19-23 July 2027 // Sofia
Medicine is the most social of sciences. Everyone falls ill, and everyone, sooner or later, needs care, in antiquity as much as today. Healing, safety, and well-being are crucial elements of human society and daily life, yet have never been the central focus of a Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (RAI).
Over the past twenty years, studies of Babylonian medicine have grown remarkably. What was once a specialized field that almost no one could access has become an exciting area of research with a dedicated community of specialists. However, if Assyriologists were asked to name the largest, best-preserved, and most thoroughly structured medical handbook, in original manuscripts, preserved from antiquity, most would assume: the Hippocratic Corpus. It is not. It is, in fact, the comprehensive and highly systematic Nineveh Medical Encyclopedia, completed in the 7th century BCE for the Library of Ashurbanipal. Cuneiform medicine is not part of the standard Assyriological curriculum worldwide, even though the cuneiform medical corpus is the most ancient and the largest from the ancient world.
It is therefore our great pleasure to announce that the next RAI will be devoted to Babylonian medicine and healing arts in general. We invite all scholars who plan to participate to consider how their areas of expertise can contribute to the theme of “Medicine, Health, and Safety in the Ancient Near East.” By bringing together the widest range of perspectives from texts and iconography, reflecting both human and divine spheres (including managing daily life, predicting the future, warding off ghosts and demons, visiting the doctor) can we produce a conference that does justice to and illustrates the role of medicine and healing in ancient Near Eastern societies.
From 19 to 23 July 2027, the 72nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale will take place at Sofia University, Bulgaria, to consider “Medicine, Health, and Safety in the Ancient Near East.” The Sofia RAI will, for the first time, offer a large international forum in which Babylonian Medicine and healing arts in general can be brought together and explored among international scholars. The 72nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale in Sofia will thus provide a forum not only for presenting new sources and interpretations, but also for reassessing the place of Babylonian and other Ancient Near Eastern medical traditions within the history of medicine and science.
Further information regarding the call for papers, registration, and practical arrangements will be communicated in due course in the section News.