Ernst Herzfeld

Ernst Emil Herzfeld ( born July 23, 1879 in Celle, † January 21, 1948 in Basel ) was a German Near Eastern archaeologist, orientalist and epigraphists. He was co-founder of the Near East and Islamic archeology, architecture and art history and founder of the Iranian archeology.

Life

Herzfeld was born as the son of the Prussian Upper medical officer Joseph Herzfeld (1836-1916), who came from the Province of Posen. His mother was Margaret Rosenthal ( 1853-1922 ).

He first visited the Domgymnasium in Verden on the Aller and the Joachimsthalsche Gymnasium in Berlin and completed one years military service. Then he took a degree in architecture at the Technical University in Berlin ( Charlottenburg) on (with a degree there in 1903 ). This was followed by studies of Assyriology and art history at the universities of Munich and Berlin.

As early as 1903 to 1906 he worked as an architect at the excavation Orientalist Friedrich Delitzsch and Walter Andrae at Assur. Then in 1907 he obtained his PhD with Eduard Meyer and Reinhard Kekulé von Stradonitz with the comprehensive only 32 pages dissertation Pasargadae. Recordings and investigations into the Persian archeology (Tübingen 1907). Even before his graduation, he undertook in 1905 /06 his first major trip to the Orient to Kurdistan, Luristan, Persepolis and Pasargadae. 1907/8, he traveled together with Friedrich Sarre into Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates. Your versatile findings led to the four -volume work Archaeological Travel in Euphrates and Tigris region ( 1911-1920 ).

Back in 1909 was the habilitation of Historical Geography at the Friedrich- Wilhelms- University of Berlin, and then taught there as a lecturer Herzfeld, 1917, to associate professor in 1918 then appointed professor of archeology of the Orient. In 1920 he became full professor of state and archeology of the Orient and Director of the Institute for Regional and archeology of the Orient.

Herzfeld devoted himself on his numerous expeditions now on the historical, topographical and archaeological research in the Middle East and became known mainly through the work carried out together with the art historian Friedrich Sarre 1911 to 1914 excavations in Samarra. Here he discovered among the Arab culture layer, a proto historic layer. According to her, then an entire stage of development of the Mesopotamian culture was named.

Herzfeld 1928 worked for six months in Pasargadae, supported by Friedrich Krefter, who was from then on for many years his assistant. 1931 bis 1934/35 he led the excavations of the University of Chicago Oriental Institute in Persepolis.

Early 1935 returned Herzfeld of these excavations to his chair back in Berlin, but was shortly afterwards suspended due to the Nazi racial laws, because his grandparents were Jewish faith, and retired forcibly out of the Prussian university service. Herzfeld returned from his next excavation campaign in Persepolis therefore no longer in his native Germany back, but after a short stay in England, emigrated to the United States. In 1936 Herzfeld was while he was living in London, was appointed professor at the renowned Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he taught until his retirement in 1944. At the same time, he took a teaching position at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

After the 2nd World War Herzfeld traveled again to the Middle East. In Cairo, he fell ill and died at the end of 1947 severely January 21, 1948 in Basel. He was buried in the cemetery at the elbow macaroni.

Herzfeld was, inter alia, a member of the Royal Asiatic Society, the British Academy, the Instituut Kern ( Leiden), the Académie Arabe de Damas, the Medieval Academy of America and the Archaeological Survey of India.

Work

Although many have already been criticized by Herzfeld's theses by contemporaries and today are considered to be overhauled, he acquired at the same time undeniably great contributions to the study of the ancient Near East.

His international reputation founded primarily on his extensive knowledge of languages and his explorations of numerous ruins and his excavations, about 1911-1913 in Samarra and 1931-1934 the residence Persepolis. His main areas of research included Orientalist philological, historical, archaeological and architectural studies, especially for stone, copper and bronze ages in Iraq and Iran, the cultures of the Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians and Achaemenids. In addition, he devoted himself fully Parthian and Sasanian problems of archeology, the genesis of Islamic art, Islamic architecture, epigraphy and numismatics of the Achaemenid, Sassanid and Islamic times.

By the year 1921, Herzfeld focused on the emergence of Islamic Art and examined their uniqueness and originality; while he looked well first not only the purely art historical and formal aspects. Rather, were the historical and ecological conditions in the foreground, ie the ratio between man and his environment for him. Among his most important works can be one to this day often cited essay of 1910, The Genesis of Islamic Art and the Mshatta problem.

Herzfeld was strongly influenced

So he took some kind of a deterministic position, according to which the conquered countries, expectant Art of Islam ' ( as Herzfeld himself) would have anticipated. However, his studies were based on only a few original findings. It must also be borne in mind that the Orient was only re-discovered in his time.

