OPCA 2025 Opening Keynote Speaker Announcement!

We’re delighted to announce the first of our two keynote speakers for this year’s OPCA conference! The opening keynote will be delivered by Parsa Daneshmand (Wolfson College, University of Oxford). The talk is entitled ‘Anarchy in Ancient Mesopotamia: Family Structures and Political Dynamics’. 

Here is the abstract for the talk:

Ancient Mesopotamia, often celebrated as the birthplace of kingship, is frequently perceived as a land dominated by powerful rulers and obedient subjects. This view, however, overlooks the region's vibrant history of revolts, rebellions, and uprisings, challenging conventional understandings of Mesopotamian political systems. This talk examines the socio-political fabric of Mesopotamia through the lens of anthropological models of family structures. By analysing the interplay between family organisation and broader political dynamics, it offers an introduction to the underlying factors that made Mesopotamia prone to significant episodes of social unrest. Weak states, shaped by family structures, emerge as a critical element in understanding these dynamics. Drawing on examples of rebellion and typologies of family systems, I argue that Mesopotamian society was not a monolithic construct of authoritarianism but a dynamic interplay of political forces influenced by family structures. This perspective proposes new avenues for understanding state fragility and resistance in ancient Mesopotamia, with broader implications for comparative studies of governance and social organisation.

And now, a bit more about the speaker:

Parsa Daneshmand is an Assyriologist specialising in the cuneiform texts and cultures of the ancient Near East, with a particular focus on Mesopotamian divination and society. He earned his PhD in Cuneiform Studies from the University of Oxford. Daneshmand’s research primarily explores divination as a method of decision-making in the ancient Near East, the function of councils and assemblies in Mesopotamian cities, and the processes of consensus-based decision-making in ancient societies.

Parsa’s talk will start off our conference, on the morning of March 17! Looking forward to seeing you there (whether in person or virtually)!