71st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale

We are pleased to announce that the 71st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale will be held in Baghdad from March 28 to April 2, 2026, with the theme “The Land of Iraq: The Regional Setting of Cuneiform Culture”. This conference invites scholars from around the world to examine the multifaceted dimensions of ancient Mesopotamian civilization, renowned for its significant and enduring contributions to the world’s cultural and historical development.
Iraq is the historical name for the core region of ancient Mesopotamia, the heartland of cuneiform. The conference will address the historical geography of ancient Mesopotamia, the impact of regional conditions on societies during the three millennia of cuneiform writing, and regional differences in writing practices, language, text types, art styles, and objects. Cuneiform was used to write many languages in the ancient Near East, including Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Hurrian, and Eblaite, from around 3200 BCE until the first century CE. Hundreds of thousands of cuneiform objects are preserved in museums today, waiting for researchers to uncover their secrets and mysteries.

The cuneiform script, which served as the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia, was central to one of the earliest literate cultures in human history. For more than three millennia, it functioned as a medium of communication across a vast geographical area that, at its greatest extent, stretched from present-day Iran to the Mediterranean and from Anatolia to Egypt. Therefore, this conference also examines ancient Middle Eastern history through the perspective of cuneiform writing. Scholars belonging to multiple academic disciplines will investigate, define, and even move beyond the boundaries of the written word. Mesopotamian clay tablets and stone inscriptions will be examined not just as repositories of written content, but also as tangible artifacts that offer further insights into identities, contexts, and social interactions among ancient civilizations.