When a Roman general, manipulated by a necromancer, decides to awaken an ancient plague, enemy clans must join forces to save the world as they know it. Scotland, 2nd century AD. The Roman conquest stopped at Antonine's wall; beyond it lay the lands of the Gaels, and even further north, the wild hills of the Pictish people. When a Roman general, manipulated by a necromancer, decides to awaken an ancient plague and unleash it on the north, Cormak Mac Fianna, the last king of the Picts, unites his tribes to fight. But compared with the unstoppable Shadows from the ancient island of Thulé, their power pales and yesterday's enemies must join forces. For everyone, from the child to the king, from the scholar to the warrior, will have to fight against these titanic forces in a final battle for the survival of their world.

Études Mesopotemiennes 2 is in two parts. The first part corresponds to the proceedings of a colloquium organised by Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault. Its aim was to explore the crisis of the State and the Monarchy between the 13th and 10th centuries in northern Mesopotamia and Syria from archaeological, textual and iconographic sources. The second part is dedicated to archaeological and textual studies from three archaeological sites that are currently being excavated in Iraqi Kurdistan : Qasr Shemamoq, Kilik Mishik and Kunara.

In July, 2009, the International Association for Assyriology met in Paris, France, for 5 days to deliver and listen to papers on the theme “La famille dans le Proche-Orient.� This volume, the proceedings of the conference, contains 53 of the papers read at the 55th annual Rencontre, including primarily papers directly connected with the theme and some on areas of related interest. The papers covered every period of Mesopotamian history, from the third millennium through the end of the first millennium B.C.E. The photo on the back cover shows only a representative portion of the attendees, who were warmly hosted by faculty and students from the Collège de France.