John Nicholas Postgate, FBA (born 5 November 1945) is a British academic and

Assyriologist Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , '' -logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...

. From 1975 to 1981, he was Director of the

British School of Archaeology in Iraq The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) (formerly the British School of Archaeology in Iraq) is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia. It was founded in 1932 and its aim ...

. From 1994 to 2013, he was Professor of Assyriology at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He is a fellow of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

Early life

Postgate was born on 5 November 1945. He is a member of the

Postgate family The Postgate family is an English family that has been notable in a variety of different fields. It originated in the North York Moors and records go back to land held by Postgates in 1200. Fields and a farm bearing the name still exist. The nam ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, a boys

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

in Winchester, Hampshire, between 1959 and 1963. He was a Collegeman, meaning he was a recipient of a scholarship. He studied at

, and graduated from the

with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.

Academic career

Postgate began his academic career as an

assistant lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct res ...

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

at the

SOAS, University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

from 1967 to 1971. He then returned to the

, his alma mater, as a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

from 1970 to 1974. From 1972 to 1975, he was also deputy-director of the

. He was promoted in 1975, and served in the full-time role of Director from 1975 to 1981. In 1982, he returned to the University of Cambridge and once more became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. From 1982 to 1985, he was a university lecturer in the history and archaeology of the

Ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

. He was promoted to

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in Mesopotamian studies in 1985. He was promoted to Professor of Assyriology in 1994. He undertook

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

Abu Salabikh The low tells at Abu Salabikh, around northwest of the site of ancient Nippur in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq mark the site of a small Sumerian city state of the mid third millennium BCE, with cultural connections to the cities of Kish, ...

, a Sumerian city in Iraq, from 1975 to 1989. Postgate and

Bahija Khalil Bahija Khalil (1934 – January 13, 2019) was an Iraqi Assyriologist and director of the Iraq Museum from 1983 to 1989. She was the first woman director of the museum. Life Khalil was born in Baghdad in 1934. She obtained her first degree in arch ...

, director of the

Iraq Museum The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national museum ...

, published "Texts in the Iraq Museum: Texts from Niniveh" in 1994. From 1994 to 2013, he was the director of excavations at

Kilise Tepe Kilise Tepe is a mound in Mersin Province, Turkey, just west of the Göksu River, lying 20 kilometers from Mut and 145 kilometers from Mersin. It was initially known as Maltepe which is actually the name of a site on the other bank of the river ab ...

, a Bronze and Iron Age site in Turkey. Postgate retired from full-time academia in 2013.

Honours

Postgate was elected

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA) in 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postgate, Nicholas Living people English Assyriologists Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge 1945 births Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Winchester College

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...

Assyriologists