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<p class="MsoNormal">Hyvät kollegat,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alla ensimmäinen tiedote ensi kesänä järjestettävästä muinaisen Lähi-idän konferenssista. Sinne odotetaan noin neljääsataa nuolenpäätutkimuksesta ja alueen arkeologiasta kiinnostunutta ulkomaista kollegaa.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Olemme hyvin avoimia myös Aleksanteri Suuren jälkeisen Lähi-idän sessio- ja esitelmäehdotuksille.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Järjestelytoimikunnan puolesta,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Saana Svärd<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Professori Saana Svärd<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Huippuyksikö "Muinaisen Lähi-idän imperiumit" johtaja<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(<a href="http://www.helsinki.fi/anee">www.helsinki.fi/anee</a>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">PL 4 (Fabianinkatu 24 A, huone 138)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">00014 Helsingin yliopisto<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">työpuhelin: 02941 22683<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">matkapuhelin: 050 5344985<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">s-posti: <a href="mailto:saana.svard@helsinki.fi">saana.svard@helsinki.fi</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/fi/persons/saana-sv%C3%A4rd">https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/fi/persons/saana-sv%C3%A4rd</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">69th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Helsinki, 8–12 July 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">First circular<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The University of Helsinki and the Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires are delighted to invite you to the International Association for Assyriology’s 69th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. The
69th RAI is scheduled from Monday 8 to Friday 12 July 2024. It will take place on the University of Helsinki’s campus in the city centre.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Theme: Politics, Peoples, and Polities in the Ancient Near East<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Human social organization is complex and diverse. It involves the development of systems for decision-making in groups (politics), the articulation of collective identities (peoples), and the establishment of mechanisms
for the regulation, distribution, and management of goods, property, and people (polities). The ancient Near East offers an immensely rich record of different forms of social organization, from mercantile city-states and expansionist empires to mobile pastoralist
confederations and assorted collections of outlaws, with everything in between. Over thousands of years and in varied geographic and ecological settings, these social forms underwent constant processes of reform, renegotiation, and reinvention.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The 69th Rencontre is interested in how different people in the ancient Near East navigated the challenges of life in groups. How did people think about the societies they established and about the possibilities for different
ways of doing things? How did certain groups seek to preserve the status quo, and how did others challenge it? How do the values and histories of our own, present-day societies distort our understanding of the societies of the ancient Near East?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">To advance scholarship on the politics, peoples, and polities of the ancient Near East, we invite scholars across disciplinary boundaries to engage with these and related questions.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Submissions<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The organizing committee of the 69th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale invites submissions of workshop proposals and abstracts for papers and posters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Workshops<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We welcome submissions that relate directly to the theme of the conference, as well as on other subjects. We strongly encourage workshop organizers to issue open calls for contributions and we only accept closed sessions
in extraordinary circumstances (please apply to the committee). We will announce the names of open workshops (once they are accepted) in the call for papers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Workshops are to consist of six 30-minute lecture slots. The first or last of these slots can be reserved for introductory remarks or a general discussion. Workshops can be expanded as necessary by further blocks of three
30-minute slots, subject to the approval of the organizing committee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Proposals should include the following information:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">- name(s) of the organizer(s) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">- title of the workshop <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">- description of the purpose of the workshop
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">- a preliminary list of speakers and proposed papers
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Workshop proposals must be submitted by email to
</span><a href="mailto:rai24-info@helsinki.fi"><span lang="EN-US">rai24-info@helsinki.fi</span></a><span lang="EN-US"> before 30 November 2023. Workshop organizers will be notified of acceptance or rejection of their proposal by 15 December 2023.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Papers and posters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Submission for paper and poster abstracts (200–400 words) will open on 1 January 2024 and close on 15 February. In addition to sessions aligned with the conference theme, there will be sessions on current fieldwork and
the application of digital methods in ancient Near Eastern studies. Those who submit paper or poster abstracts will be notified of acceptance or rejection by 1 March 2024.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Registration <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Registration will open on 1 March 2024 with an early bird fee. Regular registration fees are in use from 16 April to 15 May. Late registration is open from 16 May to 15 June. Note that late registration is not open for
accepted speakers, who must register before 15 May 2024. Members of the International Association for Assyriology (IAA) and students who are enrolled in an institution for BA, MA, or PhD studies, are eligible for discounts on registration fees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Website and contact information<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Conference website: </span><a href="http://www.helsinki.fi/rencontre"><span lang="EN-US">www.helsinki.fi/rencontre</span></a><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Organizing committee contact: </span><a href="mailto:rai24-info@helsinki.fi"><span lang="EN-US">rai24-info@helsinki.fi</span></a><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Registrations and payments contact: </span>
<a href="mailto:rencontre2024@confedent.fi"><span lang="EN-US">rencontre2024@confedent.fi</span></a><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We look forward to welcoming you to Helsinki!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The organizing committee of RAI 69<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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