Helmuth Theodor Bossert (11 September 1889 – 5 February 1961) was a German and Turkish

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and

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, ...

. He is best known for his excavations of the Hittite fortress city at

Karatepe Karatepe ( Turkish, 'Black Hill'; Hittite: ''Azatiwataya'') is a late Hittite fortress and open-air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey lying at a distance of about 23 km from the district center of Kadirli. It is sited in the T ...

, Turkey, and the discovery of bilingual inscriptions, which enabled the translation of Hittite

hieroglyph Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. ...

Early life

Bossert was born in

Landau Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, on 11 September 1889. He was educated in

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

, history, archaeology and

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

at the universities of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Freiburg im Breisgau 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 ...

. In 1913, he was awarded the title

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

by University of Freiburg with a thesis on "Der ehemalige Hochaltar in Unserer Lieben Frauen Pfarrkirche zu Sterzing in Tirol" ("The former high

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

in the Parish of "Our Lady of Marsh" to

Sterzing Sterzing (; ) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is the main town of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Hi ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

). He began to work as an assistant at the Freiburg Library. Subsequently, he completed his military service in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the World War, Bossert found a job at Ernst Wasmuth Publishing in

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 ...

, where he worked as

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as , , and . It has various specialized uses. Academic The title ''lector'' may be applied to lecturers ...

and author in

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

of diverse

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

s and times. He lost his job when the publishing company suffered from the 1929

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. He wrote critiques on the effects of World War I with his books ''Kamerad im Westen'' ("Comrade in the West") published in 1930, which became a

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

, and ''Wehrlos hinter der Front'' ("Defenseless Behind the Front") in 1931. Between 1919 and 1934, Bossert authored around fifteen books on various topics from ancient Cretan civilisation to European folk art. Financially independent through the royalties from his books' sales, he devoted himself from 1930 on to the study of Hittite hieroglyphics. He soon became a notable expert in the translation of

Creta Crete ( ; , Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete is loc ...

n and Hittite

pictographic A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

s. He was granted a study journey to Turkey by the

Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft The ''Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft'' (Emergency Association of German Science) or NG was founded on 30 October 1920 on the initiative of leading members of the ''Prussian Academy of Sciences, Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften'' ( ...

(Emergency Association of German Science) in 1933.

Turkey years

The main purpose of his journey to Turkey was to take part at the archaeological excavations under the leadership of German

Kurt Bittel Kurt Bittel (born 5 July 1907 in Heidenheim an der Brenz, died 30 January 1991 in Heidenheim an der Brenz) was a German prehistorian. As president of the German Archaeological Institute (''Deutsches Archäologisches Institut'' - DAI) and excavato ...

Hattusa Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...

(formerly Boğazköy, today

Boğazkale Boğazkale ("Gorge Fortress") is a town of Çorum Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, located from the city of Çorum. It is the seat of Boğazkale District.Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

(c. 1600 BC–c. 1178 BC). During his stay in Turkey, he was appointed professor of "

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and Art of Ancient

Asia Minor 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 ...

" at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

in April 1934. He became later director of the newly establisher Institute of Archaeology. He authored scientific publications on the artefacts unearthed at Hittite sites, he visited in the summer breaks. Between 1939 and 1946, his scientific research work came almost to halt due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After 1946, he discovered the late Hittite ruins in

in southern Turkey along with the Turkish archaeologists

Bahadır Alkım Bahadır Alkım Bayraktar (February 28, 1915 – May 6, 1981) was a Turkish archaeologist. Bahadır Alkım Bayraktar was born in İzmir, then Ottoman Empire on February 28, 1915. After his high school education, he entered the Faculty of Letters ...

and

Halet Çambel Halet Çambel (27 August 1916 – 12 January 2014) was a Turkish archaeologist and Olympic fencer. She was the first woman with a Muslim background to compete in the Olympic Games. Biography Çambel was born in Berlin, German Empire on 27 ...

. The

Karatepe Bilingual The Karatepe bilingual (8th century BC), also known as the Azatiwada inscription, is a bilingual inscription on stone slabs consisting of Phoenician and Luwian text each, which enabled the decipherment of the Anatolian hieroglyphs. The artif ...

found there eventually led to the decryption of Hittite hieroglyphics -according to current understanding

Luwian hieroglyphs Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous logographic script native to central Anatolia, consisting of some 500 signs. They were once commonly known as Hittite hieroglyphs, but the language they encode proved to be Luwian, not Hittite, and the ter ...

or Anatolian hieroglyphs. In 1947, he acquired↘ Turkish citizenship, and remarried to Turkish woman Hürmüz Hanim. Archaeologist Eva-Maria Bossart, his 1925-born daughter from the first marriage, worked under him and Çambel at excavations in Turkey until 1956. In 1954, Bossert began to publish the scientific journal ''Jahrbuch für Kleinasiatische Forschung'' ("Yearbook for Asia Minor Research"), which came out for three years. From 1955 on, Bossert carried out several archaeological excavations at

Mopsuestia Mopsuestia ( and Μόψου ''Mopsou'' and Μόψου πόλις and Μόψος; Byzantine Greek: ''Mamista'', ''Manistra'', ''Mampsista''; Arabic: ''al-Maṣṣīṣah''; Armenian: ''Msis'', ''Mises'', ''Mam(u)estia''; modern Yakapınar) is an a ...

in southern Turkey. In 1959, he became

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at Istanbul University. He was appointed

honorary professor Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

in Freiburg, but stayed, however, in Istanbul. Bossart died at age 71 in Istanbul on 5 February 1961.

Bibliography

Bossert authored 34 books and 107 articles in total. Some of his publications are as follows: * ''Der ehemalige Hochaltar in Unserer Lieben Frauen Pfarrkirche zu Sterzing in Tirol'',

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

1914 * ''Das Ornamentwerk. Eine Sammlung angewandter farbigen Ornamente und Dekorationen. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der weniger bekannten Kulturen für den praktischen Gebrauch'', Wasmuth,

1924 * ''Volkskunst in Europa. Nahezu 2100 Beispiele unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Ornamentik auf 132 Tafeln, darunter 100 in mehrfarbiger originalgetreuer Wiedergabe'', Wasmuth, Berlin 1926 * ''Geschichte des Kunstgewerbes aller Zeiten und Völker'', 6 Bände, Wasmuth, Berlin 1928–1935 *''Kamerad im Westen'', 1930 *''Wehrlos hinter der Front'', 1931 *''Šantaš und Kupapa. Neue Beiträge zur Entzifferung der kretischen und hethitischen Bilderhandschrift'', 1932 *''Altanatolien'', 1942 *''Die Ausgrabungen auf dem Karatepe (Erster Vorbericht) – Karatepe Kazilari. Birinci ön-rapor'',

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

1950 *''Altsyrien. Kunst und Handwerk in Cypern, Syrien, Palästina, Transjordanien und Arabien von den Anfängen bis zum völligen Aufgehen in der griechisch-römischen Kultur'', 1951

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bossert, Helmuth Theodor 1889 births People from Landau Heidelberg University alumni University of Strasbourg alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Freiburg alumni German art historians German philologists Archaeologists from Rhineland-Palatinate Hittitologists German emigrants to Turkey Naturalized citizens of Turkey German expatriates in Turkey Expatriate academics in Turkey Academic staff of Istanbul University 1961 deaths 20th-century German non-fiction writers 20th-century philologists

Early life

Turkey years

Bibliography

See also

References