Ziggurat in Babylon used for new interpretations and digital reconstructions"
Ouimet, Madeline: "'Thus Spoken Before the Witnesses': Social Networks and Legal Landscapes at Late Bronze Age Nuzi"
Session 1e
Workshop: Intertextuality in Cuneiform Literature and Beyond (ctd)
Pongratz-Leisten, Beate: "Where Royal Action Originates: A Multimodal Approach to Text and Image in the Ninurta Temple in Kalhu"
SooHoo, Anthony: "The Adê-oath and Royal Violence in Neo-Assyrian Reliefs and Annals"
Stökl, Jonathan: "Prophetic Intertexts: Reflections on Texts Between Author, Text and Reader"
Session 1f
Workshop: Land Management Practices: Migration and Empire
Live streamed
Spunaugle, Adrianne: "Land management practices: migration and empire"
López-Ruiz, Carolina: "Phoenician settlements as a sustainable, counter-imperial strategy"
Karakaya, Doğa & Poolman, Laurel: "Ecological adaptations of migrant communities in the Northern Levant during the Iron Age"
Session 2a
General track: Kingship
(chair: Frame, Grant)
Live streamed
Frahm, Eckart: "Tiglath-pileser 2.5: A New Neo-Assyrian King"
Edmonds, Alexander Johannes: "Aššur-uballiṭ 1.5: Yet another New Neo-Assyrian King"
Tarhan, Zozan: "Neo-Assyrian Kings’ Imperial Mission: Context and Interpretation of Some Formulaic Expressions"
Session 2b
General track: Scholarship (ctd)
(chair: Reynolds, Frances)
Ivanov, Valerii: "Conjurations from the archives of Ḫattuša and their narratives"
Beltz, Jon: "The Sumerian and Bilingual zi--pa3 Incantations: The Latest Findings"
Malitzky, Max: "Reading Between the Lines: The Mesopotamian Text Commentary Tradition and its Relationship to Rabbinic Literature"
Session 2c
Workshop: The Circulation and Adaption of Knowledge in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
Fernandes, Charlotte: "« This is the way » : A transmission of Knowledge between the Hittites, Ugarit and Emar"
Bertolini, Ludovica: "Tracing Traditions: Dissemination and Utilization of the Sumero-Akkadian Lexical Corpus in the Western Peripheries during the Late Bronze Age"
Rainford, Samantha: "Following the Footsteps: 'Feet of Clay' and Travelling Scholars at Late Bronze Age Emar"
Session 2d
Workshop: Digital and Open Assyriology (ctd)
(chair: De Magistris, Francesco)
Sáenz, Luis; Altaweel, Mark & Gordin, Shai: "A Forensic Approach to Tablets: A New 3D Scanning Initiative and Open Dataset"
Surdi, Mirko; Fassi, Francesco & Fiorillo, Fausta: "High-resolution 3D scanning for the analysis of reed-stylus fiber impressions on cuneiform tablets: a new method to recognize joins"
Smidt, Gustav Ryberg: "Seeing Marad tablets in a new light – combining digital and analogue approaches to publishing tablets"
Session 2e
Workshop: Intertextuality in Cuneiform Literature and Beyond (ctd)
Artemov Nikita: "Neo-Assyrian Scribes Reading Old Babylonian Royal Inscriptions, or How Much History Can Be Reconstructed from a Quote?"
McDermott, Luke: "Intertextuality in a Neo-Assyrian Literary Simile"
Lang, Martin: "Some thoughts about the intertextual universe of šar gimir dadmē ('Erra Epic' / 'Išum and Erra')"
Session 2f
Workshop: Land Management Practices: Migration and Empire (ctd)
Live streamed
Cyrus, Georg: "Forced migration and agricultural production in the Neo-Assyrian empire – a household archaeological view"
Gorris, Elynn: "Balancing power & autonomy: Commercial benefits of short-range migration for the Neo-Elamite kingdom (8th -6th century BCE)"
The Unicafe Porthania canteen at the conference venue is open for lunch and snacks. There are numerous restaurants in the vicinity.
Unicafe Porthania buffet lunch 10,70€. (Price includes all main courses, sides, salad buffet, tea/coffee.)
Salad bowls and dessert are sold separately.
Student discount only available with a Finnish student ID.
Tuesday July 8 menu
Moroccan lentil stew (G, vegan)
Vegetarian moussaka (G, vegan)
Crispy codfish seasoned with lime and cilantro
Salad bowl: Chicken & couscous salad (L, M)
Dessert: Strawberry mousse with crispy granola (G, vegan)
Session 3a
General track: Kingship (ctd)
(chair: Von Dassow, Eva)
Live streamed
Eph'al-Jaruzelska, Izabela: "Was Legitimacy an Attribute of Ancient Near Eastern Monarchies?"
