Bedřich Hrozný
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Bedřich (Friedrich) Hrozný (; 6 May 1879 – 12 December 1952) was a Czech orientalist and linguist. He contributed to the decipherment of the ancient Hittite language, identified it as an
Indo-European language The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...
and laid the groundwork for the development of Hittitology.


Biography

Hrozný was born in
Lysá nad Labem Lysá nad Labem (; german: Lissa an der Elbe) is a town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,700 inhabitants. It is situated on the Elbe river. The town centre is well preserved and is protected b ...
,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, Austria-Hungary. In the town of Kolín he learned Hebrew and Arabic. At the University of Vienna, he studied
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
, Aramaic, Ethiopian,
Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...
and Sanskrit, as well as the cuneiform used in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and Persia. He also studied orientalism at Humboldt University of Berlin.


Career

In 1905, following excavations in Palestine, he became professor at the University of Vienna. In 1906, at Hattusa (modern Boğazkale, about 200 km east of Ankara) a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
expedition found the archives of the
Hittite kings The dating and sequence of the Hittite kings is compiled from fragmentary records, supplemented by the recent find in Hattusa of a cache of more than 3500 seal impressions giving names and titles and genealogy of Hittite kings. All dates given here ...
in cuneiform, but in an unknown language. While on active duty in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I, Hrozný published in 1917 a description of the language showing that it belonged to the Indo-European family. In 1925 Hrozný led a Czechoslovak archaeological team that discovered 1000 cuneiform tablets containing contracts and letters of Assyrian merchants in the Turkish village of Kültepe, and excavated the nearby ancient Hittite city of Kanesh. In 1929, Hrozný founded '' Archiv Orientální'', which became one of the leading journals for Oriental Studies. Later in his life, he tried to decipher the hieroglyphic script used by the Hittites and scripts used in ancient India and Crete, but failed in his effort. From 1919 to 1952, he was a Professor of cuneiform research and ancient Oriental history at the
Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...
in Prague. After the
German occupation of Czechoslovakia German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
he was made rector of the
Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...
, holding that post in 19391940 (all Czech universities were closed by Germans then). In that capacity, he helped some students escape arrest during an incident in 1939, stating to the German officer in charge that the Germans had no legal right to pursue students on the independent university's territory. A stroke in 1944 ended his scientific work.


Deciphering of the Hittite language

To solve the mystery about the Hittite language, Bedřich Hrozný used two sentences that appeared in a text that reads: nu NINDA-an ezzatteni watar-ma ekutteni. It was known at that time that the ideogram for NINDA meant bread in
Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...
. Hrozný thought that the suffix ''-an'' was perhaps the Hittite accusative. Then, he assumed that the second word, ''ed-/-ezza'', had something to do with the bread and assumed that it could be the verb ''to eat''. The comparison with the Latin ''edo'', the English ''eat'' and the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
''essen'' led to the assumption that NINDA-an ezzatteni means "you will eat bread". In the second sentence, Hrozný was struck by the word ''watar'' that has similarities to the English ''water'' and German ''Wasser''. The last word of the second sentence, ''ekutteni'', had the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
''eku-'', which seemed to resemble the Latin ''aqua'' (water). So, he translated the second sentence as "you will drink water". Hrozný soon realized that the Hittites were speaking an Indo-European language, making it much easier to decipher and read their cuneiform tablets. Using these insights, Hrozný continued his work and was able to publish the Hittite grammar in 1917.


Publications

* ''Sumerisch-babylonische Mythen von dem Gotte Ninrag (Ninib)''. Berlin: Wolf Peiser, 1903. * ''Obilí ve staré Babylónii.'' (= “Wheat in Ancient Babylonian”). Vienna: Hölder in Kommission, 1913. * “Die Lösung des hethitischen Problems”, ''Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft'' 56 (1915): 17–50. * ''Die Sprache der Hethiter, ihr Bau und ihre Zugehörigkeit zum indogermanischen Sprachstamm''. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1917 (reprint: Dresden: TU Dresden, 2002). * ''Hethitische Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazköi, in Umschrift, mit Übersetzung und Kommentar''. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1919. * ''Über die Völker und Sprachen des alten Chatti-Landes: Hethitische Könige''. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1920. * ''Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazköi'', vol. 5 (of 6): ''Autographien''. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1921 (reprint: Osnabrück: Zeller, 1970). * ''Les inscriptions hittites hiéroglyphiques: Essai de déchiffrement, suivi d’une grammaire hittite hiéroglyphique en paradigmes et d’une liste d’hiéroglyphes''. Prague: Orientální Ústav, 1933. * ''Über die älteste Völkerwanderung und über das Problem der proto-indischen Zivilisation: Ein Versuch, die proto-indischen Inschriften von Mohendscho-Daro zu entziffern''. Prague, 1939. * ''Die älteste Geschichte Vorderasiens und Indiens''. Prague: Melantrich, 1940, 1941, 1943. * ''Inscriptions cunéiformes du Kultépé'', vol. 1. Prague, 1952. * ''Ancient history of Western Asia, India and Crete''. New York, 1953.


Literature

* Šárka Velhartická: Bedřich Hrozný a 100 let chetitologie / Bedřich Hrozný and 100 Years of Hittitology. Praha (Národní galerie), 2015. * Šárka Velhartická: Bedřich Hrozný: Texty a přednášky. Archeologické expedice a lingvistické objevy předního českého orientalisty, Praha / Hradec Králové (Academia / Univerzita Hradec Králové), 2022. * Šárka Velhartická: Dopisy Bedřicha Hrozného literárním osobnostem, Praha (Památník národního písemnictví), 2015. * Šárka Velhartická: Justin Václav Prášek a Bedřich Hrozný. Počátky české staroorientalistiky a klínopisného bádání, Praha / Hradec Králové (Academia / Univerzita Hradec Králové), 2019.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrozny, Bedrich 1879 births 1952 deaths People from Lysá nad Labem Czech philologists Linguists from the Czech Republic Czech archaeologists Hittitologists Czech orientalists University of Vienna alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academics of the University of Vienna Charles University faculty Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Rectors of Charles University