Wilfred George Lambert FBA (26 February 1926 – 9 November 2011) was a historian 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 specialist in

Assyriology 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 ...

and

Near Eastern Archaeology Near Eastern archaeology is a regional branch of the wider, global discipline of archaeology. It refers generally to the excavation and study of artifacts and material culture of the Near East from antiquity to the recent past. Definition Th ...

Early life

Lambert was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and, having won a scholarship, he was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham. He obtained two degrees, in

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

Oriental Languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turk ...

, at Christ's College,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Academic career

Lambert taught and researched at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

for thirty years, during which period he made weekly trips to work on deciphering

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

tablets in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. After retirement, he worked with the Museum on their Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals Project, dealing with the inscriptions on the seals. In January 2010, Professor Lambert and Dr Irving Finkel identified pieces from a cuneiform tablet that was inscribed with the same text as the

Cyrus Cylinder The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written a declaration in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of Persia's Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great. Kuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72 It dates from the 6th c ...

. Lambert was an external consultant for the

Chicago Assyrian Dictionary The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (CAD) or The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is a nine-decade project at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute to compile a dictionary of the Akkadian language and ...

. His work, 'Introduction: the transmission of the literary and scholarly texts', in ''Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art II: Literary and scholastic texts of the first millennium BC'', was used as background material for The

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

's project, ''Knowledge and Power in the Neo-Assyrian Empire''. He was also noted for his new discoveries in relation to the

Gilgamesh sux, , label=none , image = Hero lion Dur-Sharrukin Louvre AO19862.jpg , alt = , caption = Possible representation of Gilgamesh as Master of Animals, grasping a lion in his left arm and snake in his right hand, in an Assyr ...

text.

Personal life

Lambert was a

Christadelphian The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the U ...

, and a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

. From 1944, he worked in a horticultural nursery north of Birmingham in lieu of

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

and supervised

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

in their work. Later, in his spare time, he was editor of one of his church's quarterly magazines.

Appointments and memberships

* 1959–64: Associate Professor and Chair of Oriental Seminary,

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

* 1970–93: Professor of Assyriology,

. * 1984: President of the

Society for Old Testament Study The Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS) is a learned society, based in the British Isles, of professional scholars and others committed to the study of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament. History SOTS was inaugurated at King's College, London on ...

. Lambert was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

in 1971. He was also a presenting member of the

Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Rencontre or La Rencontre may refer to: * Rencontre East, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada * Rencontre West, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada * La rencontre imprévue, a 1763 opera by Gluck * Diogenes and Alexander The meeting of Diogenes ...

(International Congress of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology).

Bibliography

This is a partial bibliography:

Books

* ''Morals in ancient Mesopotamia'' Jaarbericht 15. Ex Oriente Lux. (1957–58) pp184–196. * ''Babylonian Wisdom Literature'' 1960. (221.849.2 L222) * ''A new Babylonian Theogony and Hesiod'' W. G. Lambert and Peter Walcot (1931–2009). Kadmos 4 (1965) pp64–72. * ''Ancient Near Eastern seals in Birmingham Collections'' (1966) * ''Atra-Hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood'' by W. G. Lambert, A. R. Millard, and Miguel Civil. (Oxford 1969). * ''Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Kouyunjik Collection of the British Museum'' (Jan. 1992) * ''Art of the Eastern World'' by Geza Fehérvári, W. G. Lambert, Ralph H. Pinder-Wilson, and Marian Wenzel (1996) * ''The Qualifications of Babylonian Diviners'' W.G. Lambert in ''Festschrift für Rykle Borger'' (1998). * ''Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Volume II: Literary and Scholastic Texts of the First Millennium BC'' edited by Ira Spar and W. G. Lambert. (2005) * ''Babylonian Oracle Questions'' Eisenbrauns, 2007 () *''Babylonian Creation Myths'' Eisenbrauns, 2013

In honour of

* ''Wisdom, Gods and literature: studies in Assyriology in honour of W.G. Lambert'' By Wilfred G. Lambert, A. R. George, Irving L. Finkel 2002 462pp

Conference papers

* ''Babylonian Siege Equipment''. 52e

. Krieg und Frieden im Alten Vorderasien, Münster, 17–21 July 2006(International Congress of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology) Munster 2006
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Book Reviews

* Review of Erica Reiner ''Astral Magic in Babylonia'' in ''The Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 1999 * Review of Charles Penglase ''Greek Myths and Mesopotamia: Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod.'' 1997 in ''The Journal of the American Oriental Society''

References

External links

Entry for Wilfred Lambert, British Academy
*
Birmingham-born historian and archaeologist Wilfred Lambert dies
, ''Birmingham Post'' (01/12/11) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Wilfred G. 1926 births 2011 deaths English Assyriologists Fellows of the British Academy Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Birmingham Christadelphians English Christians British conscientious objectors Johns Hopkins University faculty Assyriologists Presidents of the Society for Old Testament Study