Paul-Émile Botta (6 December 1802 – 29 March 1870) was an Italian-born French scientist who served as
Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
in
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
(then in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, now in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
) from 1842, and who discovered the ruins of the ancient
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
capital of
Dur-Sharrukin
Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...
.
Life
He was born Paolo Emiliano Botta in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, Italy, on December 6, 1802. His father was Italian historian
Carlo Giuseppe Guglielmo Botta (1766–1837). In 1822 they moved to Paris where he studied under
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (; 12 September 1777 – 1 May 1850) was a French zoologist and anatomist.
Life
Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. As a young man he went to Paris to study art, but ultimately devoted himself to natur ...
.
Botta was selected to be naturalist on a voyage around the world. Although he had no formal medical training, he also served as the ship surgeon.
The ''Heros'' under Captain Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly (1790–1849) left
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
April 8, 1826 and sailed south through the Atlantic Ocean, stopping in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
and around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
. They traveled up the coast stopping at
Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...
, Mexico, and
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
.
Jean Baptiste Rives
Jean-Baptiste Jassont Lafayette Rives, sometimes referred to as John Reeves (1793–1833), was a French adventurer who served in the court of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His first name was sometimes spelled John and last name Reeves by English speakers ...
(1793–1833), the former secretary of the
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...
, had convinced investors from the family of
Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte (24 October 1767 – 26 May 1844) was a leading French banker, governor of the Bank of France (1814–1820) and liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies during the Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy. He was an important fi ...
to finance the voyage to promote trade to California and Hawaii, but Rives disappeared along with some of the cargo.
[ Translation from French of Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly, ''Voyage autour du monde, principalement à la California et aux Îles Sandwich, pendant les années 1826, 1827, 1828, et 1829'']
After visiting the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...
they reached China on December 27, 1828. In late July, 1829, the ''Heros'' returned to Le Havre.
On January 5, 1830 Botta defended his doctor's thesis. In 1831 he sailed to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
where he met
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
. Some historians think the French traveler Marigny in Disraeli's novel ''Contarini Fleming'' was based on Botta.
In 1836 Botta was sent to Yemen to collect plants on behalf of the Paris Natural History Museum.
The French Government appointed Botta as Consul at Mosul in 1842. While there he discovered the ruins of the ancient
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
capital of
Dur-Sharrukin
Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...
, and on his return to France in 1845 brought with him many artifacts from it.
This achievement earned him a spectacular reputation as an Orientalist.
In 1848 after the
French Revolution of 1848
The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...
, Botta became French consul in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, and, after his failed diplomatic mission in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 1851, he was consul in
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
from 1855 to 1868. Due to his bad health he returned to France. He died on March 29, 1870 in
Achères, France.
Mosul
Botta was chosen as French
Consular Agent
A consul is an official representative of the government of one Sovereign state, state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship be ...
in part because of
Julius von Mohl
Julius von Mohl (25 October 1800 – 4 January 1876) was a German Orientalist.
Life
The brother of Hugo von Mohl and Robert von Mohl, he was born at Stuttgart. He abandoned the idea of entering the Lutheran ministry, and in 1823 went to Pari ...
's inspiration. Mohl, of the French Asiatic Society, had read
Claudius Rich
Claudius James Rich (28 March 1787 – 5 October 1821) was a British Assyriologist, business agent, traveller and antiquarian scholar.
Biography
Rich was born near Dijon "of a good family", but passed his childhood at Bristol. Early on, he deve ...
's ''Memoirs'' and ''Narrative'', concluding Mosul held possibilities for excavation. Botta's skills as a naturalist, historian, languages and diplomatic service made him an obvious choice to lead such an investigation. Arriving in 1842, Botta first bought antiquities, bricks and clay fragments, and then initially investigating the
Nabi Yunus
The Islamic monuments and historical buildings of Mosul, Iraq are of varied ages. They are usually mosques and shrines, but there are also Hussainiyahs, fortresses and madrasahs. Muslims of Mosul are predominantly followers of Sunni Islam, with a m ...
mound before he faced opposition. He then turned his attention on
Kuyunjik
Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ba ...
in December, where he spent a year with only a few inscribed bricks and pieces of
alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...
. Then, in March 1843, an Arab described
Khorsabad
Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...
and numerous inscribed bricks to be found there. His workers soon turned up limestone walls with
relief sculpture
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
containing Assyrian figures.
This was
Dur-Sharrukin
Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...
, or "Sargon's Town", the capital of King
Sargon II
Sargon II (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is general ...
. Botta sent a dispatch to Mohl stating, "I believe myself to be the first who has discovered sculptures which with some reason can be referred to the period when Nineveh was flourishing." Botta uncovered chambers, halls, and corridors, walls of
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
Assyrian scenes and gods, plus doorways flanked by
winged bulls with human heads
The French government, highly gratified at the surprising success of its consul, supplied him with ample means for further research as well as the artist
Eugène Flandin
Jean-Baptiste Eugène Napoléon Flandin (15 August 1809 in Naples – 29 September 1889 in Tours),
French orientalist, painter, archaeologist, and politician. Flandin's archeological drawings and some of his military paintings are valued m ...
to document Botta's discoveries. Flandin arrived in May 1844, illustrating alabaster sculptures before they were ruined by the desert heat. Botta continued excavating from 1843 until 1846, and attempted to ship some down the Tigris, the first a failure but the second a success. These were exhibited in 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 ...
a few months later. Botta continued excavating until 1846, when nine other archaeologists took over. This group included
Austen Layard
Sir Austen Henry Layard (; 5 March 18175 July 1894) was an English Assyriologist, traveller, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, politician and diplomat. He was born to a mostly English family in Paris and largely raised in It ...
and
Emile Burnouf. Botta published his Ninevah findings in his ''Monuments de Ninive découverts et décrits par Botta, mesurés et dessinés par Flandin''.
[
The Consulate at Mosul was suppressed by the ]French Second Republic
The French Second Republic (french: Deuxième République Française or ), officially the French Republic (), was the republican government of France that existed between 1848 and 1852. It was established in February 1848, with the February Revo ...
, and Botta was sent to the Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
.[
]
Legacy
*Botta was also a naturalist. He collected mammals
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
, birds, reptiles
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...
, and insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
in California in the 1820s and 1830s, as well as in Mesopotamia. The rubber boa
The rubber boa (''Charina bottae'') is a species of snake in the family Boidae and is native to North America. It is sometimes known as the coastal rubber boa or the northern rubber boa and is not to be confused with the southern rubber boa (''C ...
(''Charina bottae''), a Western United States endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
, is named in his honor.[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Botta", p. 33).]
* Botta's pocket gopher described by Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux (23 April 1802 – 6 July 1841) was a French naturalist.
Biography
Eydoux and Louis François Auguste Souleyet were surgeon naturalists on the expedition ship "La Favorite" which made a circumnavigation in 1830-32 ...
and Paul Gervais
Paul Gervais full name François Louis Paul Gervais (26 September 1816 – 10 February 1879) was a French palaeontologist and entomologist.
Biography
Gervais was born in Paris, where he obtained the diplomas of doctor of science and of medicine ...
commemorates his name.
References
Further reading
* Paul-Émile Botta and Eugène Flandin
Jean-Baptiste Eugène Napoléon Flandin (15 August 1809 in Naples – 29 September 1889 in Tours),
French orientalist, painter, archaeologist, and politician. Flandin's archeological drawings and some of his military paintings are valued m ...
, ''Les Monuments de Ninive'' (Paris 1849-1859)
* Glyn Daniel
Glyn Edmund Daniel Fellow of the British Academy, FBA, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, FRAI (23 April 1914 – 13 December 1986) was a Wales, Welsh scientist and archaeologist who taught at Cambridge University, ...
, ''A short history of archaeology'' (London, Thames and Hudson 1981).
* , ''Khorsabad. Les découvertes de V. Place en Assyrie'', (Paris 1918).
* (French)
* (translation of French)
External links
*
Botta in the Louvre
Khorsabad
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Botta, Paul-Emile
1802 births
1870 deaths
Scientists from Turin
Italian emigrants to France
Diplomats from Turin
French naturalists
French entomologists
Archaeologists of the Near East
19th-century French writers
19th-century archaeologists
19th-century French diplomats
French male non-fiction writers
19th-century French male writers
People associated with the Louvre