Ekrem Akurgal (March 30, 1911 – November 1, 2002) was a Turkish

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. During a career that spanned more than fifty years, he conducted definitive research in several sites along the western coast of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

such as Phokaia (

Foça Foça is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 251 km2, and its population is 34,946 (2022). The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center on the Aegean Sea, Aege ...

), Pitane (

Çandarlı Çandarlı is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Dikili, İzmir Province, Turkey. Its population is 8,021 (2022). Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation, 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). It is a we ...

), Erythrai ( Ildırı) and old

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

(

Bayraklı Bayraklı is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 30 km2, and its population is 299,859 (2024). It covers the northern part of the metropolitan area of İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and tow ...

höyük, the original site of the city of Smyrna before the city's move to another spot across the Gulf of İzmir).

Biography

He was born on March 30, 1911, in the town of Tulkarm in the Beirut Vilayet of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(today a Palestinian city in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

), where his mother's family owned a large farm. He descended from a family of Ottoman intellectuals and religious men, several of whose members had assumed the office of

mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

, the highest title of the

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

in a given region, for the Ottoman province of

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

. His family moved back to

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 ...

when he was two years old. For some time, they resided in another family farm, this time near Akyazı. He received his first education from his father's sister and her husband, who taught literature in ''Darülfünun'' ( Istanbul University today). Akurgal graduated in 1931 from Istanbul High School for Boys and, having earned a state scholarship, went to the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

in Germany to study archaeology. In a made in 1990, the interviewer was to remark that, now and then, his German was still unmistakably tainted with Berlinerisch. In 1957, he became a

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 ...

in the University of Ankara. He worked mainly in the Aegean Region, starting the research on Phokaia (

), Pitane (

), Erythrai ( Ildırı) and old Smyrna (

tumulus). He published numerous books on

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

, Hittite and other ancient civilizations of

. Settled in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

since the seventies to pursue his work on the nearby sites with more effectiveness, Akurgal died on November 1, 2002, in

. His work and legacy is being carried on by his wife, Meral Akurgal, an accomplished archaeologist herself and his closest assistant in his lifetime.

Awards

* 1961

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

Bordeaux University, France * 1972 German Great Cross of Merit with star * 1981 German Goethe Medal * 1981 Turkish Republic Ministry of Culture Gran Award * 1986 Premio Internazionale "I Cavalli d'Oro di San Marco", Italy * 1987 Italian Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Republic * 1987 French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Officier * 1989 Honorary Doctorate University of Athens, Greece * 1990 Honorary Doctorate University of Lecce, Italy * 1990 Honorary Doctorate Anadolu University, Turkey

References

Bibliography

* Cyril Mango, Ekrem Akurgal, and Richard Ettinghausen. The Treasures of Turkey: The earliest civilizations of Anatolia Byzantium the Islamic Period. (1966), Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, 253 pp. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akurgal, Ekrem 1911 births 2002 deaths People from Tulkarm People from Beirut vilayet Turkish people of Bosniak descent Turkish scientists Istanbul High School alumni Berlin University of the Arts alumni Academic staff of Ankara University Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Officers of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Lincean Academy METU Mustafa Parlar Foundation Science Award winners Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences 20th-century Turkish archaeologists Corresponding fellows of the British Academy

Biography

Awards

References

Bibliography

See also

External links