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 county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

) 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 a ...

. His father was Professor

Moshe Zvi Segal Moshe Zvi (Hirsch) Segal (Hebrew: משה צבי סגל) (born 23 September 1875; died 11 January 1968) was an Israeli rabbi, linguist and Talmudic scholar. Biography Segal was born in Maishad, Lithuania in 1875. In 1896, he moved with his fami ...

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 St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

. 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, 1936–39; James Mew Scholar, 1937. * Deputy Assistant Director, Public Security, Sudan Government, 1939–41 * Served in World War II, GHQ, MEF, 1942–44, Captain; Education Officer, British Military Administration, Tripolitania, 1945–46. He was awarded a Military Cross 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, Cairo, 1979 * Research Fellow, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1980 * Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship, South India, 1981

Involvement in Jewish community

* Principal, Leo Baeck College, 1982–85; President, 1985-2003 * Member, Council of Christians and Jews * 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, 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