Mogens Trolle Larsen
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Temple Hall
How does an academic discipline develop? The study of the Old Assyrian evidence has a long history, since the first texts were published in 1881, but the field was long beset with neglect, misunderstandings and even personal animosities. Conflicting interpretations of the most fundamental aspects of the evidence long stood in the way of real progress, and the Old Assyrian texts were seen as strange and difficult and somehow outside the “normal” corpus of cuneiform documents. I shall present a personal view of the scholarly process that has led to a new understanding, one where scholars in several countries have contributed, with Klaas Veenhof as a central figure.
Prof. Dr Mogens Trolle Larsen is Associate Professor Emeritus of Assyriology at the University of Copenhagen.
The Veenhof Lecture 2026 will be held as a hybrid event. Please join us!
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Image: Clay tablet from Kültepe (ancient Kanesh) in Turkey; Old Assyrian text (© Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara, inv.no. kt 94/k 896).
The Veenhof Lecture is organized every November by the Netherlands Institute for the Near East in cooperation with the National Museum of Antiquities. Named after Prof. K.R. Veenhof (1935-2023) and honouring his contributions to Assyriology, the annual lecture is aimed at colleagues and students, as well as a broader public. The speaker is an internationally renowned scholar. All are welcome to attend the lecture.
De Veenhof-lezing werd in mei 2002 in het leven geroepen, naar aanleiding van het afscheid van professor Klaas Veenhof (1935-2023) als hoogleraar talen en geschiedenis van Babylonië en Assyrië aan de Universiteit Leiden. De lezing wordt jaarlijks georganiseerd door het NINO i.s.m. het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Alle geïnteresseerden zijn van harte uitgenodigd.
Spreker: prof. dr. Mogens Trolle Larsen, emeritus universitair hoofddocent Assyriologie aan de Universiteit van Kopenhagen.