Armas Immanuel Salonen (17 January 1915 – 22 October 1981) was a Finnish Assyriologist. Salonen graduated from high school in 1933. He studied at the University of Helsinki under professor

Knut Tallqvist Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

. Having obtained his bachelor's degree in 1936, he continued his studies in Germany and later on in the US, where he joined the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in 1947. There he participated in the

Chicago Assyrian Dictionary The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (CAD) or The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is a nine-decade project at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute to compile a dictionary of the Akkadian language and ...

project under professor

A. Leo Oppenheim Adolf Leo Oppenheim (7 June 1904 – 21 July 1974), one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of his generation was editor-in-charge of the ''Chicago Assyrian Dictionary'' of the Oriental Institute from 1955 to 1974 and John A. Wilson Profe ...

, focusing on etymological references. Salonen received his PhD in 1950. From 1949 to 1978 he held the position of associate professor of Assyrian and Semitic Philology at the University of Helsinki. His research interests focused on the

material culture Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects creat ...

and everyday life of Mesopotamia, such as its watercraft, vehicles and doors; a large part of his work consists of thematic glossaries of specialized terminology. He published the first Finnish translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh in 1943. He was also interested in the history of Persia and ancient Egypt, and had a command of Arabic. In 1957, together with

Jussi Aro Jussi () is a male given name. In Finnish originally it is short for Juhani or Juho, Finnish for Johannes/John, but is also recognized as a name in its own right for official purposes. It can also be short for Justus, or a Finnish form of Justin. ...

, he published the first Finnish translation of the Quran. Salonen was elected member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters in 1950 and honorary member of the

Finnish Egyptological Society Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic bra ...

in 1975.

References

Finnish Assyriologists Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Members of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters 1981 deaths 1915 births {{Finland-academic-bio-stub Assyriologists