Of God(s), Trees, Kings, and Scholars

The latest volume in the Studia Orientalia series honours Professor Simo Parpola, who is now retiring after celebrating his 65th birthday. Three of his former students have edited this volume, which honours him and his long and impressive career in Assyriology.

Of God(s), Trees, Kings, and Scholars contains 35 contributions and is divided into two main sections: Neo-Assyrian studies and Assyriological and Interdisciplinary studies. The two-part division attempts to reflect the numerous areas of Professor Parpola’s prolific career. However, the two sections of the volume partly overlap and the categorization is not entirely rigorous. For example, the papers in Neo-Assyrian studies section also inform us about many other areas, even if their central focus is Neo-Assyrian; this also applies to the papers in the Assyriological and Interdisciplinary studies section since many of these contributions have clear links to Neo-Assyrian studies. Hence, many of the contributions in this volume clearly indicate that today’s Neo-Assyrian studies are genuinely interdisciplinary.