The department of Ancient History and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Innsbruck is honored to host the 64th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, which will take place in Innsbruck, July 16th through 20th, 2018.
This year’s theme is “The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient Near East.” The
program includes sessions and workshops focusing on several aspects of the continuity, transformation, and diffusion of cuneiform cultures from the third millennium BCE to the Islamic period, but also panels on different topics, including current fieldwork in the Near East and on thematic research projects. Abstracts for the individual sessions and workshops are provided under the corresponding sections “Workshops” and “Sessions” as well alphabetically under the section “Abstracts”.
During the conference a number of social and cultural events have been planned:
Monday, July 16th at 8 pm, the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Faculty of Catholic Theology will host an opening reception at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, Karl-Rahner Platz 3, 6020 Innsbruck.
Tuesday, July 17th at 8 pm, Assyriological Pub-Quiz, specially organized for the participants of the RAI near the RAI venue in the pub Tribaun, Museumstraße 5, 6020 Innsbruck (http://www.tribaun.com ). You can participate in teams of up to six people. The entrance fee is €1,- per person. Since places are limited, particants can pre-register either as individuals, pairs, or as a team at quizrai64@gmail.com.
Thursday, July 19th at 8 pm, a Tyrolean Buffet will be organized in the foyer and in the courtyard of the Rencontre venue.
During the Rencontre, lunch will be served at the University Cafeteria, located in the conference building. A list of recommended restaurants and cafés is also available.
The City of Innsbruck
Innsbruck, also known as the capital of the Alps, is located in a wide valley surrounded by the Nordkette to the north and the Patscherkofel to the south. Archeological and historical evidence indicates the strategic position of Innsbruck as a key to one of the main routes through the Alps, which has linked the Mediterranean ports to northern Europe since before the Roman empire. The city became the capital of Tyrol in the 15th century and briefly hosted the Austrian Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519), who used the Imperial Palace (Hofburg, www.hofburg-innsbruck.at) as a residence, later restored by Empress Maria Theresa (1717–1780). The royal church (Hofkirche, www.tiroler-landesmuseen.at) contains the grave of Emperor Maximilian I, decorated by 28 bronze statues which represent the mythical and biological ancestors of the imperial family. The nearby Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl), an elaborate oriel tiled in gold and built on the occasion of the wedding of Maximilian I with Maria Sforza, represents the most famous local attraction, a reminder of the city’s imperial past. If you climb the 148 steps of the City Tower, you will enjoy an extraordinary view of the the city along the Herzog-Friedrich Strasse and Maria-Theresien Strasse, which leads to the column surmounted by the statue of Saint Anna as well as to the Triumphal Arch, both erected in the 18th century. Just behind the conference venue, the city center station designed by the famous architect Zaha Hadid gives access to the Patscherkofel-Bahn or the Nordketten-Bahn, which will take you to the highest peaks of the closest Tyrolean Alps in less than half an hour.
The University and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Innsbruck
The Leopold-Franzens Universität Innsbruck has been a supporting pillar of Tyrolean society and played an important role in the surrounding region since 1669. Today, the University consists of 16 faculties and 81 institutes, host to ca. 25.000 students.
The first specialist for the Ancient Near East in Innsbruck was Thomas Friedrich (1855 – 1927), who was appointed as Extraordinarius of “Ancient Oriental History” in 1892, as Ordinarius ad personam in 1908. Friedrich founded an “Oriental Institute” and taught Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Innsbruck until his retirement in 1926. His successor was Carl Friedrich Lehmann-Haupt (1861–1938), who, together with the Semitist August Haffner (1869–1941), directed the institute until their retirement at the end of the 1930s.
After several decades, Karl Oberhuber (1915 – 1997) re-established a new Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures in 1973. When Oberhuber retired in 1986, the institute fell under the direction of a non-chaired professorship, held by Helga Trenkwalder. In 2000 the “Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures” and the “Institute of Ancient History” were combined to create a new “Institute of Ancient History and Ancient Near Eastern Studies.” This new institution fostered the co-operation of different disciplines, including Ancient History, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and Ancient Near Eastern Archeology. In 2005, Robert Rollinger was appointed as full professor for “Cultural Relations and Contacts between Ancient Near Eastern Cultures and the Mediterranean Region” and continues to chair the institute.
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