Dubovsky, Peter: "The first years of Sargon II’s reign: A study of Royal Identity and Rhetoric"
Talebi, Elham: "The Coalition of the Diviner, Monarch, and Populace: Eclipse Ceremonies in Mesopotamian Culture during the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods"
Session 3b
General track: Scholarship (ctd)
(chair: Mattila, Raija)
Guinan Ann & Good, Camryn: "Razor or Raze, Ritual or Omen? A Rediscovered Tablet Fragment from The Reš Temple of Uruk"
Kasif, Chaya: "Divination and Desire: A theoretical perspective on sex omens"
Blasweiler, Joost: "Queens and marriages in respect to traditions and alliances in Central Anatolia during the Old Assyrian and Old Hittite Kingdom period"
Session 3c
Workshop: Ancient Identities under Empire (ctd)
(chair: Töyräänvuori, Joanna)
Ramazzotti, Marco: "Marshlands, Islands and Marine Coasts. Social complexities, tribal alliances and human mobility between Southern Mesopotamia and Eastern, South-Eastern Arabia during the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE"
Coppini, Costanza: "Political contacts and influence on ceramic production and consumption: the case of Tell Fekheriye (Syria) between the Mittani and the Middle Assyrian periods"
Thomasky, Judith: "Rise of territoriality and local power in the 1st millennium BC: the case of Tappe Rivi in the Samalghan plain, NE-Iran"
Session 3d
Workshop: Digital and Open Assyriology (ctd)
(chair: Nett, Seraina)
Ong, Matthew: "Developing a high-level linguistic annotation pipeline for Akkadian"
Jauhiainen, Heidi: "Machine-Readable Texts in Egyptology: Current State and Challenges"
Tychon, Ofelia: "The Looming Disaster: Investigating the Changes in Term Frequency in Neo-Assyrian Texts"
Session 3e
Workshop: Intertextuality in Cuneiform Literature and Beyond (ctd)
Fernandes Pedroso, Gustavo: "Harmony in Contrast: Poetic Metre, Structure, and Antitheses in Ludlul bēl nēmeqi and Akkadian Incantation-Prayers"
Campi, Giorgio Paolo: "From Intertextuality to Hypertextuality in Ancient Near Eastern Literature: The Case of The Poor Man of Nippur"
Leokumovich, Yael: "Weaving Lines: Intertextuality in a Late Babylonian Cultic Composition"
Session 3f
Workshop: Land Management Practices: Migration and Empire (ctd)
Live streamed
Jotheri, Jaafar: "Landscape Archaeology of Southern Mesopotamia: a long history of migrations and movements"
Gopnik, Hilary: "Negotiating mobility: Median tactics of dispersal and congregation"
Workshop concluding discussion
Venue: Porthania PI
Overview of all posters presented in the 69th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. Each poster presenter gives a brief introduction to the topic of their poster.
Posters can be viewed in the conference venue at any time in the room Urbarium (Porthania ground floor). During this dedicated poster session poster presenters are available for questions, comments and discussion near their poster, and all conference participants are encouraged to interact with poster presenters.
Achouche, Imane: On the Next ‘Life’ of Mesopotamian Statues
Agee, Ann: Pillars, Peoples, Polities and Politics
Bielefeld, Svende: Drained rooms inside the dwellings in Babylon-Merkes
Colombo, Noemi: Dingir Inanna, the holder of Queenship and Kinghsip par excellence.
Hietamäki, Tuomas; Sakko, Matias; Spunaugle, Adrianne: Records of Ancient Migration – locating the relocated under empire (RAMÛ)
Jean, Mathilde: How to make clay tablets: a technological approach to scribal practices in Neo-Assyrian Mesopotamia
Korzkova, Hava Bracha: Running from the mundane: anachoresis as a compound social phenomenon in Roman Egypt
Lanz, Viktoria: Mesopotamian incense burners. Representations on cylinder seals and orthostates
Monamy, Elisabeth: Foodways in the Neo-Assyrian Empire
Savino, Letizia: Healing eye-diseases in Ḫattuša
Steinert, Ulrike: Akkadian and Hittite Emotions in Context (AHEC) – Towards a Lexicon of Emotions in Cuneiform Texts from Ancient Mesopotamia and Asia Minor
Svärd, Saana; Alstola, Tero; Sahala, Aleksi & Valk, Jonathan: Update on the Lemmatized Neo-Babylonian Text Corpus
Vanderstraeten, Evelien: Marriage Networks in the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods.
