James Henry Breasted . American Egyptologist, archaeologist, and historian. Specialized in the archeology of Ancient Egypt , he contributed notably to a better knowledge of Egyptian civilization.
Summary
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- 1 Biographical Synthesis
- 1 Education
- 2 Trajectory
- 3 Publications
- 4 Death
- 2 Sources
Biographical Synthesis
Education
He was educated at North Central College at the Chicago Theological Seminary , Yale University, and the University of Berlin . He was also the first American citizen to obtain a degree in Egyptology .
Trajectory
In 1894 he was appointed Professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago , where he remained until his retirement. In 1900 he returned to Germany to collaborate in the writing of the first dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphs, and between 1905 and 1907 he carried out expeditions to copy inscriptions of monuments hitherto unpublished.
Publications
The results of this work were published in Ancient Records of Egypt ( 1907 ), an extensive five-volume work.
In 1903 he wrote The Battle of Kadesh, about the mythical campaign of Pharaoh Ramses II against the Hittites. Among his most significant works are a History of Egypt ( 1905 ), The Monuments of Sudanese Nubia ( 1908 ), the result of an expedition to the Sudan , Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt ( 1912 ), Ancient Times ( 1916 ), on the pre-Hellenic period, The Conquest of Civilization ( 1926 ), an informative work that was very successful, andEdwin Smith’s Surgical Papyrus ( 1930 ), considered by him the first scientific treatise in history. In 1915 he was appointed Head of the Department of Oriental Languages and in 1919 created the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago , of which he was its first director. This institution became the main center for research on the ancient civilizations of Greece and the Middle East: with the financial help of Rockefeller Jr., excavations were organized in emblematic centers ( Meggido , Persepolis ) which resulted in important finds.
Death
The 2 of December of 1935 died suffering from pneumonia, to return from a trip to Egypt . His grave , in Greenwood Cemetery , Rockford in Illinois , is dominated by a large marble obelisk, a gift from the Egyptian government.
