DE BABYLONE AUX ROUTES DARABIE PORTRAIT

Béatrice André-Salvini was a leading figure in the field of Near Eastern archaeology, known for her transformative work at the Louvre, particularly the reorganisation of the Persian Achaemenid rooms and her stewardship of the museum's cuneiform tablet collection. A passionate scholar and curator, she was instrumental in landmark exhibitions such as The Birth of Writing, Babylon, and Roads of Arabia, and was deeply committed to safeguarding the heritage of the Middle East through UNESCO-led efforts. Her scholarly interests spanned from cuneiform and linear Elamite to Urartu, Ugarit, and the ancient kingdoms of Mesopotamia. Whether restoring Darius's palace at Susa or reinterpreting the Niobe sculpture on Mount Sipylos, her contributions left an indelible mark on the field.

This commemorative volume honours Béatrice's legacy through a collection of personal tributes and academic essays from colleagues and friends. It reflects the breadth of her work--from archaeological missions in Bahrain and interpretations of Urartian inscriptions to the conservation of clay tablets using innovative methods. Essays also highlight her philological achievements, including the decoding of rare trilingual Ugaritic texts and her dedication to the lives and work of pioneering Orientalists. More than a scholarly tribute, the book is a heartfelt homage to a life spent revealing and preserving the cultural wealth of the ancient Near East.

Pascal Butterlin is professor of archaeology of the ancient Near East at the University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne and director of the French archaeological excavations in Mari and Khorsabad.

Antoine Cavigneaux is Professor emeritus of the University of Geneva, and an expert in Akkadian and Sumerian literature and lexicography.

Mirjo Salvini is Director emeritus of the Istituto di studi sulle civiltà dell'Egeo e del Vicino Oriente (CNR, Roma) and an expert in urartology.

Nicole Chevalier is a former member of the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities of the Louvre Museum and an expert in the history of the French archaeological research in the Middle East.