Edith Porada (22 August 1912,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 24 March 1994,

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

) was an Austrian-born

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, a leading authority on ancient

cylinder seal A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally ...

s and a professor of art history and archaeology at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

About

Porada was born in Vienna to a wealthy family. She graduated from the Realreform Gymnasium Luithlen in 1930 and received her Ph.D. from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

in 1935 with a dissertation about

glyptic art Hardstone carving is a general term in art history and archaeology for the artistic carving of predominantly semi-precious stones (but also of gemstones), such as jade, rock crystal (clear quartz), agate, onyx, jasper, serpentinite, or carnelian ...

of the Old Akkadian period. Later she moved to Paris to study at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. In 1938 she emigrated to the United States where she worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the seals of

Ashurnasirpal II Ashur-nasir-pal II (transliteration: ''Aššur-nāṣir-apli'', meaning " Ashur is guardian of the heir") was king of Assyria from 883 to 859 BC. Ashurnasirpal II succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, in 883 BC. During his reign he embarked ...

. She taught at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

and, beginning in 1958, at Columbia, attaining the rank of full professor in 1964. In 1969, she was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. She was named Arthur Lehman Professor in 1974 and, upon retiring in 1984, held that title

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. In 1976 she was awarded the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement from the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

. She was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1978. Columbia University established an Edith Porada professorship of ancient Near Eastern art history and archaeology with a $1 million endowment in 1983. In 1989 Porada was awarded Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters for Columbia for "profound connections between the human experience and the interpretation of the cylinder seals."

Publications

* ''Mesopotamian Art in Cylinder Seals'' (1947) * ''Seal Impressions of

Nuzi Nuzi (or Nuzu; Akkadian Gasur; modern Yorghan Tepe, Iraq) was an ancient Mesopotamian city southwest of the city of Arrapha (modern Kirkuk), located near the Tigris river. The site consists of one medium-sized multiperiod tell and two small s ...

'' (1947) * ''Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in North American Collections'' (1948) * ''The Art of Ancient Iran'' (1965) * ''Ancient Art in Seals'' (1980) * ''Man and Images in the Ancient Near East'' (1995)

References

External links

Biography
at the Dictionary of Art Historians

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
Edith Porada, 1912-1994
H Pittman *'The Women Who Made the Morgan: Belle da Costa Greene, Felice Stampfle, and Edith Porada': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQnz9P_tzcs {{DEFAULTSORT:Porada, Edith 1912 births 1994 deaths Austrian art historians American art historians Austrian archaeologists Austrian women archaeologists Columbia University faculty Writers from Vienna University of Vienna alumni Queens College, City University of New York faculty American women historians American women archaeologists 20th-century American archaeologists 20th-century American historians 20th-century Austrian women writers 20th-century American women writers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Women art historians 20th-century American women scientists Austrian emigrants to the United States Members of the American Philosophical Society