The emerging scholars pursuing new research on the ancient world.
Cuneiform Studies; Akkadian; Sumerian; Mesopotamian Culture; Literature; Magic; Ritual; Divination; History of Science
Nicholas is a Canadian Sumerologist who focuses on magic, literature, and scholarship, especially in the early periods of Mesopotamian history. After studying Classics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Nicholas completed a MA and a PhD in Assyriology at Johns Hopkins University and graduated with a dissertation focusing on the Sumerian and Akkadian incantations dating to the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2003–1595 BCE). Before joining ISAC, Nicholas won an Italian research fellowship and joined the Programma Nazionale di Ricerca e Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale project “Mapping and Annotating Plots (MAP): The Multimodality of Cadastral Plans in Antiquity (Babylonia and Rome)” based at Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia. During his time in Venice, Nicholas edited Late Babylonian and Achaemenid period documents featuring field plans alongside Paola Corò and her team while continuing to pursue his own research. In line with his specialization in ancient magic and ritual, Nicholas co-organized the inaugural “Current Research on Mesopotamian Magic” workshop of the 70th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale held at Prague in July 2025 and regularly collaborates with the MagEIA project of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. At Chicago, Nicholas works as part of the Nippur Tablet Project with Susanne Paulus and the Tablet Collection team to research and publish the inscribed materials of the Tablet Collection, as well as catalogue and digitize cuneiform tablets. He is additionally involved in the development of ISAC’s planned Nippur Tablet Project website and regularly teaches Akkadian courses focusing on a wide array of genres, dialects, and historical periods.
The Nippur Tablet Project researches, digitizes, and publishes inscribed materials from ISAC’s excavations at Nippur, reconnecting tablets with their archaeological contexts and supporting new…
This course is the third quarter of the annual introductory sequence to the Babylonian language and the cuneiform script. After covering the grammar in the first two quarters, students will further their mastering of the classical and late Old Babylonian dialects of Akkadian and the associated monumental and cursive scripts by reading through a variety of text genres, including letters, royal inscriptions, legal texts, and excerpts of literature.
The Babylonian literary text known as Ishtar’s Descent to the Netherworld offers one of the most detailed accounts about Mesopotamian conceptions of the afterlife. Throughout this course, we will read the composition together and explore various aspects of it, including but not limited to the gods of the underworld, the role of humanity in life and death, and the relationship of this Babylonian composition with earlier Sumerian works of literature. In addition to gaining experience with the Standard Babylonian dialect, participants will enhance their knowledge of the cuneiform writing system and reinforce their grammatical knowledge of Akkadian. This course will also provide a review of essential resources for Assyriological research and help prepare students for advanced Akkadian courses.
