D. J. Wiseman
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Donald John Wiseman (25 October 1918 – 2 February 2010) was a biblical scholar, archaeologist and
Assyriologist Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...
. He was Professor of Assyriology at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
from 1961 to 1982.


Early life and beliefs

Wiseman was born in
Emsworth Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, England, near the border of West Sussex and located at by the south coast of England. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet fr ...
, Hampshire in 1918. His father, Air Commodore P. J. Wiseman had travelled in the Middle East with the
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
and that had led to him writing a number of books on archaeology and the Bible. P. J. Wiseman formulated what is known as the
Wiseman hypothesis The Wiseman hypothesis, sometimes called the tablet theory, is a theory of the authorship and composition of the Book of Genesis which suggests that Moses compiled Genesis from tablets handed down through Abraham and the other patriarchs. Original ...
, which suggests that many passages used by Moses or other authors to compose the
Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
originated as histories and genealogies recorded in Mesopotamian cuneiform script on baked
clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets ( Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a sty ...
s, handed down through Abraham to later Hebrews. The Wiseman family belonged to the Plymouth Brethren.Martin J. Selman, "Donald J. Wiseman," in Walter A. Elwell and J. D. Weaver (eds.), ''Bible Interpreters of the 20th Century'' (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999) p. 300. Wiseman came under the influence of the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
, an evangelical Christian youth organisation, and professed faith at the age of nine, being baptised by full immersion in 1932. He taught himself the
Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewi ...
from the section headings of
Psalm 119 Psalm 119 is the 119th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord". The Book of Psalms is in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, the ' ...
. Martin Selman has pointed out that Wiseman was "first and foremost an
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
Christian" and that his vision was "based on a deep Christian conviction about the Bible's reliability and relevance." Selman suggests that Wiseman's "basic thesis" regarding the Old Testament was that "the Bible makes most sense when it is interpreted in the light of its own Near Eastern cultural context."Selman, p. 306.


War record

Wiseman served in the
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Initially serving as personal assistant to Air Vice-Marshal
Keith Park Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, (15 June 1892 – 6 February 1975) was a New Zealand-born officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). During the Second World War, his leadership of the RAF's No. 11 Group was pivotal to the Luftwaffe's defe ...
during the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
, he later transferred to
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
and in 1942 he became senior intelligence officer of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Forces and accompanied the First Army in the race for Tunis, providing General Alexander with daily briefings on German military planning. He finished the war as group captain, was twice mentioned in despatches and received an OBE and a
Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
. His citation recorded that "the intelligence material gathered through his selfless and earnest work" had enabled the Allied commanders to plan and launch the air operations which brought victory to the Allied armies in Italy.


Studies

Wiseman studied at
Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...
and King's College London, where he won the
McCaul McCaul, also spelt MacCawell is an Irish surname, derived from the Gaelic '' Mac Cathmhaoil'', meaning the "son of Cathmhaol", ''descendant of'' being implied. The name ''Cathmhaoil'' itself is derived from ''cath mhaol'' meaning "battle chief". ...
Hebrew prize. After World War II, he read Oriental Languages at
Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...
, studying Hebrew under
Godfrey Driver Sir Godfrey Rolles Driver (20 August 1892 – 22 April 1975), known as G. R. Driver, was an English Orientalist noted for his studies of Semitic languages and Assyriology.J. A. Emerton, 'Driver, Sir Godfrey Rolles (1892–1975)'. In ''Oxfo ...
and
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
under
Oliver Gurney Oliver Robert Gurney (28 January 1911 – 11 January 2001) was an English Assyriologist from the Gurney family and a leading scholar of the Hittites. Early life Gurney was born in London in 1911, the son of Robert Gurney, a zoologist, and a ...
and obtaining a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
degree. He joined the
Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union The Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, usually known as OICCU ( ), is the world's second oldest university Christian Union and is the University of Oxford's most prominent student Christian organisation. It was formed in 1879. Due to the ...
and became its president in 1947. He married Mary Ruoff in 1948, and they had three children.


Archaeological work

Wiseman worked for four years at the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
deciphering
cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...
tablets excavated by Leonard Woolley at
Alalakh Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Ag ...
in Syria. He also made several trips to
Nimrud Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
in modern-day
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, compiling a catalogue of the cuneiform tablets unearthed there. Wiseman served at different times as director, chairman, president of the
British School of Archaeology in Iraq The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) (formerly the British School of Archaeology in Iraq) is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia. It was founded in 1932 and its aim ...
, and editor of the school's journal, ''Iraq''. He was also a trustee of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, and a founding member of the British Institute in Amman for Archaeology and History.


Academic contributions


Ancient Near Eastern treaties

Wiseman published a suzerainty treaty that
Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of hi ...
had made with his
vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
s, and recognised the connection between this political treaty and
biblical covenants The Hebrew Bible makes reference to a number of covenants ( he, בְּרִיתוֹת) with God (YHWH). These include the Noahic Covenant (in Genesis), which is between God and all living creatures, as well as a number of more specific covenant ...
. In 1948, he presented a paper to the Society of Old Testament Study on the relationship between Old Testament treaties and those of the
Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
ns and
Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...
. Selman suggests that Wiseman anticipated "by some years an influential article by George Mendenhall, who is usually credited with establishing such a connection."


