TheZeitschrift für Orientarchäologie(ZOrA) is a yearbook produced by the Orient Department of the German Archeological Institute (Orient-Abteilung des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts), and has been publishedannually since 2008. ZOrA contains detailed and fundamental contributions on recent international research in the field of the archaeology of the Levant, Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula. With the first publicationof ZOrA the production of theotherregional periodicals of the Orient Department (i.e. Baghdader Mitteilungen and Damaszener Mitteilungen) has been terminated.

Between 1931 and 1939, Arnold Nöldeke directed the German excavations at Uruk-Warka in southern Iraq, which are now under the direction of the German Archaeological Institute. Uruk-Warka, one of the earliest cities in Mesopotamia, was occupied without interruption between the 5th millennium BC and ca. 300 AD, and is the setting of several Sumerian legends and epics, the most famous of which is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Nöldeke’s letters to his family do not deal with scholarly research; instead, they recount the everyday life on an archaeological excavation and some socio-political events. Notes on the latter are especially interesting and important against the backdrop of an increasingly Nazist German state.

The series: Topoi. Berlin Studies of the Ancient World brings together contributions from all fields of classical studies, from pre- and early history and classical archeology to ancient philosophy, theory of science and theology. Monographs and volumes which present the research results of the Excellence Cluster Topoi form a major focus of the series. Additional topics are currently being planned.