Dutch Symposium of the Ancient Near East 2026: ‘Rising from the ashes’ – 16 April 2026

Date: 16 April 2026

Location: Trajanuszaal, National Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden), at Rapenburg 28, 2311 EW Leiden

Credits: 1 ECT

The Dutch Symposium of the Ancient Near East (DUSANE) 2026 is collaborative effort between Nabu Na’id, a subgroup of the L.A.S. Terra archaeology study association, and Pleyte, the study association for Ancient Near Eastern studies, to platform ongoing research into the culture, languages and archaeology of ancient West Asia.

This year’s theme ‘To rise from the ashes’ discusses the continuous response, adaptation and (re)emergence of societies throughout time, through a wide diversity of topics, methods and disciplines, as demonstrated by the speakers. The symposium aims to bring together the research community on ancient West Asia, from established scholars to beginning students, and from various universities. Through the lectures and adjourning discussions, we hope to encourage participants to engage with the speakers and each other, to further your research topic of interest.

For more detailed information and updates, please make sure to follow the symposium Instagram.

Schedule

10:30 – Opening address
10:40 – dr. Daniel Soliman – A new horizon? Re-evaluating evidence for Deir el-Medina necropolis workmen at Amarna
11:10 – Jack Tillman, MA – Life crisis and the ritual dynamics of death in Chalcolithic Cyprus
11:40 – Break
12:00 – Erwin Dijkstra, MA – Disaster stories: how local narratives may have influencecd the ancient reactions to ecological calamity
12:30 – dr. Anne Goddeeris – Who attends school in Old Babylonian Nippur?
13:00 – dr. Mirko Surdi – The stylus always leaves evidence: a forensic approach to cuneiform
13:30 – Lunch
14:30 – dr. Shana Zaia – Conceptualizing and coping with collapse in ancient Mesopotamia
15:00 – dr. Nico Staring – From Memphis to Amarna and back again
15:30 – Lauren van Kruijssen, MA – Reviving the past: archaism in Late Period Egypt
16:00 – Reception at café de Keyzer

Registration: Advance registration not needed. Please be aware that regular entrance fees for the National Museum of Antiquities will apply.

Online participation: A livestream link to the event will be shared through the website of study association L.A.S. Terra and the Dusane Instagram account on the day of the conference. Please keep an eye on these pages if you wish to attend the conference remotely.

Credits: ARCHON members can receive 1 ECT for attending the conference (either online or in-person) and handing in a reflection report afterwards. Please send the report to secretary@archonline.nl within a month after the event.