Judah Benzion "Ben" Segal, FBA (21 June 1912 – 23 October 2003,

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

) was Professor of

Semitic Languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...

at 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 ...

. His father was Professor

Moshe Zvi Segal Moshe Zvi (Hirsch) Segal (Hebrew: משה צבי סגל) (born 23 September 1875; died 11 January 1968) was an Israeli rabbi, linguist and Talmudic scholar. Biography Segal was born in Maishad, Lithuania in 1875. In 1896, he moved with his fami ...

and his brother was the doctor and Labour Party politician Samuel Segal. He had two daughters; one is Prof. Naomi Segal.

Education

* Magdalen College School, Oxford *

St. Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

. Jarrett Scholar, 1932; John Stewart of Rannoch Scholar in Hebrew, 1933; 1st Class Oriental Langs Tripos, 1935; Tyrwhitt Scholar and Mason Prizeman, 1936. BA (Cambridge), 1935, MA 1938; DPhil (Oxford) 1939. * Colours, Cambridge University Boxing Club, 1935, 1936.

Career

* Mansel Research Exhibitioner, St. John's College, Oxford, 1936–39; James Mew Scholar, 1937. * Deputy Assistant Director, Public Security, Sudan Government, 1939–41 * Served 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 ...

, GHQ, MEF, 1942–44, Captain; Education Officer, British Military Administration, Tripolitania, 1945–46. He was awarded a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

in 1942. * School of Oriental and African Studies from 1946; Head of Department of Near and Middle East, 1961–68; Professor 1961–79, then

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

; Honorary Fellow 1983. * Visiting Lecturer, Ain Shams University,

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

, 1979 * Research Fellow,

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, 1980 * Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship, South India, 1981

Involvement in Jewish community

* Principal,

Leo Baeck College Leo Baeck College is a privately funded rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education. Based now at the Sternberg Centre, East End Road, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet, it was founded by Werner van ...

, 1982–85; President, 1985-2003 * Member,

Council of Christians and Jews The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) is a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom. It is composed of Christians and Jews working together to counter anti-semitism and other forms of intolerance in Britain. Their patron was Queen Elizabet ...

* President: North Western Reform Synagogue * President: British Association for Jewish Studies, 1980 * Vice-president, Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, 1985–91

Honours

* 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 ...

, 1968 * Freedom, City of Urfa, Turkey, 1973

Publications

* ''The Diacritical Point and the Accents in Syriac'', 1953 * ''The Hebrew Passover'', 1963 * ''The Sabian Mysteries. The planet cult of ancient Harran, Vanished Civilizations'', 1963 * ''Edessa, 'the blessed city, 1970 * ''Aramaic Texts From North Saqqara'', 1983 * ''A History of the Jews of Cochin'', 1993 * ''Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum'', 2000 * ''Whisper Awhile'', 2000 * Articles in learned periodicals. 1912 births 2003 deaths People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II Linguists from the United Kingdom British Jews Fellows of the British Academy Recipients of the Military Cross Syriacists People associated with Leo Baeck College Burials at Golders Green Jewish Cemetery 20th-century linguists {{UK-linguist-stub