Biography

Annunziata Rositani is Associate Professor of Assyriology at the University of Messina. Her research focuses on the economic, legal, and social structures of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations, with particular emphasis on the Old Babylonian period. She has edited and published several previously unpublished cuneiform texts from the British Museum and is the author of four monographs and over forty scholarly contributions, including journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Among her most notable works are Rīm-Anum Texts in the British Museum (NISABA 4, Messina 2003) and Harvest Texts in the British Museum (Rome 2011).  She is currently Principal Investigator for the University of Messina's research unit within the PRIN 2022 project "Synchronized with Nature. Measuring Time in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia: Archaeological and Textual Evidence". Within this framework, her work focuses on the use of calendars in the Old Babylonian period as tools of political and cultural expansion, the relationship between time and ritual – especially concerning women – and the role of time measurement in agriculture and the economy. She is also Scientific Director of the NISABA and SUD series (DICAM Department, University of Messina), Erasmus coordinator for the degree program in Humanities, and a member of the PhD board in Humanities at the University of Messina. More recently, her research has expanded to include wisdom and popular literature in ancient Mesopotamia. This is reflected in her 2021 monograph "La letteratura sapienziale dell’antica Mesopotamia" (Mondadori, Le Monnier Università), as well as in several articles and book chapters. She has also explored representations of women in the ancient Near East through the lens of wisdom texts, in comparison with legal and administrative sources.

Project Abstract

The measurement of time has always represented a fascinating aspect of the relationship between humans and the surrounding world. From observing plant cycles and celestial phenomena, ancient peoples developed systems to divide time into hours, days, months, and years. Agricultural calendars gradually incorporated festivals related to the vegetative cycle and religious observances, and in certain historical contexts evolved into imperial calendars – tools of centralized power and expressions of conquest and cultural dominance.

In ancient Mesopotamia, time was measured according to both lunar and solar observations, resulting in a lunisolar calendar composed of twelve months of 29 or 30 days, with the periodic addition of intercalary months to align with the natural cycle. Alongside this, a more rigid administrative calendar was used for economic and bureaucratic purposes. The names of the months varied depending on the calendar's function – whether cultic, political, religious, or agricultural – reflecting its underlying rationale. Time regulated not only agricultural activities but also the human life cycle, marked by important rites of passage, many of which are documented in cuneiform sources. 

Mesopotamian literature gives great importance to time and astronomical observation, both in mythological texts and in technical writings such as Astronomical Diaries and Astrolabes. Over time, the calendar also became a political instrument: the imposition of the conqueror’s calendar on newly acquired territories functioned as a means of control and created chronological turning points in local textual traditions.

Year-reckoning systems differed widely by region and period, requiring synchronization methods to establish coherent chronological frameworks. Astronomical and natural events often served as fixed points within internal dating systems, providing crucial reference markers for reconstructing the relative and absolute chronology of reigns and historical developments.

Selected Publications

Forthcoming. "Time Subdivision in the Old Babylonian Period: Ceremonial, Agricultural and Political Aspects", paper presented at the International Conference: The Wheels of Universe. Measuring Time, Observing Nature in Ancient Near East and Beyond, 9.12.2024, DICAM, University of Messina.

Forthcoming. "Measuring of Time as an Instrument of Cultural and Linguistic Transmission in the Old Babylonian Period", paper presented at the International Workshop: Archaeology of Texts, 5.6.2024, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague.

Forthcoming. "Time in Women’s Rituals and Etiquette", paper presented at the International Conference: The Meeting Etiquette in the Middle East: Continuity and Change (GALATEO MSCA-IF-GF), 9.5.2024, DICAM, University of Messina.

2024. "The Status of War Prisoners at Uruk in the Old Babylonian Period." Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History: 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1515/janeh-2024-0020.

2023. "‘Death certificates’ in the bīt asīrī: New texts from the British Museum.” Akkadica 144: 17-48.