Joseph Étienne Gautier (6 September 1861,

Oullins Oullins () is a former Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in eastern France. It is a suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to it on the southwest. On 1 January 2024, Oul ...

– 10 February 1924,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a French

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. He received his education in his hometown of Oullins and at the ''

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

'' (EPHE) in Paris. From 1884 to 1888, he took part in archaeological research throughout the Middle East (

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

), and in 1893 conducted exploratory work at Tell et-Tin, near the city of

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

. From 1894 to 1896, with Gustave Jéquier, he performed archaeological excavations in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and in the meantime, studied

Assyriology Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia''), also known as Cuneiform studies or Ancient Near East studies, is the archaeological, anthropological, historical, and linguistic study of the cultures that used cuneiform writing. The fie ...

in Paris as a student of

Jean-Vincent Scheil Father Jean-Vincent Scheil (born 10 June 1858, Kœnigsmacker – died 21 September 1940, Paris) was a French Dominican scholar and Assyriologist. He is credited as the discoverer of the Code of Hammurabi in Persia. In 1911 he came into possessio ...

.Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française
by Pouillon François (biography in French) From 1897, at

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

, he was part of an archaeological team under the leadership of

Jacques de Morgan Jean-Jacques de Morgan (3 June 1857 – 14 June 1924) was a French mining engineer, geologist, and archaeologist. He was the director of antiquities in Egypt during the 19th century, and excavated in Memphis and Dahshur, providing many dra ...

. In the neighboring region of Moussian, with Georges Lampre (1855-1912), he uncovered several overlapping stages of cultures that predated the time of

Sargon of Akkad Sargon of Akkad (; ; died 2279 BC), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highly unc ...

. From 1904 to 1907 he served as director of archaeological excavations at Susa. Afterwards, he returned to Egypt, where he conducted archaeological digs at

Elephantine Elephantine ( ; ; ; ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological site, archaeological digs on the island became a World Heritage Site in 1979, along with other examples of ...

Published works

With others, he made contributions to the series' "''Textes élamites-anzanites''" (

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Scythic, Median, Amardian, Anshanian and Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was recorded in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite i ...

-Anzanite texts, 1901-) and "''Textes élamites-sémitiques''" (Elamite- Semitic texts, 1900-1913), as well as to the multi-volume "''Mémoires de la Mission Archéologique de Perse''". His other noted written efforts include: * ''Mémoire sur les fouilles de Licht'', 1902 (with Gustave Jéquier) – Memoirs on the excavations at Licht. * ''Fouilles de Moussian'', 1905 (with Georges Lampre) – Excavation at Moussian. * ''Archives d'une famille de Dilbat au temps de la première dynastie de Babylone'', 1908 – Archives of a family at

Dilbat Dilbat (modern Tell ed-Duleim or Tell al-Deylam) was an ancient Near Eastern city located 25 kilometers south of Babylon on the eastern bank of the Western Euphrates in modern-day Babil Governorate, Iraq. It lies 15 kilometers southeast of the an ...

during the First Dynasty of Babylon. * ''Annales de Tukulti Ninip II, roi d'Assyrie 889-884'', 1909 (with Jean-Vincent Scheil) – Annals of Tukulti Ninip II, king of Assyria 889-884.Most widely held works by Joseph Étienne Gautier
WorldCat Identities

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gautier, Joseph Etienne 1861 births 1924 deaths People from Oullins French archaeologists French Egyptologists French Assyriologists French expatriates in the Ottoman Empire