Caspar Detlef Gustav Müller (19 July 1927 - 24 January 2003) was a German
Coptologist
Coptology is the scientific study of the Copts, Coptic people.
Origin
The European interest in Coptology may have started as early as the 15th century AD. The term was used in 1976 when the First International Congress of Coptology was held in ...
,
Ethiopanist, and
historian of religion. His specialty was the
Coptic Church
The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...
in Egypt as well as
Christianity in Ethiopia
Christianity in Ethiopia is the country's largest religion with members making up 68% of the population.
Christianity in Ethiopia dates back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, when the Ezana of Aksum, King Ezana first adopted the faith in the 4th ...
, and was a scholar of various languages including
Coptic,
Amharic
Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
, and
Ge'ez (classical Ethiopic). He served as chair for the study of the Christian Orient at the
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
. His tenure as professor there was from 1976 to 1993, when he took emeritus status.
Biography
C.D.G. Müller was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Germany on 19 July 1927. He performed his undergraduate studies in his hometown at the
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany.
The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
, where he studied
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...
,
Egyptology
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...
under
Fritz Hintze,
Protestant theology
Protestant theology refers to the doctrines held by various Protestant traditions, which share some things in common but differ in others. In general, Protestant theology, as a subset of Christian theology, holds to faith in the Christian Bible, t ...
, and
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...
. In 1949 he moved to
Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...
, where he continued his studies under the church historian and theologian
Hans von Campenhausen
Hans Erich Freiherr Campenhausen, von Campenhausen (16 December 1903 – 6 January 1989) was a German Baltic Protestant theologian. He is one of the most important Protestant ecclesiastical historians of the 20th century.
Life and work
Hans von ...
. There, he received his doctorate in theology, with his dissertation ("The Old-Coptic Preaching"). As an employee of the
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: ''Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften''), established in 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany, is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The acade ...
, he continued his education at Heidelberg; his
habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
thesis in 1959 was ("The Angelology of the Coptic Church"). In 1962, he published a book translating the manuscript M.593 for the first time, which contained the ''
Investiture of the Archangel Michael'' and the ''
Investiture of Gabriel the Archangel''. In 1966 he began to teach church history at Heidelberg, particularly of the Christian Church in the Orient.
In 1976 he gained a tenure track position as a professor at the
Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn in
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
. In 1979 he took the newly created chair for the study of the Christian Orient there. A ''
festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
'' was published in his honor in 1988 for his 60th birthday, ''Nubia et oriens christianus. Festschrift für C. Detlef G. Müller zum 60. Geburtstag''.
In 1993, he took emeritus status and retired.
Müller died in Bonn on 24 January 2003 after a long struggle with illness.
Despite the title, this is almost surely a typo, as all other authorities report a birthdate in 1927, not 1929.
Selected works
As author:
* ''Die alte koptische Predigt. Versuche eines Überblicks''. Hessische Druckerei, Darmstadt 1954, (dissertation, Heidelberg 1953).
* ''Die Engellehre der koptischen Kirche – Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der christlichen Frömmigkeit in Ägypten''. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1959, (habilitation thesis, Heidelberg).
* ''Die Bücher der Einsetzung der Erzengel Michael und Gabriel''. Secretariat du Corpus SCO, Louvain 1962, .
* ''Kirche und Mission unter den Arabern in vorislamischer Zeit. Antrittsvorlesung''. J.C.B. Mohr, Tübingen 1967, .
* ''Grundzüge des christlich-islamischen Ägypten von der Ptolemäerzeit bis zur Gegenwart'' (= ''Grundzüge.'' Band 11). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1969, .
* ''Geschichte der orientalischen Nationalkirchen'' (= ''Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte. Lieferung D,2.'' Band 1). Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen 1981, ISBN 3-525-52314-9.
As an editor:
* ''Benjamin I. Patriarch von Alexandrien: Die Homilie über die Hochzeit zu Kana und weitere Schriften'' (= ''Abhandlungen der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse.'' Jahrgang 1968, Abhandlung 1). Winter, Heidelberg 1968, .
* ''Märchen aus Äthiopien''. Diederichs, München 1992, ISBN 3-424-01092-8.
''Festschrift'':
*
References
External links
*
Works at Regesta ImperiiWorks at WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller, Caspar Detlef Gustav
1927 births
2003 deaths
Academics from Berlin
Coptologists
German orientalists
Ethiopianists
German historians of religion
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Heidelberg University alumni
Academic staff of Heidelberg University
Academic staff of the University of Bonn