Herzfeld basic operation and extensive field research in Cilicia, traveled to India in 1908, Syria (1908, 1910 and 1914), Paikuli and Kurdistan (1910, 1913 and 1923), Turkey and Iran ( 1916-17 ), Afghanistan (1924 ) and again in Iran ( 1923-35 ). In 1908 Herzfeld was able to prove due to the archaeological and historical realities of the ancient Persian art that the representation of the sculptures and the Palace belonging to the time Pasargadae Cyrus II. All other monuments he dated to this time.

1924 Herzfeld discovered high above the River Fahlian the most important altelamische rock art work of Kurangan on the ancient military road Susa - Persepolis, the BC Alexander the Great used 330 on the way to southern Iran. The now highly weathered rock relief, a place of worship, located near the village of Setolan between Basht and Nurabad and was carved into the rock of a mountain top. It shows a train of worshipers ( procession ), which is however not completely preserved ( dated to about 2000 BC).

1931-1934 led Herzfeld for the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, one of the major research universities in the ancient Near East, the major excavations in Persepolis Achaemenid residence, which had already been described European travelers of the 18th and 19th centuries. But Herzfeld was the first to systematically explored here has a spacious terrace system.

Less extensive excavations directed Herzfeld in Cilicia ( Ayathekla and Korykos ) ( 1907) and Pasargadae (1928 ). In Kurdistan Herzfeld discovered some rock tombs, which he attributed to the Median princes.

Herzfeld also became familiar with the Urartians and the classification of their art work. He was of the opinion that the Urartian craftsmanship of yesteryear global significance was. Herzfeld found in Assyrian art, especially metallurgy, many of the Urartian related traits that other scientists such as the famous American archaeologist Henri Frankfort (1897-1954) interpreted as Assyrian. For him, the Urartian art was only a provincial variety of Assyrian art.

Discount

The huge estate (approximately 30,000 documents, including letters, diaries, photo shoot, excavation diaries ) by Ernst Herzfeld located since 1946 in the archives of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Documents are also in the Oriental Institute in Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of New York and Berlin. The archive in the Freer Gallery includes, inter alia, also provide all documents to Herzfeld 's excavations at Samarra, Pasargadae and Persepolis.

Writings

Pasargadae. Studies on the Persian archeology. In: Clio. Vol 8, 1908, pp. 1-68 (online).
Samarra. Recordings and studies on Islamic archeology. Behrend & Co., Berlin, 1907 (online).
A journey through Luristan, Arabistān and Fārs. In: Dr. A. Petermann's releases from Justus Perthes ' Geographical Institute. Vol 53, 1907, ZDB - ID 205966-6, pp. 49-63 and pp. 73-90.
With Friedrich Sarre: Iranian rock reliefs. Recordings and studies of monuments of Old and Middle Persian period. 2 vols. Wasmuth, Berlin, 1910.
With Friedrich Sarre: Archaeological travel in the Euphrates - Tigris region ( = research on Islamic art vol 1, 1-4, ZDB - ID 538766-8. ). 4 volumes. Reimer, Berlin 1911-1920.
First preliminary report on the excavations at Samarra. Issued by the General Administration of the Royal Museums. With a foreword by Friedrich Sarre. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin, 1912.
At the gate of Asia. Rock monuments from Iran's hero time. Dietrich Reimer et al, Berlin 1920.
The wall decoration of buildings of Samarra and its ornamentation ( = research on Islamic art. 2 Bd, 1 = The ruins of Samarra. Vol. 1). Dietrich Reimer, Berlin, 1923.
Paikuli. Monument and Inscription of the Early History of the Sasanian Empire ( = research on Islamic art. Vol. 3, 1-2). 2 vols. Dietrich Reimer et al, Berlin 1924.
The paintings of Samarra ( = research on Islamic art. Vol. 2, 3 = The ruins of Samarra. Vol. 3). Dietrich Reimer, Berlin, 1927.
The prehistoric pottery of Samarra ( = research on Islamic art. Vol. 2, 5 = Excavation of Samarra. Vol. 5). Dietrich Reimer, Berlin, 1930.
With Samuel Guyer: Meriamlik and Korykos. Two Christian ruins of the rough Cilicia ( = Monumenta Asiae Minoris antiqua. Vol. 2 = Publications of the American Society for Archaeological Research in Asia Minor. Vol. 2, ZDB - ID 972862-4 ). Longmans, Green & Co, London et al 1930.
A New Inscription of Xerxes from Persepolis ( = Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization. Vol. 5, ISSN 0081-7554 ). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL 1932 ( online).
As editor: Iranian monuments. Row 1: Prehistoric monuments. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 1932-1933; Delivery 1 = Band A: Temporal Stone Hill at Persepolis. Part 1 in 1932;
2 = Delivery Band A: Temporal Stone Hill at Persepolis. Part 2 in 1932;
Delivery within 3 /4 = Band B: Niphauanda. Part 1, 1933.

Princeton (New Jersey) Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland History of the Assyrian people Alois Riegl Corycus Richard Ettinghausen Neue Deutsche Biographie Integrated Authority File

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