Paul-Alain Beaulieu
Encyclopedia
Paul-Alain Beaulieu is a Canadian Assyriologist
, a Professor of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto
.
Beaulieu earned a masters degree from the Université de Montréal
in 1980 under the supervision of Marcel Leibovici, and a Ph.D. from Yale University
in 1985. He was an assistant and subsequently associate professor at Harvard University
before joining the faculty at Toronto.
Assyriology
Assyriology is the archaeological, historical, and linguistic study of ancient Mesopotamia and the related cultures that used cuneiform writing. The field covers the Akkadian sister-cultures of Assyria and Babylonia, together with their cultural predecessor; Sumer...
, a Professor of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
Beaulieu earned a masters degree from the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
in 1980 under the supervision of Marcel Leibovici, and a Ph.D. from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1985. He was an assistant and subsequently associate professor at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
before joining the faculty at Toronto.
Books
Beaulieu is the author of:- L'introduction du cheval et du char de guerre au Proche-Orient au IIe millénaire av. J.C. (Masters thesis, Université de Montréal, 1980).
- The Reign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, 556–539 B.C. (Ph.D. thesis, Yale University, 1989, and Yale Near Eastern researches 10, Yale University Press, 1989, ISBN 9780300043143). This was the first book in 60 years about NabonidusNabonidusNabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, reigning from 556-539 BCE.-Historiography on Nabonidus:...
, who was himself something of an archaeologist. In contrast to the previous book by Raymond P. Dougherty, Beaulieu's book downplays the role of Nabonidus' heterodox religious beliefs in causing his split rule with his son BelshazzarBelshazzarBelshazzar, or Balthazar , was a 6th century BC prince of Babylon, the son of Nabonidus and the last king of Babylon according to the Book of Daniel . Like his father, it is believed by many scholars that he was an Assyrian. In Daniel Belshazzar, or Balthazar , was a 6th century BC prince of...
, instead highlighting political and economic factors. Beaulieu also compares the historical documents on Nabonidus' rule with the accounts of the same time in the Book of DanielBook of DanielThe Book of Daniel is a book in the Hebrew Bible. The book tells of how Daniel, and his Judean companions, were inducted into Babylon during Jewish exile, and how their positions elevated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. The court tales span events that occur during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,...
. - Late Babylonian Texts in the Nies Babylonian Collection, Vol. 1 (CDL Press, 1994, ISBN 9781883053048).
- Legal and Administrative Texts from the Reign of Nabonidus (Yale oriental series: Babylonian texts 19, Yale University Press, 2000, ISBN 9780300057706). This book describes some 313 tablets from UrukUrukUruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient dry former channel of the Euphrates River, some 30 km east of modern As-Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Uruk gave its name to the Uruk...
, in the collections of Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. They include letters on religious matters, land transfers, sales contracts, and legal documents. - The Pantheon of Uruk During the Neo-Babylonian Period (Cuneiform Monographs 23, Leiden & Boston: Brill/Styx, 2003, ISBN 9789004130241). Reviewer Robert D. BiggsRobert D. BiggsRobert D. Biggs is an Assyriology professor. He received his PhD at Johns Hopkins University. He is an editor of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies.-External links:*...
writes that "this is a major contribution to the study of ancient Mesopotamia" while M. A. Dandamayev calls it "an enormous step in the study of Babylonian religion". It includes chapters on the clothing ceremony, offering lists, and individual gods and their companions, and focuses particular attention on IshtarIshtarIshtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte.-Characteristics:...
, the "lady of Uruk". - A History of Babylon (John Wiley & Sons, 2011, ISBN 9781405188982).