In the Spotlight: Paul-Alain Beaulieu at the University of Toronto

Dear Mar Shiprim readers,

This month we thank Prof. Paul-Alain Beaulieu for shining a light on The Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations (NMC) at the University of Toronto in Canada. Are there other institutions hosting scholars in Assyriology and related fields about which you would like to learn more? Let us know by emailing marshiprim@iaassyriology.com.

With best wishes,
Pavla Rosenstein
Mar Shiprim Editor

 

In the Spotlight: Paul-Alain Beaulieu at the University of Toronto

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? How did you come to study and work in the field, and what path led you to your current role?
I am a native of Montreal. I completed my first degrees at the Université de Montréal in Law and History. My interest in the ancient world, especially Egypt and Mesopotamia, goes back to my childhood and was nurtured by my family. After my MA degree in Ancient History and languages, primarily Aramaic and Hebrew, I moved to Yale University where I began my PhD in 1980. I studied Assyriology with Profs. William W. Hallo and Benjamin R. Foster and Aramaic with Prof. Franz Rosenthal. After completing my doctoral dissertation on the Reign of Nabonidus, I stayed at Yale for many years, first as postdoctoral researcher and then as Research Scholar and Lecturer. During that time, I had the privilege to conduct research on the rich holdings of cuneiform tablets in the Yale Babylonian Collection, mostly on the Neo-Babylonian archives of the Eanna temple at Uruk. In 1997, I was appointed as faculty member in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University and moved to my present position at the University of Toronto in 2006. I was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2011, and in 2020, I was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Since 2023 I have been Chair and Graduate Chair of the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations.

What is the history of the Department of the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations (NMC) at the University of Toronto, and of Assyriology and related fields in Canada more broadly?
The Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations (NMC) in its present form came into existence in 1996. Next year we will celebrate our 30^th anniversary. NMC results from the merger of two previous departments: the Dept. of Near Eastern Studies, devoted mostly to the ancient world and the study of philology and archaeology, and the Dept. of Middle East and Islamic Studies, with a strong historical emphasis covering the Middle East from the medieval period to the contemporary world. The existence of two previous academic units is reflected in our title. The merger has been beneficial to the Department since we now have a much larger presence within the University, with coverage from the Neolithic period to contemporary issues in the Middle East. In one form or another the disciplines we teach have been represented at the University of Toronto since its foundation in the 19^th century. The first scholar who taught Assyriology was Theophile Meek, who displayed encyclopedic knowledge of the ancient Near East, including Bible and ancient Egypt. He was followed by Wilfred G. Lambert for a short period and then by Albert Kirk Grayson and Ronald Sweet, who founded the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Project in 1979. The project lasted until 2005. Assyriology in NMC is also represented by Dr. Heather Baker, and very recently our team was enriched with the appointment of Dr. Odette Boivin. NMC is the only Department of its type in Canada in terms of overall coverage of disciplines, and one of the largest in North America.         

How is NMC structured at the University of Toronto? What academic programs are available for undergraduate and graduate students and what post-graduate opportunities are available?
The BA program includes four years of courses. Undergraduate students can choose a specialist, major, or minor concentration in NMC, each with specific requirements. In addition, we have students from across the Faculty of Arts and Science who take only one course, either out of interest or to fulfill the breadth requirements of their units. The Department has large coverage and favors interdisciplinary study, including archaeology, history, religion, art and architecture, thought and philosophy, and of course language, literature, and philology (Akkadian, Sumerian, Ancient Egyptian and Coptic, Classical and Modern Arabic, Aramaic and Syriac, Ge’ez, Biblical and Modern Hebrew, Modern Turkish, as well as Old Persian, Avestan, Middle and Modern Persian). The MA program includes one or two years of graduate courses depending on the preparation of the student. Our PhD program is separate from the MA. Doctoral students follow two years of graduate courses, after which they take their comprehensive examinations and start researching and writing their dissertation. The University of Toronto funds all PhD students, domestic or international, with competitive scholarships for a period of five years. However, NMC does not fund MA students. External grants are available, mainly from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Every year we welcome postdoctoral researchers. Some come with external grants, but most are funded either by the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) or by SSHRC. For example, we are fortunate now to have as FAS postdoctoral fellow in the Department, Dr. Rhyne King, who is conducting research on the Achaemenid empire. 