Session 4a
General track: Kingship (ctd)
(chair: Stökl, Jonathan)
Live streamed
Földi, Zsombor J.: "Dates and the date of Hammurāpi's death"
Avneri Meir, Rotem: "Historiographical Perspectives on Hellenistic Rule in the Ancient Near East"
Bezold, Helge: "Provincializing Babylon: Judean Perceptions of Neo-Babylonian Hegemony in the Book of Jeremiah"
Session 4b
General track: Scholarship (ctd)
(chair: Scurloc, Joann)
Mladenov, Kiril: "'This fever has lingered inside the very bones'. Notes about the Akkadian medical tradition in the Babylonian Talmud"
Franklin, Norma: "The cone-shaped object held by the genii in Aššurnaṣirpal II’s palace at Kalḫu is identified as the medicinal, purifying fruit, the citron (Citrus medica)"
Session 4c
Workshop: Ancient Identities under Empire (ctd)
(chair: Töyräänvuori, Joanna)
Martinez Garcia, Kepa: "Fluvial processions. Resilience and Identity engraved in Seals"
Krömer, Sören: "Babylonian Language in Assyrian Script Negotiating Identity in Middle Assyrian Royal Inscriptions"
Haider, Mohammad Raza: "‘Those who are beyond the Sea and Mountains’: Expression of Regional Identities in Achaemenid Babylonian Royal Inscriptions"
Session 4d
Workshop: Digital and Open Assyriology (ctd)
(chair: Jauhiainen, Heidi)
Jahani, Jeiran: "Statistical analysis of Persepolis Fortification Tablets"
Endesfelder, Marc: "The "Writing Sumerian" Corpus: Developing a Machine-Oriented Representation of Cuneiform Texts"
Ceccarelli, Manuel: "Digital analysis of Sumerian divine Epithets. Ninurta’s epithets in Sumerian texts"
Session 4e
Workshop: Another Look at Motherhood in Ancient Western Asia
(chair: Battini, Laura)
Mzali, Sonia: "The Goddess Ninsun : Mother of Sumerian Kingship"
Boeck, Barbara: "Thoughts on the reproductive domain: From the mother goddess Mami to the baby-snatching demon Lamashtu"
Garcia-Ventura, Agnes & López-Bertran, Mireia: "Gender stereotypes in the construction of motherhood: an approach through the lens of Mesopotamian baby incantations"
Session 4f
Workshop: Archaeology and Fieldwork
(chair: Pappi, Cinzia)
Schmitt, Aaron: "Results of the 2022 and 2023 excavation seasons in Ashurbanipal's North Palace at Nineveh, Tell Kuyuncik (Mosul, Irak)"
Kreimerman, Igor: "Hazor in the Bronze and Iron Ages: New Discoveries"
Lange, Matthias: "The Historical Geography of Şehitkamil / Gaziantep in the Iron Age and the 'Land of the Storm God Survey' 2022–2023"
Session 5a
General track: Materiality and History
(chair: Garfinkle, Steven)
Live streamed
Al-Mutawalli, Nawala: "The City-centre of Umma in the Ur III and Early Old Babylonian Periods"
Sallaberger, Walther: "Aḫum, the Amorite: Steering the Polity of Umma in Turbulent Times"
Otto, Adelheid: "Where the Ur III-period craftsmen of Ur planned their buildings: A newly discovered architectural office in Ur"
Session 5b
General track: Hittite World
(chair: Coppini, Costanza)
Burgin, James: "The Conquest of Aleppo in Hittite Collective Memory"
Pallavidini, Marta: "Another failed reform? The so-called Parallel Text of the Hittite Law Collection"
Leonard, Timothy: "In Two Places at Once: Hittite Gods with Two Geographical Epithets"
Session 5c
Workshop: The Circulation and Adaption of Knowledge in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
Ossendrijver, Mathieu & Waerzeggers, Caroline: "Astronomy and the innovation of historical method in late first-millennium BCE Babylon"
Pilloni, Alessia: "Multilayered Directionality of Astronomical Knowledge Transfer in the Late Babylonian Period"
Frazer, Mary: "Late Babylonian Scholarship's Debt to Assyria: The Bottleneck Hypothesis Reconsidered"
Session 5d
Workshop: Digital and Open Assyriology (ctd)
(chair: Page-Perron, Émilie)
Vesterinen, Anna-Mari: "Is the future an open (access) book?"
Silverman, Jason: "Issues in Open Access Publishing for the Ancient World"
Alstola, Tero: "Open Data in Assyriology: Challenges and Solutions"
Session 5e
Workshop: Another Look at Motherhood in Ancient Western Asia (ctd)
(chair: Mzali, Sonia)
Rositani, Annunziata & Verderame, Lorenzo: "Mama said … The Role of Mother in Mesopotamian Literatures"
Battini, Laura: "Becoming a mother in Mesopotamia: biological and social components"
Rauchhaus, Felix: "Making Mothers in Presargonic Ĝirsu Visible"
Session 5f
Workshop: Helsinki research from “State Archives of Assyria” to “Ancient Near Eastern Empires”
(chair: Svärd, Saana)
Mattila, Raija: "History of the State Archives of Assyria project: experiences from within"
Fink, Sebastian: "Emesal in the Nippur Lament"
Interview with Simo Parpola
Session 6a
General track: Materiality and History (ctd)
(chair: Otto, Adelheid)
Live streamed
Taylor, Jonathan: "Scientific analyses of clay tablets"
Pappi, Cinzia & Coppini, Costanza: "Fragmented Polities of the Transtigrine Region: Recent Research in the Region of Koi Sanjaq (Erbil, Iraq)"
Brandes, Tim: "The paleography of Haft Tappeh: Contributions to a paleography of Susiana Cuneiform Texts"
Session 6b
General track: Hittite World (ctd)
(chair: Pallavidini, Marta)
Wilhelmi, Lisa: "The role of the Akkadian language in a nascent Hittite chancellery based at Ḫattuša"
Kitazumi, Tomoki: "Contribution to the Hittite text(ual) organization: double paragraph divider"
Simon, Zsolt: "Why Bīt-Purutaš?"
