Minutes of the General Meeting of the International Association for Assyriology
held in live streaming during the
67th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Turin 2021,
Thursday 15th July 2021, 4-7:30 PM (Rome time).
- Opening of the President. At 4:10 the President opens the meeting thanking the organising committee of the conference.
- Report on the previous meeting, IAA Board Meeting, July 2020
- Report of the Board
- Report of the President
The President reminds the membership that the IAA is an open platform to promote the Ancient near Eastern Studies, organizing the rencontre Assyriologique, financing a number of research conducted by early career scholars. supporting the mutual exchange among scholars at different stages, from several countries, in broad discussions.
The Board, in the past two years, in a number of online meetings (i.e. 9/14/2019, 4/15/2020, 7/23/2020, 10/29/2020, 3/25/2021, 7/9/2021) was constantly discussing issues related to maintain and promote the association. In particular, this year was dedicated to improve the online platform and to establish a policy of donations, aimed to cover prizes and membership from the Middle Eastern countries. The president asks the participants to observe a minute of silence to honour Wilfred Van Soldt.
a) 219 Members in 2020 and 2016 in 2021.
b) IAA office. The IAA office consists of the Treasurer, Caroline Warzaeggers, the Secretary, Cinzia Pappi, and the IAA Office, Sebastian Haidler. The secretary thanks Sebastian Haidler finishing his office in fall for his efforts in establishing and maintaining the new Website.
c) The Newsletter Mār Šiprim. Heather Baker reports about the rich program of Mar Shiprim Newsletter, edited by Stefania Ermidoro.
d) The website of the IAA/RAI. heather Baker presents the new section dedicated to PhD Research in Assyriology (see PhD Research: https://assyriologyphd.hcommons.org) where all the PhD students are warmly encouraged to add the title of their research.
4. 2019-2020 financial reports
a) Report of the Treasurer
b) Recommendations by the controlling committee
c) Vote of acceptance and discharge of Board and controlling committee
The treasurer share with the membership the financial reports of the past two years.
- Composition of the Board
a) Present composition
Elected Members:
Walther Sallaberger, (president
Steven J. Garfinkle, (vice-president)
Caroline Waerzeggers, (treasurer)
Jan Tavernier
Heather Baker, (vice-treasurer)
Cinzia Pappi, (secretary)
Laith Hussein
Representatives of RAI Committees:
Dominique Charpin (RAI Paris)
Alexander Pruß, (RAI Frankfurt/Mainz)
Stefano De Martino (RAI Torino)
Representatives of other associations:
Paul-Alain Beaulieu, (AOS)
Mark Weeden (BISI)
Adelheid Otto (DOG)
Annick Payne (SGOA)
b) Resigning members and candidates
Adelheid Otto, nominated as representative of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft at the RAI in Innsbruck in 2018 is finishing her term.
Jan Tavernier, elected as a member of the Board at the RAI in Philadelphia in 2016 is finishing his term.
c) Election and nomination of new members of the IAA Board
d) New members
The new representative for this institution will be the newly nominated Chair of the Board of the DOG Prof. Dr. Daniel Schwemer.
Jan Tavernier and Lorenzo Verderame sent their candidacy.
E-voting conducted from Monday July 12, 1:00 PM to Thursday 15, 11:00 AM), 133 Ballots have been submitted (62%).
Results:
Lorenzo Verderame 48.8%
Jan Tavernier 51.2%
Winner: Jan Tavernier
- Prizes and subsidies: Results
a) IAA Prize for the Best First Article 2020 and 2021 (Chair: Heather Baker; Prize Committee from 2019 to 2021: Robert Middeke Conlin, Tonia Sharlach, Agnete Wisti Lassen, Nele Ziegler)
The winner for 2020: Poppy Tushingham, Uniformity versus regional variation in the legal and scribal practices of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte 25 (2019) 29–53.
The winner for 2021: Irene Deubelbeiss, New light on the Sumerian literary letter Abaindasa to Sulge. Altorientalische Forschungen 47/2 (2020) 143–185.
b) IAA Fund for Recent PhDs for RAI Attendance 2021 (Chair: Mark Weeden)
Winners:
Mary Frazer, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Etienne Bordreuil, Université Catholique de Louvain
Nelson Henrique da Silva Ferreira, University of Coimbra
Melania Zingarello, University of Strasbourg
Türkan Pilavci, Boğazıcı University
Troels Pank Arbøll, Univesity of Oxford.
d) IAA Dissertation Prize 2020 and 2021
The winner of the IAA Dissertation Prize 2020: Étienne Bordreuil with a dissertation entitled “Peser, mesurer, compter à Ras Shamra/Ougarit à la fin de l’âge du Bronze récent”
2020 runner-up is Zsombor J. Földi with a dissertation entitled “The Trial Documents from Old Babylonian Larsa in their Legal, Economic, Social and Archival Contexts”
The winner of the IAA Dissertation Prize 2021: Erica Scarpa with a dissertation entitled “Social History Through Textual Patterns: Study on the Social Organization at Ebla during the Age of the Archives (Syria, 24th cent. BCE)”
- Committees
a) IAA Prize for the Best First Article. New chair and committee
Chair: Daniel Schwemer. Committee: Eva von Dassow, Troels Arboll, and Agnes Garcia-Ventura
- Honorary Council
The IAA Board unanimously approved the following nominations for Honorary Members:
Nawala Ahmed al-Mutawalli, archaeologist and philologist at Iraq’s SBAH, Iraq Museum and Baghdad University
Piotr Michalowski, philologist and historian, professor at Ann Arbor, Michigan, president of the IAA 2009–2014
Ahmed Kamil Mohammed, archaeologist and philologist at Iraq’s SBAH and director of the Iraq Museum, member of the IAA board 2014-2018
- Proceedings of past Rencontres
Rencontre of Paris and Innsbruck are currently in press. Ghent, Philadelphia, and Marburg have been published in 2020 and 2021.
- Future Rencontres
2022: Frankfurt and Mainz to be held in a hybrid form. 25-29 July 2022
2023: Leiden. Topic: Inequality in the Ancient Near East. 17-20 July 2023.
- Any Other Business
No other Business
The President closed the meeting at 6:00 PM