Alexander Heidel (1907–1955) was an

Assyriologist Assyriology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logy, -logia''), also known as Cuneiform studies or Ancient Near East studies, is the archaeological, anthropological, historical, and linguistic study of the cultures that used cune ...

and biblical scholar, and a Member of the Research Staff of the Oriental Institute of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Life

Heidel was born in Argentina. He studied in Brazil and later at

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...

in St. Louis before receiving his PhD from the University of Chicago.

Major publications

The Babylonian Genesis: The Story of Creation (1942)

"Babylonian Genesis" is a translation and commentary on the Babylonian epic known as Enuma Elish (the first two words of the text, translated as "When on high..."). On its publication it was reviewed in the ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' as "a sober and lucid translation of the epic in the most completely restored form available to date."

The University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It publishes a wide range ...

published the first edition in 1942 and the second edition in 1951. The book remains in print. The book consists of four chapters. Chapter 1 outlines the discovery of the Enuma Elish, its purpose, date, source and structure, followed by a literal translation; chapter 2 gives translations of the other Babylonian and Mesopotamian creation accounts as known at the time; chapter 3 treats the accounts of Babylonian creation stories preserved in Classical texts (

Berossus Berossus () or Berosus (; ; possibly derived from ) was an early-3rd-century BCE Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic-era Babylonia, Babylonian writer, priest of Bel (mythology) , Bel Marduk, and Babylonian astronomy, astronomer who wrote i ...

and

Damascius Damascius (; ; 462 – after 538), known as "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists", was the last scholarch of the neoplatonic Athenian school. He was one of the neoplatonic philosophers who left Athens after laws confirmed by emperor Jus ...

); and chapter 4 compares the Babylonian creation stories with those contained in

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

. Heidel aimed his book not at other Assyriologists but at biblical scholars and Christian ministers, and it should be regarded as a work of Christian apologetics rather than as a contribution to Heidel's own field of Assyriology. Many of his arguments stressing the uniqueness of the Genesis creation story have been overturned by later scholarship, but at the time of its publication the book was a milestone in introducing the wider public to the parallels between Mesopotamian and Hebrew mythology.

The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels (1946)

Heidel's book on the

Gilgamesh Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...

flood myth is a comparison of the Mesopotamian epic with the biblical account of Noah's Ark and the biblical

deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis. Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

published the first edition in 1946 and the second edition in 1949. The book remains in print.

References

External links

* 1907 births 1955 deaths American Assyriologists {{US-academic-bio-stub