Session 6c
Workshop: The Circulation and Adaption of Knowledge in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
Anor, Netanel: "Secrecy and the Oracle Lore: On the Transmission of Knowledge of Extispicy over the Ages"
Daneshmand, Parsa: "Between Refusal and Acceptance: Cultural Dynamics through Schismogenesis in Ancient Elam"
Mittermayer, Catherine: "The adaption of knowledge in the divinatory series Šumma ālu"
Session 6d
Workshop: Digital and Open Assyriology (ctd)
(chair: Rattenborg, Rune)
Gordin, Shai; Romach, Avital; Linke, Eliese-Sophia; Mara, Hubert; Sahala, Aleksi & Béranger, Marine: "OpenDANES: An Open Access Platform for the Ancient Near East and Neighbouring Cultures"
Robson, Eleanor: "Bidirectional script functionality: opening Oracc to Middle Eastern users"
Romach, Avital: "The Neo Assyrian Land Sale Documents from Dur-Katlimmu: A Stylometric Analysis of Their Scribal Features"
Session 6e
Workshop: Another Look at Motherhood in Ancient Western Asia (ctd)
(chair: Boeck, Barbara)
De Graef, Katrien: "Matrons of Monarchy: Exploring the Power of Motherhood in Elamite Political Dynamics"
Tsoulouhas, Ariadne: "‘Where you go, I will go’ (Ruth 1:16): Maternal Caregiving as a Queer Assemblage"
Liu, Haikang: "Motherhood on display: a relook at the foreign mothers in neo-Assyrian palatial reliefs"
Session 6f
Workshop: Helsinki research from “State Archives of Assyria” to “Ancient Near Eastern Empires” (ctd)
(chair: Sallaberger, Walther)
Svärd, Saana: "Assyriology and Interdisciplinarity: Centre of Excellence 'Ancient Near Eastern Empires'"
Töyräänvuori, Joanna: "ANEE White Paper: Collaborative Writing as a Tool of Interdisciplinary Research"
Discussion
Conference photo at 12:30 on the Helsinki Cathedral stairway to Senate Square (or Porthania lobby in case of rain).
The Unicafe Porthania canteen at the conference venue is open for lunch and snacks. There are numerous restaurants in the vicinity.
Unicafe Porthania buffet lunch 10,70€. (Price includes all main courses, sides, salad buffet, tea/coffee.)
Salad bowls and dessert are sold separately.
Student discount only available with a Finnish student ID.
Wednesday July 10 menu
Quinoa patties & chimichurri sauce (G, vegan)
Lasagnette 'peas of heaven'
BBQ chicken sauce
Salad bowl: Wasabi salmon salad (L, M)
Dessert: Oat and lingonberry bake & vanilla sauce (low lactose)
Conference participants could sign up for guided tours and excrusions upon conference registration. Late registration on site is not possible. More detailed information on social program will be sent by email to registered participants.
Walking tour of Helsinki
Meet at Senate Square (Senaatintori) near the statue of Tsar Alexander II at 14:00. Groups of circa 25 set out with a guide as they fill up.
Suomenlinna fortress tour
Meet in Suomenlinna at the visitor centre near the dock at 15:00. Collect an HSL ticket at the RAI info desk on Wednesday before lunch, and take the HSL ferry to Suomenlinna leaving at the Helsinki Market square (Kauppatori) dock. Aim for the 14:20 or 14:40 ferry, or go even earlier and have lunch in Suomenlinna! Ferries may be crowded on sunny days.
Sauna excursion
Meet in front of the conference venue Porthania (Yliopistonkatu 3) at 15:15. Local participants will guide you to Uunisaari by tram and ferry. Please collect an HSL ticket at the RAI info desk on Wednesday before lunch.
Kirkkonummi rock art and Hvitträsk villa
Meet at Topelia inner courtyard (Unioninkatu 38) at 14:00.
If you didn’t sign up for a tour or excursion but are looking for something to see, the local organizing committee suggests e.g.
Session 7a
Archaeology and Fieldwork (ctd)
(chair: Lorenzon, Marta)
Live streamed
Jankowski-Diakonoff, Alexei; Calderbank, Daniel & Jotheri, Jaafar: "Tell Dehaila in Southern Iraq: a city that probably survived Samsuiluna"
de Boer, Rients & Al-Hussainy, Abbas: "The 2023 fieldwork season at ancient Marad"
Jasim, Yasmin Abdulkareem Mohammed Ali: TBA
Session 7b
General track: Government, Administration, and Identity
(chair: Tenney, Jonathan)
Moukarzel, Kabalan: "The Neo-Babylonian Empire: Stages of Development and Systems of Control"
Nebiolo, Francesca: "Violence, Order, and Communities: The Psychological Involvements of Violence as Legal Punishment in the Old Babylonian Documentation"
Giannone, Francesco: "Control, Manipulation and Repression of Public Opinion in Second-Millennium Southwest Asia"
Session 7c
Workshop: Current Research in Third Millennium Studies
(chair: Bramanti, Armando)
Bramanti, Armando; Greco, Angela & Mastelli, Géraldine: "Third Millennium Studies: Reassessment and Original Research"
Scurlock, JoAnn: "Which God got the Good Knee?: Re-examination of the History of Southern Mesopotamia from the Lagash/Umma conflict to the beginning of Ur III"
Borkowski, Sebastian: "Towards a holistic model of the historical geography of the Ur III state"
Session 7d
Workshop: King- and Queenship in the Ancient Near East: Maintaining Relations with the Power Base
(chair: Tambs, Lena)
Pfoh, Emanuel: "Patronage Relationships and Social Network Analysis: Insights, Potentials and Limitations for the Study of Ancient Near Eastern Kingship"
Mizzoni, Alejandro: "The King and the Others. Power and Conflict in Iron Age Syria"
Wasmuth, Melanie & Nitschke, Jessica: "Maintaining Relations between the King and the Egyptian Power Base: Key Mediators from the Kushite to the Ptolemaic Period"
Session 7e
Workshop: Hylistic Mythological Research
(chair: Gabriel, Gösta)
Zgoll, Annette: "The Babylonian Myth of Succession: A Chaos of Deities, Incest and Murder"
Zgoll, Christian: "Winner's or loser's perspective? The Discovery of a Narrative Twist in the Hittite ‘Theogony’ (CTH 344)"
Heth, Raleigh: "The Curious Case of Marduk's Doubled Divinity: Hyleme Analysis in Enūma eliš"
Session 7f
Workshop: Narrative and Storytelling as a Communication Strategy in Cuneiform Scholarship
(chair: Konstantopoulos, Gina)
Howe, Adam: "Speculative Fictions: The Manipulation of Narrative Time and Real-World Events in Mesopotamian Ritual"
Barkowsky, Marie: "Lamaštu makes no sense: Ritual narrative in the series Lamaštu"
Baragli, Beatrice: "Narratology of the Bīt rimki ritual: The story told beyond ritual tablets and recitations"
CDLI Q/A drop-in point open in Urbarium 9:00-12:30
Session 8a
Archaeology and Fieldwork (ctd)
(chair: Lorenzon, Marta)
Live streamed
Azeez, Nyaz; Pappi, Cinzia & Coppini, Costanza: "Fragmented Polities of the Transtigrine Region: Recent Research in the Region of Koi Sanjaq (Erbil, Iraq)"
Nishiyama, Shin'ichi: "Yasin Tepe Archaeological Project: Results between 2022 and 2023"
Session 8b
General track: Government, Administration, and Identity (ctd)
(chair: De Boer, Rients)
Lairie, Elliott & Pique, Morgane: "From Aššur to Sippar: merchant-controlled assemblies and kings in the early second millennium BCE"
de Ridder, Jacob: "The stewards’ archive: epigraphical finds from the 2001 excavations in Assur"
Tenney, Jonathan: "Post factum documentation and administrative reality in Kassite period texts"
Session 8c
Workshop: Current Research in Third Millennium Studies (ctd)
(chair: Greco, Angela)
Spada, Gabriella & Verderame, Lorenzo: "Exploring the significance of ga-eš8 and lu2-kar in the administrative records of Ebla"
Kogan, Leonid: "'This is NOT a Personal Name!': on Some Eblaite Verbal Forms Misread as PNs and the Philological Implications of Their Re-Analysis"
Session 8d
Workshop: King- and Queenship in the Ancient Near East: Maintaining Relations with the Power Base (ctd)
(chair: Debourse, Céline)
Çelebi, Nurgül: "An Evaluation on Naqī’a's Political Power: Visible or Invisible Power?"
Atudosie, Karina: "‘Clothed in Royalty’: Dress and Adornment as Markers of Female Royal Power in the Hebrew Bible"
Discussion: Maintaining power between local and imperial rule
Session 8e
Workshop: Hylistic Mythological Research (ctd)
(chair: Worthington, Martin)
Müller, Felix: "The Creation of Venus"
Fechner, Josephine: "Dumuzi’s escape from the netherworld and Ĝeštinana’s lament: Exploring the hermeneutics of a ritual narrated in a myth"
Winitzer, Abraham: "Ea’s Proposal for Nergal’s Netherworld Escape: Backgrounds and Theological Implications"
Session 8f
Workshop: Narrative and Storytelling as a Communication Strategy in Cuneiform Scholarship (ctd)
(chair: Guinan, Ann)
Klamm, Kacie: "Epistolary Diviners: Stories of Expertise in Neo-Assyrian Letters"
Menicatti, Lucrezia: "Micro-Narratives in Babylonian Omen Texts. Case-Studies from the Adad Tablets of the Celestial Omen Series Enūma Anu Enlil"
Huber Vuillet, Fabienne: "Narrative Layers in Šumma ālu Purity Omens"
CDLI Q/A drop-in point open in Urbarium at 9:00-12:30
The Unicafe Porthania canteen at the conference venue is open for lunch and snacks. There are numerous restaurants in the vicinity.
