Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy (; 3 August 1844 – 25 February 1920) was a French
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, ...
, noted for his excavations at
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...
(modern-day
Shush,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
) in 1885 and for his work, ''L'Art antique de la Perse.''
Early life
Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy was born in
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
into an educated and ennobled family. In 1863, Dieulafoy entered the
École Polytechnique
(, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris.
The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...
where he studied civil engineering. Upon graduating, he joined France's Bureau of roads and bridges, taking up a position in Sour al-Ghozlane (then called Aumale) in Algeria. In 1870, he returned to France, assuming a post in the navigation services on the
Garonne
The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ;
or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...
. That same year he married
Jane Magre (1851-1916), who was also from Toulouse. He was an engineering officer in the French Army during the
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
(1870–71), posted to
Nevers
Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...
. Upon demobilisation, he became first the head of the supply services for the Department of the Haute Garonne and subsequently, in 1874, of municipal services for his native city of Toulouse.
As a result, both of a cultivated family environment and his time spent in Algeria, Dieulafoy had long had an interest in medieval and Roman archaeology. As a result, he became acquainted with
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...
, under whose direction he worked for four years in the Commission of Historic Monuments. With Viollet-le-Duc's encouragement, Dieulafoy decided to pursue this interest at a professional level. In 1880, he resigned his post in Toulouse and requested a government assignment in Iran.
The Susa excavations
Arriving quite ill in Tehran via
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
and
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
(Istanbul), he was attended to by a French doctor François Tholozan. Shortly thereafter they embarked upon an expedition to
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...
, where Dieulafoy and his wife explored the remains of the palace first uncovered by
William Loftus some thirty years previously. During this visit, the Dieulafoys took numerous photographs and made copious notes. His wife, Jane, took on as close to a male appearance as she could during their sojourn in Iran.
This brief journey to Susa made a lasting impression on Dieulafoy. Upon his return to France, he started to organise the publication of the first volume of his magnum opus, ''L'Art antique de la Perse'', the first volume of which appeared in 1884. That year he obtained a grant from the newly founded Department of Antiquities at the Louvre and from the ''Ministère de l'Instruction publique'' as well as logistical support from the French army and navy in order to fund further study. The Dieulafoys returned to Iran in 1884, accompanied by a young engineer, Charles Babin and by the naturalist Frédéric Houssay. It was Tholozan, then official physician to the Qajar court, who intervened on Dieulafoy's behalf with the Persian authorities to obtain permission to explore Susa further, with the proviso that the
Tomb of Daniel not be disturbed. Further, agreement was reached which allowed any discoveries made at the site, except for those of precious metals, to be split equally between the French and Persian governments. Work took place between the winters of 1885 and 1886.
The excavations took place under arduous conditions. The team lived in tents and were exposed to the harshness of the elements. There was little government control in the region, meaning that roving bands of thieves operated quite freely. Nonetheless, Dieulafoy's expedition succeeded in discovering numerous objects, most of which ended up in the Louvre Museum since the Persian government, uninterested in the largely brick and stone mortar fragments that were unearthed, waived its right to share in the discoveries. None of the pieces that were not shipped to France survived.
These "museum pieces", however, were of secondary importance to Dieulafoy, whose primary interest remained the architecture of the site. He succeeded in partially excavating the great central columned hall (the Apadana), originally identified by Loftus as having been originally built by
Darius and then restored by
Artaxerxes II
Arses (; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius II () and his mother was Parysatis.
Soon after his accession, Ar ...
.
Later life
After publishing the results of his mission, Dieulafoy lost interest in Iran. He returned to the French civil service, taking a position in the administration of the national rail system and devoted himself to biblical studies. He was elected to the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres).
History ...
in 1895 and started to research the history of French architecture and the early sculpture of Spain and Portugal.
At the outbreak of World War One, Dieulafoy wanted to return to military service, despite being 70. He was sent to
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...
as a lieutenant colonel in the Engineering corps, where he supervised the excavation of a local
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
. In 1919, he published his last work on the theme of
Daniel and
Balthazar
Balthazar, Balthasar, Baltasar, or Baltazar may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Balthazar (novel), ''Balthazar'' (novel), by Lawrence Durrell, 1958
* ''Balthasar'', an 1889 book by Anatole France
* ''Professor Balthazar'', a Croatian a ...
.
He died the following year after a brief illness.
''L'Art antique de la Perse''
Dieulafoy is still remembered for his work, ''L'Art antique de la Perse,'' which was published in five volumes,
folio
The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...
between 1884 and 1889.
His wife, Jane, took many photographs of local sites, especially at
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...
,
Pasargadae
Pasargadae (; ) was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), located just north of the town of Madar-e-Soleyman and about to the northeast of the city of Shiraz. It is one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Site ...
,
Persepolis
Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...
and
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...
. The fine quality of these images, many of sites that have subsequently been destroyed, damaged, or badly restored, means the work remains an invaluable scholarly resource.
Notes
References
*E. and J. Gran-Aymeric, Jane Dieulafoy. Une vie d'homme, Paris, 1991.
*R. Cagnat, Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. Marcel Dieulafoy, Institut de France, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1921.
*S. Reinach, "Notice biographie et bibliographie," Revue archéologique 3, 1920, pp. 363–64.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dieulafoy, Marcel-Auguste
1844 births
1920 deaths
Corps des ponts
École Polytechnique alumni
Archaeologists from Toulouse
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
19th-century French writers
19th-century French archaeologists
French Iranologists