Professor Nicholas Postgate | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Nicholas Postgate (1945-11-05)5 November 1945 (age 80) |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Winchester College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Ancient Near East |
| Institutions | SOAS, University of London University of Cambridge Trinity College, Cambridge British School of Archaeology in Iraq |
| Notable students | Wendy Matthews |
John Nicholas Postgate,FBA (born 5 November 1945)[1] is a British academic andAssyriologist. From 1975 to 1981, he was Director of theBritish School of Archaeology in Iraq. From 1994 to 2013, he was Professor of Assyriology at theUniversity of Cambridge. He is a fellow ofTrinity College, Cambridge.[2]
Postgate was born on 5 November 1945.[2] He is a member of thePostgate family. He was educated atWinchester College, a boyspublic school in Winchester, Hampshire, between 1959 and 1963.[2][3] He was a Collegeman, meaning he was a recipient of a scholarship.[3] He studied atTrinity College, Cambridge, and graduated from theUniversity of Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[2]
Postgate began his academic career as anassistant lecturer inAkkadian at theSOAS, University of London from 1967 to 1971.[4] He then returned to theUniversity of Cambridge, his alma mater, as afellow ofTrinity College from 1970 to 1974.[2] From 1972 to 1975, he was also deputy-director of theBritish School of Archaeology in Iraq. He was promoted in 1975, and served in the full-time role of Director from 1975 to 1981.[2]
In 1982, he returned to the University of Cambridge and once more became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[5] From 1982 to 1985, he was a university lecturer in the history and archaeology of theAncient Near East.[2] He was promoted toReader in Mesopotamian studies in 1985.[2] He was promoted to Professor of Assyriology in 1994.[4]
He undertookexcavations atAbu Salabikh, a Sumerian city in Iraq, from 1975 to 1989. Postgate andBahija Khalil, director of theIraq Museum, published "Texts in the Iraq Museum: Texts from Niniveh" in 1994.[6] From 1994 to 2013, he was the director of excavations atKilise Tepe, a Bronze and Iron Age site in Turkey.[7]
Postgate retired from full-time academia in 2013.[2]
Postgate married Carolyn Prater in 1968, with whom he had two children. Their marriage was dissolved in 1999. He remarried to Sarah Blakeney in 1999. They had three children.[1]
Postgate was electedFellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 1993.[4]