Unicafe Porthania buffet lunch 10,70€. (Price includes all main courses, sides, salad buffet, tea/coffee.)
Salad bowls and dessert are sold separately.
Student discount only available with a Finnish student ID.
Thursday July 11 menu
Falafel, sweet and sour bell pepper mayo (G, vegan)
Vegetable korma (G, vegan)
Chicken kebab in tomato sauce (G, L)
Salad bowl: Nicoise salad
Dessert: Chocolate & peppermint mousse (K, L, M, vegan)
Session 9a
General track: Iconography
(chair: Kipfer, Sara)
Live streamed
May, Natalie M.:"Ritual, Politics and the “Others:” Persians at Assyrian Court?"
Przyłęcka, Karolina: "Erotic glyptics and its iconographic elements - what do they tell us?"
Anderson, Talah: "Sacred Trees, Sacred Roots: King- and Queenship in the Northwest Palace, Nimrud"
Session 9b
General track: Government, Administration, and Identity (ctd)
(chair: Edmonds, Alexander)
Schmidt, Katharina: "The Kingdom of Ammon between Empire and Local Interests"
Artemov, Nikita & Tarhan, Zozan: "The Ideologically Laden Metaphor of Loyalty and Devotion in Neo-Assyrian and Old Testament Context"
Mahmoud, Dean: "Continuity and change in the south-eastern Sulaymaniyah region (Northern Iraq/Kurdistan Autonomous Region) during the Late Iron Age to the Seleucid period"
Session 9c
Workshop: Current Research in Third Millennium Studies (ctd)
(chair: Garfinkle, Steven)
Sövegjarto, Szilvia: "Evolutionary Pathways of Colophons: Patterns and Trends in the Third Millennium BCE"
Wagensonner, Klaus: "Coping with Copies: A look at the transmission(s) of early word lists"
Romano, Licia & Festa, Giulia: "SLOW SUMER Project. Repair reuse and recycle in third mill. BC Southern Mesopotamia"
Session 9d
Workshop: Digital and Open Assyriology (ctd)
(chair: Robson, Eleanor)
Jauhiainen, Tommi & Jauhiainen, Heidi: "Advancing Cuneiform Text Dating Through Automatic Analysis"
De Magistris, Francesco: "The Chronology of the Amarna Letters: a Digital Approach"
Pagé-Perron, Émilie; Rattenborg, Rune; Dahl, Jacob L.; Lafont, Bertrand & Renn, Jürgen: "We got cuneiform, do you? How to collaborate on the CDLI Framework"
Session 9e
Workshop: Hylistic Mythological Research (ctd)
(chair: Zgoll, Annette)
Baragli, Beatrice: "The Sun God in the Netherworld: Mythic and Ritual Hylemes of Kiutu A"
Kärger, Brit: "The banishment of Lamaštu to the netherworld"
Gabriel, Gösta: "Apotropaic Myths? Babylonian Toponyms and Their Role in the City’s Defense System"
Session 9f
Workshop: Narrative and Storytelling as a Communication Strategy in Cuneiform Scholarship (ctd)
(chair: Howe, Adam)
Konstantopoulos, Gina: "Story, Action, and Instruction: Generating and Using Narrative in Mesopotamian Incantations"
Arbøll, Troels Pank: "Thoughts on Story and Dialogue in the Mesopotamian Construction of Knowledge"
Workshop concluding discussion
Venue: Porthania PI
Session 10a
General track: Literature and Narratives (ctd)
(chair: Bach, Johannes)
Live streamed
Worthington, Martin: "Mesopotamian Orality"
Mirelman, Sam: "Concepts and Techniques of Literary Translation in Early Mesopotamia"
Valk, Jonathan: "Assyrian Ahiqar"
Session 10b
Workshop: Between Anarchy and Hierarchy: Creating Epistemic Order in the Ancient Near East
(chair: Nicolet, Gregoire)
Lecompte, Camille: "The Colophons of the Archaic Scholarly Texts"
Adelhofer, Matthias: "Old Assyrian 'word dividers' punctuating meaning"
Díaz Herrera, Marta: "a-ku-me-pap: Building on Previous Knowledge in Old Babylonian Nippur Schools"
Session 10c
Workshop: Current Research in Third Millennium Studies (ctd)
(chair: Taylor, Jonathan)
Witzig, Sophia: "Governing Girsu/Lagaš under the 3rd Dynasty of Ur (2112-2004 BCE): Changes and Continuity in Local Administration"
Marrocchi Savoi, Andrea Rebecca: "Not a Sumerian Soap-opera: what Di-til-la Texts Tell Us About Ur III Domestic Life"
Dahl, Jacob: "AN 1952-0021: gaps in our sources and the collapse of states."
