Judah Benzion "Ben" Segal, FBA (21 June 1912 – 23 October 2003,

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

) was Professor of

Semitic Languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...

at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

. His father was Professor Moshe Zvi Segal and his brother was the doctor and Labour Party politician Samuel Segal. He had two daughters; one is Prof. Naomi Segal.

Education

* Magdalen College School, Oxford * St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. Jarrett Scholar, 1932; John Stewart of Rannoch Scholar in Hebrew, 1933; 1st Class Oriental Langs Tripos, 1935; Tyrwhitt Scholar and Mason Prizeman, 1936. BA (Cambridge), 1935, MA 1938; DPhil (Oxford) 1939. * Colours, Cambridge University Boxing Club, 1935, 1936.

Career

* Mansel Research Exhibitioner,

St. John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, 1936–39; James Mew Scholar, 1937. * Deputy Assistant Director, Public Security,

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Government, 1939–41 * Served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, GHQ, MEF, 1942–44, Captain; Education Officer, British Military Administration, Tripolitania, 1945–46. He was awarded a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1942. * School of Oriental and African Studies from 1946; Head of Department of Near and Middle East, 1961–68; Professor 1961–79, then Emeritus Professor; Honorary Fellow 1983. * Visiting Lecturer,

Ain Shams University Ain Shams University ( ar, جامعة عين شمس) is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was fou ...

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 ...

, 1979 * Research Fellow,

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, 1980 *

Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

, South India, 1981

Involvement in Jewish community

* Principal, Leo Baeck College, 1982–85; President, 1985-2003 * Member,

Council of Christians and Jews The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) is a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom. It is composed of Christians and Jews working together to counter anti-semitism and other forms of intolerance in Britain. Their patron was Queen Elizabeth ...

* President: North Western Reform Synagogue * President: British Association for Jewish Studies, 1980 * Vice-president, Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, 1985–91

Honours

* Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

, 1968 * Freedom, City of Urfa, Turkey, 1973

Publications

* ''The Diacritical Point and the Accents in Syriac'', 1953 * ''The Hebrew Passover'', 1963 * ''The Sabian Mysteries. The planet cult of ancient Harran, Vanished Civilizations'', 1963 * ''Edessa, 'the blessed city, 1970 * ''Aramaic Texts From North Saqqara'', 1983 * ''A History of the Jews of Cochin'', 1993 * ''Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum'', 2000 * ''Whisper Awhile'', 2000 * Articles in learned periodicals. 1912 births 2003 deaths People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II Linguists from the United Kingdom British Jews Fellows of the British Academy Recipients of the Military Cross Syriacists People associated with Leo Baeck College Burials at Golders Green Jewish Cemetery 20th-century linguists {{UK-linguist-stub