Julius (Jules) Oppert (9 July 1825 – 21 August 1905) was a French- German

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 ...

, 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 ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents.Isidore Singer & Louis Gray
Jules."
''Jewish Encyclopedia'', 1906.

Career

After studying at

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 ...

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

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 ...

, he graduated at

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

in 1847, and the next year went to France, where he was a teacher of German at Laval and at Reims. His leisure was given to

Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...

, in which he had made great progress in Germany. In 1851 he joined the French archaeological mission to

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

under Fulgence Fresnel.Larsen, M.T., ''The Conquest of Assyria: Excavations in an Antique Land,'' Routledge, 2014, pp 307-08 and p. 315 On his return in 1854, he was naturalized as a French citizen in recognition of his services. He occupied himself with analyzing the results of the expedition, with special attention to the

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

inscriptions he had collected. His account of the Fresnel mission and the results of his consequent study were published as ''Expédition Scientifique en Mésopotamie'' (1859–1863), with the second volume entitled ''Déchiffrement des inscriptions cunéiformes''. The work was especially notable as most of the mission's excavations were lost in the Al Qurnah disaster. In 1855 he published ''Écriture Anarienne'', advancing the theory that the language spoken originally in Assyria was Turanian (related to Turkish and Mongolian), rather than

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

or Semitic in origin, and that its speakers had invented the cuneiform writing system. Although the classification of the "Casdo-Scythian" inscriptions as Turanian would later be rejected by scholars, research would confirm Oppert in his identification of the distinctness of the

Sumerian language Sumerian ) was the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the List of languages by first written account, oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 2900 BC. It is a local language isolate that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the a ...

(as he renamed it in 1869) and the origin of its script. In 1856 he published ''Chronologie des Assyriens et des Babyloniens''. In 1857 he was appointed professor of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and comparative

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

in the school of languages connected with the

National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, and in this capacity he produced his ''Grammaire Sanscrite'' (1859). But his attention was chiefly given to Assyrian and cognate subjects. In 1865 he published a history of Assyria and Chaldaea (''Histoire des Empires de Chaldée et d'Assyrie'') in the context of new archaeological findings. His Assyrian grammar, ''Éléments de la grammaire assyrienne'', was published in 1868. In 1869 Oppert was appointed professor of Assyrian philology and archaeology at the College de France. In 1876 Oppert began to focus on the antiquities of ancient Media and its language, writing ''Le Peuple et la langue des Médes'' (1879). In 1881 he was admitted to the Academy of Inscriptions and in 1890, he was elected to its presidency. 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 ...

in 1891. He died in Paris on 21 August 1905.

Bibliography

Oppert was a voluminous writer upon Assyrian mythology and

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, and other subjects connected with the ancient civilizations of the East. Among his other works may be mentioned: *''L'Immortalité de l'âme chez les Chaldéens'', (1875) *''Salomon et ses successeurs'' (1877) *''Doctrines juridiques de l'Assyrie et de la Chaldée'' (1877, with Joachim Menant). A list of his articles may be found in Muss-Arnolt, "The Works of Jules Oppert", in Delitzsch and Haupt, ''Beiträge zur Assyriologie'', ii.523-556, Leipzig, 1894.

References

External links

"Jules Julius Oppert,"
Jewish Virtual Library, from ''Encyclopaedia Judaica.'' * *''Jewish Encyclopedia''
"Oppert, Jules"
by Isidore Singer & Louis Gray (1906).
Julius Oppert
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Oppert, Julius 1825 births 1905 deaths Heidelberg University alumni University of Kiel alumni 19th-century German archaeologists Archaeologists from Hamburg Jewish archaeologists French Assyriologists German Assyriologists 19th-century German Jews Jewish orientalists Academic staff of the Collège de France Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French emigrants to Germany 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers Emigrants from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Immigrants to France Officers of the Legion of Honour 19th-century French archaeologists Members of the American Philosophical Society

Career

Bibliography

See also

References

External links