Paul A. Delnero

Paul A. Delnero is a Professor of Assyriology in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), affiliated with the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. He joined JHU in 2008 after earning his PhD in Assyriology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006. His research focuses on Mesopotamian religion, ritual practices, scribal education, and the material and social dimensions of cuneiform texts.

His major works include The Textual Criticism of Sumerian Literature (2012), analyzing cultural transmission through textual variants, and How to Do Things with Tears (2020), examining ritual lamenting as a disaster-averting practice. He co-edited Texts and Contexts (2015), exploring the social role of ancient Near Eastern texts. Current projects include a book on Mesopotamian handwriting pedagogy.

His research spans Sumerian mythology, ritual language, scribal education, and the materiality of textual archives. He frequently presents at academic conferences and contributes to archaeological initiatives like the Kurdistan Excavations and Umm el-Marra projects.