Abraham

Wiseman suggested that
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
be viewed as a
prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
or governor, rather than as a seminomad. Selman suggests that this perspective indicates "Wiseman's ability to approach a long-standing problem in a creative manner."


Nebuchadnezzar

From his work on Babylonian texts, Wiseman established the date of Nebuchadnezzar's first capture of Jerusalem as 15/16 March 597 BC.Selman, p. 302.


Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Wiseman questioned the traditional location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, suggesting that the site lay further west, by the river Euphrates, where the foundations of a massive tower had been discovered.


Identity of Darius the Mede

In 1957, Wiseman proposed the identification of
Darius the Mede Darius the Mede is mentioned in the Book of Daniel as king of Babylon between Belshazzar and Cyrus the Great, but he is not known to history, and no additional king can be placed between the known figures of Belshazzar and Cyrus. Most scholars v ...
in the
Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology ...
with Cyrus the Great. Daniel 6:28 says "So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian" (
NIV Niv may refer to: * Niv, a personal name; for people with the name, see * Niv Art Movies, a film production company of India * Niv Art Centre, in New Delhi, India NIV may refer to: * The New International Version, a translation of the Bible into ...
). This could also be translated, "So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, that is, the reign of Cyrus the Persian." Brian Coless suggests that in doing this Wiseman "cut the Gordian knot" of "the intractable problem of identifying King Darius the Mede."


Organisational involvement

Wiseman was Professor of Assyriology at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
from 1961 to 1982. On his retirement, he was made an honorary member of the
School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...
and elected a fellow of King's College London. He served as chairman of
Tyndale House Tyndale House is a Christian publisher in Carol Stream, Illinois. History Tyndale was founded in 1962 by Kenneth N. Taylor in order to publish his paraphrase of the Epistles, which he had composed while commuting to work at Moody Press in Ch ...
from 1957 to 1986 and president of the Society for Old Testament Studies. He had a variety of roles with the
Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) is a UK-based charity that was founded in 1928 as the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Evangelical Unions. UCCF's dual aims are: #To advance the evangelical Christian faith amongst students, gr ...
, including two terms as president, in 1965–66 and 1973–74. He was chairman of the Scripture Gift Mission from 1978 to 1992,Selman, p. 309. and served for a time on the New International Version Committee on Bible Translation. Wiseman also maintained a close connection with the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
organisation. He was leader of the class at Finchley, which included
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
. Richard has publicly spoken about the "significant role played by Crusader leaders in his early Christian journey."


Recognition

Wiseman was elected a fellow of the
British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...
in 1969 and served as vice-president in 1982 under Sir Isaiah Berlin. In 1983, he gave the Academy's Schweich Lecture on Biblical Archaeology, on the subject "Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon". In 1993, a ''
Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
'' was compiled in Wiseman's honour, and presented to him on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Contributors included
Kenneth Kitchen Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (born 1932) is a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Univ ...
, Alan Millard and Gordon Wenham.


Writings

Wiseman wrote a commentary on the 1 and 2 Kings (), and served as general editor of IVP's
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (or TOTC) is a series of commentaries in English on the Old Testament. It is published by the Inter-Varsity Press. Constantly being revised since its first being completed, the series seek to bridge the gap be ...
series. He was one of the editors of the ''New Bible Commentary'' and the ''New Bible Dictionary''. Selman notes that he wrote 152 articles in this latter work, since there were so few "evangelicals in the United Kingdom at that time qualified to write such material".Selman, p. 304.


Publications

A full bibliography of Wiseman's work, compiled by Robert Bradshaw, is availabl
here
*''The Alalakh Tablets'', Occasional Papers, No.2 (London: British School of Archaeology at Ankara, 1953) *''Chronicles of the Chaldean Kings (626–556 BC) in the British Museum'' (1956) *''The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon'' (1958) *''Illustrations from Biblical Archaeology'' (1958) *''Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament'' (1958) *''Peoples of Old Testament Times'' (1973) *''Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon'' (1985) *''1 and 2 Kings''
Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (or TOTC) is a series of commentaries in English on the Old Testament. It is published by the Inter-Varsity Press. Constantly being revised since its first being completed, the series seek to bridge the gap be ...
(1993) *''Life Above and Below'' (2003) *


References


External links

*Donald J. Wiseman,
Rahab of Jericho
''
Tyndale Bulletin The ''Tyndale Bulletin'' is an academic journal published by Tyndale House in Cambridge, England. The publication began life as ''The Tyndale House Bulletin'' in the Summer of 1956, edited by Tyndale House's Librarian Andrew Walls. Sixteen issues ...
'' 14 (1964): 8–11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiseman, Donald 1918 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British evangelicals Officers of the Order of the British Empire Academics of the University of London British biblical scholars People from Emsworth British Plymouth Brethren English evangelicals Christian Hebraists English orientalists Employees of the British Museum English Assyriologists English archaeologists People associated with SOAS University of London Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force officers Fellows of the British Academy Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London People educated at Dulwich College Bible commentators Old Testament scholars Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Assyriologists