René Dussaud (; December 24, 1868 – March 17, 1958) was a French Orientalist, archaeologist, and

epigrapher Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. Among his major works are studies on the religion of the

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 ...

, the Hurrians, the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

ns and the Syriacs. He became curator of the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities at the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

and a member of the ''

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

''. One notable student was pioneering Jewish archaeologist

Judith Marquet-Krause Judith Marquet-Krause, ()‎ (1906 – 1 July 1936) was a Jewish archaeologist, who was a pioneer in the archaeology of Israel and one of the first archaeologists born there. She led excavations at Et-Tell , where the Canaanite city of Ai wa ...

. Dussaud is known for his support for the theory of the origin of the

Semitic alphabet The history of the alphabet goes back to the conwriting system used for Semitic languages in the Levant in the 2nd millennium BCE. Most or nearly all alphabetic scripts used throughout the world today ultimately go back to this Semitic proto-alpha ...

and for him being the leader of the French excavations in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and one of the founders of the archaeology journal ''Syria''. He has been described as "a director of archaeological awareness".

Glozel controversy

In the late 1920s and at the time René Dussaud was curator at the Louvre, the

Glozel The Glozel artifacts are a collection of over 3,000 artifacts, including clay tablets, sculptures and vases, some of which were inscribed, discovered from 1924 to 1930 in the vicinity of French hamlet of Glozel. Glozel () is part of the commun ...

affair was a subject of heated controversy. Claude and Émile Fradin who made the discovery of an underground chamber in March 1924 were accused by Dussaud in December 1927 of forgery, after reports suggested that the site with the exception of some pieces was fake. The Fradins filed lawsuit for defamation against Dussaud in January 1928, and Dussaud was convicted of defamation in a trial in 1932.

Bibliography

René Dussaud's books include: * ''La pénétration des Arabes en Syrie avant l'Islam''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1955) * ''Prélydiens hittites et achéens''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1953) * ''L'art phénicien du II^e millénaire''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1949) * ''Les religions des Hittites et des Hourrites des Phéniciens et des Syriens''. (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1945; together with

Édouard Dhorme Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne ( ...

's book ''Les religions de Babylonie et d'Assyrie'') * ''Les découvertes de Ras Shamra (Ugarit) et l'Ancien Testament''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1941) * ''Mélanges syriens offerts à monsieur René Dussaud : secrétaire perpétuel de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1939) * ''La Syrie antique et médiévale illustrée''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1931) * ''Topographie historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1927) * ''Autour des Inscriptions de Glozel''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1927) * ''Les origines cananéennes du sacrifice israélite''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1921) * ''Le Cantique des cantiques : Essai de reconstitution des sources du poème à Salomon''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1919) * ''Introduction à l'histoire des religions''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1914) * ''Le Sacrifice en Israel et chez les Phéniciens''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1914) * ''Les civilisations préhelléniques dans le bassin de la mer Égée''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1914) * ''Conférences en 1912''. (Paris, 1912) * ''Les monuments Palestiniens et Judaïques (Moab, Judée, Philistie, Samarie, Galilée)''. (Paris, 1912) * ''Les civilisations préhelléniques dans le bassin de la mer Égée : études de protohistoire orientale''. (Paris: Geuthner, 1910) * ''Les Arabes en Syrie avant l'Islam''. (Paris, 1907) * ''Voyage archéologique au Ṣafâ et dans le Djebel ed-Drûz''. (Paris, 1901) * ''Voyage archéologique au Ṣafâ et dans le Djebel ed-Druz''. (Paris: Leroux, 1901) * ''Histoire et religion des Nosairîs''. (Paris: Bouillon, 1900)

References

External links

René Dussaud 1868–1958

René Dussaud obituary on volume 36 of ''Syria''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dussaud, Rene 1868 births 1958 deaths Epigraphers French archaeologists French curators French orientalists Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Phoenician-punic archaeologists Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy