Eduard Meyer (25 January 1855 – 31 August 1930) was a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. He was the brother of

Celticist Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history ...

Kuno Meyer (1858–1919).

Biography

Meyer was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and later at the universities of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. After completing his studies, he spent one year in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. In 1879, he went to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

as ''

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

''. He was appointed

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of ancient history at Breslau in 1885, at Halle in 1889, and at

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1902. He lectured at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

in 1909 and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1910. That same year, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. Honorary degrees were given him by

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, St. Andrews,

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

universities. He died in

Egyptology

In 1904 Meyer was the first to note the Sothic cycle of the

heliacal rising The heliacal rising ( ) of a star or a planet occurs annually when it becomes visible above the eastern horizon at dawn just before sunrise (thus becoming "the Morning Star (disambiguation)#Astronomy, morning star"). A heliacal rising marks the ti ...

of Sirius, which forms the basis for the traditional chronology of Egypt.

Works

His principal work is his ''Geschichte des Altertums'' (1884–1902; third edition, 1913). He also published: * ''Forschungen zur alten Geschichte'' (1892–1899) – Research of ancient history. * ''Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Gracchen'' (1894) – Investigations on the history of the

Gracchi The Gracchi brothers were two brothers who lived during the beginning of the late Roman Republic: Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus. They served in the Tribune of the plebs, plebeian tribunates of 133 BC and 122–121 BC, respec ...

. * ''Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung des Altertums'' (1895) – Economic development of the ancient world. * ''Die Entstehung des Judentums'' (1896) – The origins of

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. * ''Zur Theorie und Methodik der Geschichte'' (1902) – Theory and methodology of history. * ''Israeliten und ihre Nachbarstämme'' (1906) – The

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

and their neighboring tribes. * ''Theopomps Hellenika'' (1909) – Theopompus' ''Hellenics''. * ''Der Papyrosfund in Elephantine'' (1912) – The papyrus discovery from

Elephantine Elephantine ( ; ; ; ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological site, archaeological digs on the island became a World Heritage Site in 1979, along with other examples of ...

. * ''Ursprung und Geschichte der Mormonen'' (1912) – Origin and history of the

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

. * ''Nordamerika und Deutschland'' (1915) – North America and Germany. In English translation
"Alexander the Great and Universal Monarchy,"
''The International Quarterly,'' Vol. VIII (1903).
''England; its Political Organization and Development and the War Against Germany''
(1916).Robertson, J.M. (1917)
''Britain Versus Germany; an Open Letter to Professor Eduard Meyer.''
London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd. He was also a contributor to the ''

Encyclopaedia Biblica ''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encycloped ...

'' (1903), the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as to sections of '' The Historians' History of the World.''

Notes

References

* * * Calder, William Musgrave and Alexander Demandt, ed. (1990). ''Eduard Meyer: Leben und Leistung eines Universalhistorikers''. Leiden: BRILL.

External links

*
Complete German text of Meyer's ''Geschichte des Altertums'' ("History of antiquity")
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Eduard Writers from Hamburg German antiquarians 1855 births 1930 deaths Harvard University staff University of Bonn alumni Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of the University of Halle Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) German male non-fiction writers Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Members of the American Philosophical Society