Félix-Marie Abel (29 December 1878 – 24 March 1953) was a French archaeologist, a geographer, and a professor at the

École Biblique École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis. It is housed by the Saint-Étienne priory. Associate ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. A Dominican priest, he was one of the most prominent bible scholars in the end of Ottoman era and British Mandate era. His work "remains even today the authority on the Greek sources for Palestine", according to Benedict T. Viviano.

Biography

Abel was born in Saint-Uze, in the

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

department, on 29 December 1878. He was educated at the Preparatory Seminary of Valence. He was ordained on 1 February 1897 at Saint-Maximin. In 1897 he arrived in Jerusalem to study in the École Biblique founded by

Marie-Joseph Lagrange Marie-Joseph Lagrange (born Albert Marie-Henri Lagrange; 7 March 1855 – 10 March 1938) was a Dominican priest and founder of the École Biblique in Jerusalem. His cause for beatification has been initiated in 1991. Life Albert Marie-Henri ...

; Lagrange had recruited him (and :fr:Raphaël Savignac) to help him get "a clear grasp of physical environment and the cultural framework of the Bible". Abel graduated in 1900. In 1905 he became a professor at the École Biblique teaching Church History, Greek, topography, archaeology, and Coptic; he served there until his death in 1953. Starting in 1906, he served as guide to scriptural tours through Palestine, Phoenicia, and Syria.

Work

He published a number of studies in various disciplines—linguistics, geography, and history. His ''Grammaire du Grec Biblique'' is a grammar of

Biblical Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...

(1927). Preceded by a volume on Palestine in the

Guide Bleu The Guide Bleu is a series of French-language travel guides published by Hachette Livre Hachette Livre S.A. (; simply known as Hachette) is a French publishing, publishing group that was based in Paris. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachett ...

series of travel guides, his ''Géographie de la Palestine'' (Paris, 1933–1938) treats the political, historical and physical geography from the most remote times until the Byzantine period. The book has two volumes, the first a physical geography, and the second a historical geography. The study supports, for instance, the theory of William F. Lynch that the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''ʾĪssīyīm''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') or Essenians were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd cent ...

lived in a set of small caves directly above

Ein Gedi Ein Gedi (, ), also spelled En Gedi, meaning "Spring (hydrology), spring of the goat, kid", is an oasis, an Archaeological site, archeological site and a nature reserve in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Qumran Caves. ...

(which Lynch had visited in 1848), a theory later discredited by scholarship. The topographical quality of his work was quite influential: according to

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (born 10 April 1935, Cork City, Ireland – died 11 November 2013, Jerusalem) was an Irish Dominican priest, a leading authority on St. Paul, and a Professor of New Testament at the École Biblique in Jerusalem, a posi ...

, "The ten maps he prepared have served as the prime, but often unacknowledged, source of much subsequent topographical identification". In 1952 he published ''Histoire de la Palestine depuis la conquête d'Alexandre jusqu'à l'invasion arabe'', a comprehensive history. He also edited and translated the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...

for the École Biblique's edition of the bible, translated the

Books of the Maccabees The Books of the Maccabees or the Sefer HaMakabim (the ''Book of the Maccabees'') recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty. List of books The Books of the Maccabees refers to canonical ...

and identified several battle sites of the

Maccabean Revolt The Maccabean Revolt () was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of ...

and other places that related to

Hasmonean dynasty The Hasmonean dynasty (; ''Ḥašmōnāʾīm''; ) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity), from BC to 37 BC. Between and BC the dynasty rule ...

. He contributed articles to the ''Revue Biblique'' and the ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. With Louis-Hugues Vincent he published a number of works, the most famous of which are the three volumes of topographic-archaeological-historical studies on the city of Jerusalem. They worked together also at the excavations of

Emmaus Emmaus ( ; ; ; ) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus. Although its geograp ...

, on research on the

Cave of the Patriarchs The Cave of the Patriarchs or Tomb of the Patriarchs, known to Jews by its Biblical name Cave of Machpelah () and to Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham (), is a series of caves situated south of Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the ...

in Hebron, and at the

Church of the Nativity The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine. The grotto holds a prominent religious significance to Christianity, Christians of various denominations as the Nativity of Jesus, ...

. With Savignac he argued that archeological remains beneath the

St. Stephen's Basilica, Jerusalem The St. Stephen's Basilica () or simply the Church of St. Stephen, also known by its French name, Saint-Étienne, is the name given to a Catholic church located outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on the road leading north to Nablus. I ...

, which houses the École Biblique, were those of the basilica built by Empress Eudocia in the 5th century CE, but not that this was also the site of the stoning of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr.

Bibliography, books

* Vincent, L.-H., and F.-M. Abel. ''Jérusalem: Recherches de topographie, d'archéologie et d'histoire'' **Vol. 1
''Jérusalem antique''
Paris, 1912. **Vol. 2 (1st part)
''Jérusalem nouvelle''
Paris, 1914. **Vol. 2 (2nd part)
''Jérusalem nouvelle''
Paris, 1922. * * * * Abel, Félix-Marie. ''Grammaire du Grec biblique suivie d'un choix de Papyrus''. Paris, 1927. * * * * Abel, F.-M. ''Histoire de la Palestine depuis la conquête d'Alexandre jusqu'à l'invasion arabe''. Paris, 1952.

Bibliography, articles (partial list)

* * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Felix-Marie 1878 births 1953 deaths Biblical archaeologists Dominican scholars French archaeologists French biblical scholars French Dominicans People from Drôme Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia Palestinologists Roman Catholic biblical scholars

Biography

Work

Bibliography, books

Bibliography, articles (partial list)

See also

References