28th Melammu Workshop:
The Flood Story in Mesopotamia and Beyond
On the Occasion of the 150th Anniversary of George Smith’s Publication of the Flood Tablet
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Rectorate, Hall 1
7 November 2026
The 28th Melammu Workshop entitled “The Flood Story in Mesopotamia and Beyond. On the Occasion of the 150th Anniversary of George Smith’s Publication of the Flood Tablet” will take place on the 7th of November 2026 at Hall 1 of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski’s main building (located at 15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., Sofia 1504). The event is organised by Dr. Zozan Tarhan (Faculty of History, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski) and supported by The Melammu Project, University of Innsbruck, Forum Novum Foundation and the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia.
In 1876, George Smith finished a manuscript, which was published the same year, before what would turn out to be his final departure to the Orient. This book contained his greatest discovery, made in November of 1872: a Mesopotamian version of the Flood story, which closely paralleled the story known from the Old Testament. G. Smith chose to publish the Flood story not in isolation, but side by side with other texts from cuneiform tablets, which he considered to be part of a narrative complex that he called “The Chaldean Account of Genesis.” This Melammu Workshop celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of this trailblazing book by discussing its history and methodology, and by further pursuing lines of research that G. Smith defined 150 years ago, namely the comparative study of the Flood myth.
For more details, see the attached programme.
