Quick access
Presentation
Since 2014, Dominique Charpin's lectures have covered a wide range of aspects of Mesopotamian Civilization, studied above all from texts, taking archaeological data into account. Some lectures have focused on the three millennia prior to the Christian era, such as those on temples and the making of alliances. Others have been devoted more specifically to the Palaeo-Babylonian period (2000-1600 BC ) : they have shed light on the practice of writing (correspondence), presented a particular city (Ur), or studied a specific period (Hammu-rabi's successors). These lectures incorporate not only the most recently published data, but often unpublished material as well, enabling us to reread previously known accounts with fresh eyes. These lectures are the culmination of long-term research, and are followed by the publication of books.
The Chair's research focuses on Mesopotamian Civilization over the three millennia of its existence. It is based on Sumerian and Akkadian texts written in cuneiform script. The work of Dominique Charpin and his team focuses particularly on the Paleo-Babylonian period, through his archives, discovered in both Iraq and Syria : the website archibab.fr website, which he created and continues to maintain with his Parisian team and international cooperation, has become an essential tool for Assyriologists wishing to study this abundant (over thirty-four thousand texts published to date), varied (letters, lawsuits, contracts, accounting notes, etc.) and constantly growing (over three hundred new texts per year on average) documentation. Dominique Charpin's work covers both Upper Mesopotamia (in particular the site of Mari) and Southern Mesopotamia (in particular Larsa and Ur, two active archaeological missions for which Dominique Charpin is an epigraphist).