Assyriology

The IAA understands the “Assyriology” in its name to refer to the study of ancient Mesopotamia and neighbouring regions through textual, archaeological and art historical approaches. Scholars usually specialise in either textual or archaeological studies, and often find themselves in different departments. Nevertheless, specialists often work closely together, especially on excavations.

Here’s a more detailed description of textual study (Assyriology in its narrower sense). And here’s a more detailed description of archaeological study.

Specialists are based in institutions around the world.

If you would like to go and see objects from ancient Mesopotamia, here’s a list of some museums with relevant displays.

Online resources

There is a lot of information about Assyriology online. These pages are designed to help you find reliable resources produced by people who know about the ancient Near East, and to avoid pseudo-scientific nonsense.  Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, scholars are not trying to hide evidence, nor are museums hiding objects in a basement. There is no evidence for contact with aliens, there were no ancient nuclear wars, no DNA manipulation, and there is no connection to pyramids. The reality of the ancient past, based on the reasonable interpretation of actual evidence, is much more interesting and satisfying.