Session 10d
Workshop: King- and Queenship in the Ancient Near East: Maintaining Relations with the Power Base (ctd)
(chair: Gudme, Anne Katrine de Hemmer)
Goddeeris, Anne: "In Service of God and King. Thoughts on the kāribu, his profits, his duties, and his origins"
Rubin, Zachary & Gansell, Amy: "Nabû and Tašmētu in Late Assyrian Royal Identity and Elite Culture"
Hajinezhad, Sara: "Royal Power and King-Queenship in Elamite Art: Depicting Relations with the Divine Authority and Power Base"
Session 10e
Workshop: Textiles in Cuneiform Texts: Recording, Terminology and Techniques
(chair: Michel, Cécile)
Quillien, Louise: "Recent Research on Textiles Terminologies within the Network COST EuroWeb (2020-2024)"
Abrahami, Philippe & Lion, Brigitte: "Textile inventories in the Nuzi Palace textual documentation"
Tenney, Jonathan: "Textiles and garments in Kassite period texts"
Session 10f
Workshop: People and Seals in the Ancient Near East
Balza, Maria Elena & Poli, Paola: Opening remarks
Paladre, Clélia: "Cylinder seals from the proto-Elamite phenomenon: images of power and administrative tools, but in whose hands?"
Dietz, Albert: "Dinner for one? Early Dynastic stamp seals and the adaption of popular cylinder seal scenes"
Session 11a
General track: Literature and Narratives (ctd)
(chair: Helle, Sophus)
Live streamed
Wisnom, Selena: "Firing Holes in Literary Tablets from Ashurbanipal's Library"
Howard, Caleb: "The Kalḫu Annals of Ashurnasirpal II: Composition and Purpose"
Fraenkel, Aviya: "[mu BÀ]D.AN.KI ba-hul ‘The year Dēr was destroyed’: Šulgi’s 21st regnal year"
Session 11b
Workshop: Between Anarchy and Hierarchy: Creating Epistemic Order in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
(chair: Hess, Christian)
Delnero, Paul: "The Structure and Organization of Very Elementary Education at Nippur"
Nicolet, Grégoire: "Organization of lexical list entries in the school tablets from Chantier K at Mari"
Paulus, Susanne: "Farm to Table – Organizing Knowledge in Kassite Bookkeeping"
Session 11c
Workshop: Current Research in Third Millennium Studies (ctd)
(chair: Alivernini, Sergio)
Pottorf, Andrew: "Subsistence and Tenant Lands in Ur III Umma"
Liu, Changyu: "Inward and Outward: Prosopography of the Ur III diplomatic individuals between Puzrish-Dagan administrative texts and Girsu-Irisagrig messenger texts"
Paoletti, Paola: "Managing - and managers of - oils and fats in the Ur III state: recent results in light of the i₃MesopOil project"
Session 11d
Workshop: King- and Queenship in the Ancient Near East: Maintaining Relations with the Power Base (ctd)
(chair: Silverman, Jason)
Treuk Medeiros de Araujo, Matheus: "Imperial Ancestral Cults and Beardless Attendants in Nimrud and Persepolis: Some Possible Analogies"
Markovic, Nenad & Nitschke, Jessica: "Chosen by the King: The Agency of the High Priest of Ptah in Persian and Ptolemaic Egypt"
Discussion: Mediating between the elite, the royal, and the divine sphere
Session 11e
Workshop: Textiles in Cuneiform Texts: Recording, Terminology and Techniques (ctd)
(chair: Quillien, Louise)
Chalendar, Vérène: "Clothes, rags and wool: Unveiling the practical and symbolic dimensions of textiles in Assyro-Babylonian therapeutic practices"
Michel, Cécile; Brisch, Nicole; Abrahami, Philippe & Quillien, Louise: "Red Dyed Textiles and Red Dyes in Cuneiform Texts"
Mazow, Laura: "The Debate Between Weaver and Fuller: A Re-Examination of At the Fullers UET 6/2, 414"
Session 11f
Workshop: People and Seals in the Ancient Near East
Felli, Candida: "Taylor-made: the interplay between seal image and power in 3rd Millennium Mesopotamia"
Peri, Laura A.: "Who used, produced, and introduced Mittannian cylinder seals in the southern Levant?"
Niederreiter, Zoltán: "Representations of leopards in Middle Assyrian art"
The Unicafe Porthania canteen at the conference venue is open for lunch and snacks. There are numerous restaurants in the vicinity.
Unicafe Porthania buffet lunch 10,70€. (Price includes all main courses, sides, salad buffet, tea/coffee.)
Salad bowls and dessert are sold separately.
Student discount only available with a Finnish student ID.
