Georges Contenau (April 9, 1877 – March 22, 1964) was a French archeologist, curator, orientalist and religious historian who was an expert in the field of culture and religion of the ancient civilizations of the Near and Middle East.

Life

Contenau was professor at the University of Brussels from 1932 to 1947. He was chief curator of Oriental antiquities - in French th
Département des Antiquités orientales
- at the

Musée du 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 ...

from 1927 to 1946. He led several archaeological expeditions to

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

and

Nahavand Nahavand ( fa, نهاوند, translit=Nahāvand / Nehāvend) is a city in Hamadan Province, Iran. It is the capital of Nahavand County. At the time of the 2006 census, its population was 72,218, in 19,419 families. It is located south of the ci ...

. From 1946 to 1957 he was director general of the French Archaeological Mission in Iran. He wrote about the civilization of the Babylonians and Assyrians (1922), their daily life (1950), their Magic (1947) and divination (1940). He also wrote on the Phoenicians (1926), Hittite and Hurrians (1948). He issued a four-volume Handbook of Oriental Archaeology (1927–1947) and commenced the publication of the ''Encyclopédie d'archéologie orientale'' (1914–1957). One of his students at the

École du Louvre The École du Louvre is an institution of higher education and grande école located in the Aile de Flore of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology and epigraphy. Admission is ...

was

Denise Cocquerillat Denise Cocquerillat (8 June 1918, Granville - 18 December 1999, Paris) was a French archaeologist and Assyriologist, specialist in cuneiform texts. Biography She studied at the École du Louvre and passed a thesis (“The Mace in Mesopotamian Ic ...

and his assistant was

Marguerite Rutten Marguerite Rutten (18 October 1898, Paris - 07 April 1984, Nice) was a French archaeologist and Assyriologist. Biography “Maggie” Rutten, of Dutch ancestry, studied first at the Institut Catholique de Paris (diplome 1930). Then she spent her e ...

Some publications

*''L'Art de l'Asie occidentale ancienne'', Paris, éd. G. van Oest, 1928 *''les civilisations des Hittites et des Mitanniens'', Paris, 1934 *''La Civilisation d'Assur et de Babylone'', Paris, 1937 *''La Médecine en Assyrie et en Babylonie'', Paris, 1937, 2de éd. 1951 *''La Divination chez les Assyriens et les Babyloniens'', 1940 *''La Vie quotidienne à Babylone et en Assyrie'', Paris, 1950 (translated into several languages) *''Les religions de l'Orient ancien'', 1957 *''Les civilisations anciennes du Proche-Orient'', Paris, éd. Presses Universitaires de France, coll. Que sais-je ?, 1960
Liste des ouvrages de Contenau traduits en allemand

References

External links

Georges Contenau
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Contenau, Georges French Assyriologists 1877 births 1964 deaths People from Laon Officiers of the Légion d'honneur French expatriates in Belgium French archaeologists 20th-century French historians French historians of religion