Céline Debourse

Céline Debourse is an Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC). She serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies and is a member of the RITM study group. Her work focuses on Assyriology, specializing in the languages, history, and religion of Babylonia during the first millennium BCE, with particular attention to the impact of foreign imperial rule (Persian, Hellenistic, Parthian) on Babylonian priestly identity and ritual practices. Her research integrates rigorous philology, historical criticism, and sociological theories to explore themes like the agency of ritual texts and the evolution of priestly literature under foreign domination.

Debourse's major publications include Of Priests and Kings: The Babylonian New Year Festival in the Last Age of Cuneiform Culture (2022) and co-edited volumes such as Ceremonies, Feasts, and Festivities in Ancient Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean World (2023). Her current projects include Babylon Beyond Cuneiform: Reimagining the End of a Culture (331 BCE–224 CE), analyzing Babylon’s post-cuneiform history from a comparative perspective.

Her research emphasizes Late Babylonian Priestly Literature as a response to cultural displacement, examining how ritual texts like those of the New Year Festival redefined priestly authority in the absence of local kings. She also investigates the textualization of ritual in comparative contexts, linking Babylonian practices to Hebrew Bible traditions.

Debourse actively engages in academic leadership, co-organizing workshops on topics such as ritual power dynamics and priestly literatures. Her contributions span peer-reviewed articles, conference presentations, and scholarly reviews, reflecting her commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue on ancient Near Eastern studies.