Giacomo De Punzio received his BA in History and Social Sciences from the University of Bari in 2022 and his MA in Studies on ancient Egypt, Near and Middle East from the University of Pisa (110/110 cum laude) in 2026. His academic training focuses on the languages and literature of ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumerian and Akkadian, adopting a philological approach as a methodological foundation for the historical and cultural study of Mesopotamian civilization. His research interests include the history, religion, and literature of ancient Mesopotamia, with particular attention to narrative texts and the social contexts reflected in them.

In autumn 2025, he participated in an archaeological excavation in the Rania Plain (Iraqi Kurdistan) conducted by the University of Pisa, gaining field experience in the material culture of the ancient Near East.

Governing Water: Legal Practice and Water Management in Southern Mesopotamia

My doctoral research focuses on water law and management in ancient Mesopotamia, from the Ur III to the Old Babylonian period, as documented in a wide range of administrative and legal sources, including law collections, contracts, archival records, and inscriptions. Together, these sources enable a detailed examination of ownership, exploitation, maintenance, and liability in relation to canals, irrigation systems, and water distribution.

The project aims to investigate how these practices were regulated, enforced, and embedded within broader social and economic structures in both urban and rural contexts. Through a close philological and contextual analysis of cuneiform sources in Sumerian and Akkadian, I seek to reconstruct the practical and institutional frameworks governing water rights and water law, and to explore their implications for social hierarchies, economic interactions, and institutional organization.

By comparing selected archives from the Ur III and Old Babylonian periods in southern Mesopotamia, the study will highlight both continuities and transformations in the legal and administrative treatment of water resources, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the development of governance in early Mesopotamia.

By integrating textual evidence with archaeological and hydrological research, particularly through potential collaboration within the HyMes project, the study aims to provide a comprehensive account of water management as a central component of political and economic life. While previous scholarship has addressed specific aspects of Mesopotamian water management and water rights, a systematic study linking legal, administrative, and socio-economic dimensions is still lacking. This project therefore seeks to offer an integrated perspective, demonstrating how a philological approach can illuminate broader social and institutional dynamics in ancient Mesopotamia.