On Wednesday, May 7, at 7:00pm, Karen Radner will give a lecture entitled “Brain Drain: Foreign Experts in the Heartland of the Assyrian Empire.” The lecture will take place at Guild Lounge, Scott Hall, Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.
A description of the lecture given in March reads as follows:
The Neo-Assyrian Empire (9th–7th century BC) routinely used deportations as a key tool of establishing and maintaining control over its holdings. But deportation was by no means a blanket strategy, as the deported population groups were carefully selected to include craftsmen and specialists. Most of them were relocated in the Assyrian Heartland (today North Iraq) which was developed into the unrivalled economic and cultural centre of the Middle East. My paper which will focus on the “brain drain” experienced by the peripheries of the Assyrian Empire, including regions such as Egypt and Iran.
The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception is to follow. More information is here.
Karen Radner has written a number of essays and articles that are helpful for understanding the history of the Neo-Assyrian period, especially the centuries when Assyria came into direct contact with Israel and Judah. (In fact, the Bible mentions by name all Assyrian kings from Tiglath-pileser III through Ashurbanipal.) Radner was part of the team that created “Assyrian Empire Builders” and many of her articles are available through her Academia.edu page, including
- “Assyrians and Urartians”
- “The Assur-Nineveh-Arbela Triangle: Central Assyria in the Neo-Assyrian Period”
- “After Eltekeh: Royal Hostages from Egypt at the Assyrian Court”
- “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Musasir, Kumme, Ukku and Šubria – the Buffer States between Assyria and Urartu”
- “Assyria and the Medes”
