Paul-Alain Beaulieu is a Canadian
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 ...
, a Professor of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
.
Beaulieu earned a master's degree from the
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...
in 1980 under the supervision of Marcel Leibovici,
and a Ph.D. from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in 1985. He was an assistant and subsequently associate professor at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
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).
[List of completed masters' theses in history](_blank)
Univ. de Montréal, retrieved 2011-05-03 (in French).
*''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, ). This was the first book in 60 years about
Nabonidus
Nabonidus (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-naʾid'', meaning "May Nabu be exalted" or "Nabu is praised") was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 ...
, 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
Belshazzar
Belshazzar (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Bēl-šar-uṣur'', meaning " Bel, protect the king"; ''Bēlšaʾṣṣar'') was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (556–539 BC), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Through his mother he might ...
, 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 Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a ...
.
*''Late Babylonian Texts in the Nies Babylonian Collection'', Vol. 1 (CDL Press, 1994, ).
*''Legal and Administrative Texts from the Reign of Nabonidus'' (Yale oriental series: Babylonian texts 19, Yale University Press, 2000, ). This book describes some 313 tablets from
Uruk
Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...
, in the collections of
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. 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, ). Reviewer
Robert D. Biggs 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
Ishtar
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...
, the "lady of Uruk".
*''A History of Babylon'' (John Wiley & Sons, 2011, ).
*''The Cuneiform Uranology Texts'' (Paul-Alain Beaulieu, Eckart Frahm, Wayne Horowitz and John Steele). Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Published By: American Philosophical Society 2018
[http://www.academia.edu & utoronto.academia.edu]
See also
*
Cylinder of Nabonidus
The Cylinders of Nabonidus refers to cuneiform inscriptions of king Nabonidus of Babylonia (556-539 BC). These inscriptions were made on clay cylinders. They include the Nabonidus Cylinder from Sippar, and the Nabonidus Cylinders from Ur, four i ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieu, Paul-Alain
Assyriologists
Université de Montréal alumni
Yale University alumni
Harvard University faculty
University of Toronto faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)