Friday July 12 menu
Pulled oat ratatouille (M, vegan)
Salmon patties & mayo dip
Meatballs & creamy dijon sauce
Salad bowl: Seitan & cauliflower salad (vegan)
Dessert: Cheesecake panna cotta (L)
Session 12a
General track: Language and Literature
(chair: SooHoo, Anthony)
Live streamed
Kamil, Iris: "Valence and aspect – A re-evaluation of the morphosyntax and morphosemantics of the Akkadian verb"
Hershkovitz, Yehonatan: "Orthographic Changes in Cuneiform during the Old Babylonian Period and the Transition from Sumerian to Akkadian"
Wichterlová, Barbora: "Dividing the masses: on the 'expressedly singular' function of the Akkadian absolute"
Session 12b
Workshop: Between Anarchy and Hierarchy: Creating Epistemic Order in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
(chair: Rendu Loisel, Anne-Caroline
Rendu Loisel, Anne-Caroline: "Sense and Sensibility. Is there a hierarchy of the human senses in the cuneiform sources?"
Boddy, Kaira: "Celestial omens in Šumma ālu"
Debourse, Céline: "Recording ritual in the Late Babylonian Series of 'Ancient Sumerian'"
Session 12c
Workshop: Current Research in Third Millennium Studies (ctd)
(chair: Paoletti, Paola)
Ouyang, Xiaoli: "From Inscribed Objects to Administrative Records: Votive Gifts from the Ur III Umma"
Anor, Netanel: "A Typology of the Girsu Offering Lists"
Nett, Seraina: "The é bur-sag and the Administration of Regular Offerings in Ur III Girsu"
Session 12d
Workshop: King- and Queenship in the Ancient Near East: Maintaining Relations with the Power Base (ctd)
(chair: Pfoh, Emanuel)
Monamy, Elisabeth: "The kings table - The interaction of social classes in terms of nutrition"
Barros, Bruno: "Neo-Assyrian Hegemony: Aspects of Dominance and Administration of Southern Levantine Kingdoms"
Rumi Gutierrez, Ana Belen: "Hellenizing the Pharaohs: Greek settlements leading to Ptolemaic dynastic rulership"
Session 12e
General track: Occupation and Identity
(chair: Rubin, Zachary)
Ito, Sanae: "Messengers in the Assyrian Empire"
Uotila, Repekka: "The Colleagues of Cuneiform Scribes: The Duties and Training of Aramaic Scribes in the Neo-Assyrian Period"
DeGrado, Jessie: "'Any Qadištu Can Do It': SAA 10 245–246 and the Lunar Eclipse of 670 BCE"
Session 12f
Workshop: People and Seals in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
Balza, Maria Elena: "Forms, traditions, and iconography: Some thoughts on the seals of the Emar scribes"
Bellucci, Benedetta: "Notes on the double-headed eagle on Hittite seals"
Mora, Clelia: "A special group of Hittite seals"
Session 13a
General track: Language and Literature (ctd)
(chair: Wisnom, Selena)
Live streamed
Tsumura, David Toshio: "Discourse Grammar and Grammar of Parallelism in the Prologue of Enuma elish"
Manasterska, Sara: "Carrying, give or take – people and institutions in positive orders and requests"
Vitas, Marko: "Mountains and the Other in Mesopotamia and Greece"
Session 13b
Workshop: Between Anarchy and Hierarchy: Creating Epistemic Order in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
(chair: Delnero, Paul)
Weiershäuser, Frauke: "How to structure a manual in Assur"
Hess, Christian: "Hierarchies and Heterachies in the Organization of Syllabary B"
Young, Marie: "The place of the healer (āšipu) in the hierarchy of Babylonian temples"
Session 13c
Workshop: Current Research in Third Millennium Studies (ctd)
(chair: Mastelli, Géraldine)
Maiocchi, Massimo & Volpi, Sasha: "Reassessing Economic History in the Early Dynastic Period: Sources, Methods, and Perspectives within the frame of the 'Urban Economy Begins' Project"
Gill, Nicholas: "Enki amid Snakes and Scorpions"
Markina, Ekaterina: "Power, Politics and Literature in the Sargonic era: the 'Weapon of Blood' letter"
Session 13d
Workshop: King- and Queenship in the Ancient Near East: Maintaining Relations with the Power Base (ctd)
(Wasmuth, Melanie)
Tambs, Lena: "Workshop response: Reflections on tracing social ties"
Gudme, Anne Katrine de Hemmer: "Workshop response: Reflections on displaying power (relations)
Workshop concluding discussion
Session 13e
General track: Occupation and Identity (ctd)
(chair: Zilberg, Peter)
Baker, Heather D.: "Life at the Bottom of Neo-Babylonian Society"
Maggio, Michèle: "The 'NA.GAD' of the Temple of Nanna from Ur. Presentation of a category of people from a religious institution in southern Mesopotamia at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC"
Moore, Stephen: "The solidarity of a shared craft: the reedworkers of Old Babylonian Sippar"
Session 13f
Workshop: People and Seals in the Ancient Near East (ctd)
Poli, Paola: "Seals, Sealings, People from the Tell Masaikh-Kar-Assurnasirpal"
Suliman, Rita: "The Iconography of the Moon God in Mesopotamia from the Third to the First Millennium B.C."
Viaggiu, Irene: "An artificial adaptive system to define southern Mesopotamian figurative patterns in the cylinder seals from the end of the 3rd to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE"