Father Jean-Vincent Scheil (born 10 June 1858,
Kœnigsmacker – died 21 September 1940, Paris) was a French
Dominican scholar and
Assyriologist
Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...
. He is credited as the discoverer of the
Code of Hammurabi in
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. In 1911 he came into possession of the
Scheil dynastic tablet and first translated it.
After being ordained in 1887, he took courses in
Egyptology
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious p ...
and
Assyriology at the ''
École des Hautes Études
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
'', and was a student at the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
, where he was a pupil of
Assyriologist
Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...
Julius Oppert. In 1890/91 as a member of the French Archaeological Mission of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
, he took part in excavations at
Thebes.
[Institut national d'histoire de l'art]
biography In 1892 he conducted excavations near
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
for the Ottoman Imperial Museum, followed by work 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 ( ...
, where he was tasked with classifying and drafting a catalog of Assyrian,
Chaldean and Egyptian antiquities of the museum.
[Encyclopaedia Iranica]
biography
In 1895 he became a lecturer at the ''École Pratique des Hautes Études'', where in 1908 he was named its director. In 1908 he also became a member of the ''
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...
''. In 1923 he became an officer of the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
.
[
In 1901 he discovered Hammurabi's Law Code at Susa, of which, he subsequently translated and published the 250 articles of the stele containing approximately 3600 lines;][ ''La loi de Hammourabi (vers 2000 av. J.-C.)'', (1904).]
Selected works
*''Les inscriptions de Salmanasar II : roi d'Assyrie (860-824)'', 1890 (with Arthur Amiaud) Inscriptions of Shalmaneser, King of Assyria.
* ''Une saison de fouilles à Sippar'', 1902 – A season of excavations at Sippar
Sippar ( Sumerian: , Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its '' tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, som ...
.
* ''La loi de Hammourabi (vers 2000 av. J.-C.)'', 1904 – The law of Hammurabi
Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...
, circa 2000 BC.
* ''Annales de Tukulti Ninip II, roi d'Assyrie 889-884'', 1909 (with Joseph Étienne Gautier) – Annals of Tukulti Ninip II.
* ''Le prisme S d'Assaraddon, roi d'Assyrie 681-668'', 1914 – The prism of Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of hi ...
.
* ''Recueil de lois assyriennes : texte assyrien en transcription avec traduction française et index'', 1921 – Collection of Assyrian law Assyrian law, also known as the Middle Assyrian Laws (MAL) or the Code of the Assyrians, was an ancient legal code developed between 1450 and 1250 BCE in the Middle Assyrian Empire. (E-book edition) It was very similar to Sumerian and Babylonian ...
s.
* ''Inscriptions des Achéménides à Suse'', 1929 – Inscription of the Achaemenids
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...
at Susa.[OCLC Classify]
published works
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheil
1858 births
1940 deaths
19th-century archaeologists
20th-century French archaeologists
French Assyriologists
French Egyptologists
École pratique des hautes études alumni
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
French Dominicans
People from Moselle (department)
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy
Sippar