Theophilus Goldridge Pinches M.R.A.S. (1856 – 6 June 1934

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), was a pioneer British assyriologist. Pinches was originally employed in father's business as a die-sinker, but, following an amateur interest in

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, joined the staff of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in 1878, working there as assistant then curator till retirement in 1900. He was lecturer in

Assyriology Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia''), also known as Cuneiform studies or Ancient Near East studies, is the archaeological, anthropological, historical, and linguistic study of the cultures that used cuneiform writing. The fie ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and in the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

till 1932 or 1933, and died in 1934. During his tenure at the Egyptian and Assyrian Department, British Museum, he gave assistance to scholars including

Abraham Sachs Abraham (Abe) Sachs (1915 – April 22, 1983) was an American Assyriologist. He earned his PhD in Assyriology in 1939 at Johns Hopkins University. Of note is his collaboration with Otto Neugebauer, whom he met in 1941 when the latter visited th ...

and taught at London University. It was largely due to his "painstaking work" during his time as assistant keeper at the British Museum between 1895 and 1900, that many pieces acquired by the museum were joined again. He also translated some Babylonian tablets which related to the

Battle of the Vale of Siddim The Battle of the Vale of Siddim, also often called the War of Nine Kings or the Slaughter of Chedorlaomer, is an event in the Hebrew Bible book of that occurs in the days of Abram and Lot (Biblical), Lot. The Vale of Siddim was the battleground ...

and was one of the editors of ''The Babylonian and Oriental Record'' from 1886. In 1890, Pinches discovered and published the correct reading of the name of

Gilgamesh Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...

, instead of Izdubar. The document known as ''

Chronicle P Chronicle P, known as ''Chronicle 22'' in Grayson’s ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles'' and ''Mesopotamian Chronicle 45'': "Chronicle of the Kassite Kings" in Glassner's ''Mesopotamian Chronicles'' is named for T. G. Pinches, the first edito ...

'' - providing important historical information despite its bad condition - is named for Pinches, who was its first editor. Pinches died in 1934 and "bequeathed much of his large personal collection of cuneiform tablets" to a favorite student,

Archibald Cecil Chappelow Archibald Cecil Chappelow (3 August 1886 – 25 September 1976) was a British decorator, upholsterer, illustrator, and lecturer, and later in life a fine art consultant. Chappelow received praise for his illustration of the well-received 1921 boo ...

Works

* * ''Texts in the Babylonian wedge-writing'', 1880 * ''The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria'', 1906 *
The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia
', 1908

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinches, Theophilus 1856 births 1934 deaths British Assyriologists Employees of the British Museum