Are there any current or planned research projects to highlight?
NMC has long been known for its large, generously funded research projects in archaeology and philological studies. Currently we participate in the new excavations at Nineveh, which are an international collaborative endeavor, and we are involved in the excavations at Tell Tayinat near Antakya in Türkiye, as well as other sites in Iraq. Our participation in these projects is led by Drs. Clemens Reichel, Lynn Welton, and Khaled Abu-Jayyab. On the Egyptian side our new Egyptian archaeologist, Dr. Oren Siegel, is currently securing a permit to excavate a site in the Nile Delta. On the philological side we have a number of projects in Assyriology: Dr. Baker has received grants to investigate social inequality in the Neo- and Late Babylonian period as well as Babylonian urbanism. Dr. Boivin is still involved in the University of Münster ERC project GoviB, which aims at studying the cuneiform tablets found during the 1899-1917 German excavations at Babylon, and she is now applying for funding for her own project on social mobility in the Neo- and Late Babylonian period. For my part I have been working for years on the Late Babylonian Archives from Ur and am currently finishing the first volume. We are uploading the data for some of these projects on ORACC. Thus, NMC can boast a significant cluster of researchers on first millennium Babylonia. Needless to say, NMC hosts several funded projects in other disciplines outside the Ancient Near East.

What are your and NMC’s goals for the near future in terms of academic programs, research projects and other activities?
We hope to obtain funding eventually for a large, long-term project on the Ancient Near East or Egypt. Regarding academic programs, NMC is in a transitional period as we are facing a wave of retirements affecting several of our disciplines. However, we are taking this opportunity to reevaluate our programs and orient the department in new directions. To give just one example, we teach Ge’ez on a regular basis within the umbrella of Semitics, but we are hoping to develop the field of Ethiopic studies further with a more in-depth historical, philological, and archaeological approach. This would be a wonderful complement to our programs on Ancient Egypt and Coptic studies, as well as to the study of Near Eastern Christian traditions. Ethiopia is not only a very ancient civilization, but also a major country that is poised in the future to play a significant role in that part of the world. It just seems natural to me and my colleagues that the study of Ethiopia, too often neglected, should be promoted in academic institutions.

What can you tell us about resources for Assyriologists and those working in related fields available at the University, Toronto and in Canada more broadly? How are studies related to the ancient Near East perceived?
Assyriologists here have access to an almost complete collection of books and journals in their field with the combined resources on the University of Toronto libraries and the archives of the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia project housed in NMC. Other Canadian universities also hold significant library resources in ancient Near Eastern Studies. One should also mention the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), with which the University shares a number of academic and curatorial appointments. The ROM holds significant collections of Egyptian and Near Eastern artifacts, including around 1,500 cuneiform tablets. The ROM also led several important archaeological expeditions in the past, notably the excavations at Godin Tepe in Iran. Thus, we have a first-class cluster of resources for those working in the fields of Assyriology and ancient Near Eastern studies with a long tradition behind them.

I must also mention that SSHRC recognizes Egyptology and Assyriology as distinct academic disciplines, which is of considerable help when applying for grants. The perception of ancient Near Eastern studies is generally positive, although this has not translated into the creation of new academic positions and the building of academic units where the ancient Near East holds a significant place. Several Canadian universities have ancient Near Eastern scholars on their academic staff, but they tend to be isolated in Departments that have other priorities. The only exception is the University of British Columbia, which has a Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies.

For more information about the NMC department at the University of Toronto please visit:

https://www.nmc.utoronto.ca

Interview by Pavla Rosenstein