Paul-Émile Botta
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Paul-Émile Botta (6 December 1802 – 29 March 1870) was an Italian-born French scientist who served as
Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
in
Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
(then in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, now in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
) from 1842, and who discovered the ruins of the ancient Assyrian capital of
Dur-Sharrukin Dur-Sharrukin (, "Fortress of Sargon"; , Syriac Language, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul. ...
.


Life

He was born Paolo Emiliano Botta in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
, Italy, on December 6, 1802. His father was Italian historian Carlo Giuseppe Guglielmo Botta (1766–1837). In 1822 they moved to Paris where he studied under
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (; 12 September 1777 – 1 May 1850) was a French zoologist and anatomist. Life Blainville was born at Arques-la-Bataille, Arques, near Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, Dieppe. As a young man, he went to Paris to study a ...
. Botta was selected to be naturalist on a voyage around the world. Although he had no formal medical training, he also served as the ship surgeon. The ''Heros'' under Captain Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly (1790–1849) left
Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
April 8, 1826, and sailed south through the Atlantic Ocean, stopping in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
and around
Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
. They traveled up the coast stopping at Callao, Mexico, and
Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
. Jean Baptiste Rives (1793–1833), the former secretary of the
Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...
, had convinced investors from the family of Jacques Laffitte to finance the voyage to promote trade to California and Hawaii, but Rives disappeared along with some of the cargo. Translation from French of Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly, ''Voyage autour du monde, principalement à la California et aux Îles Sandwich, pendant les années 1826, 1827, 1828, et 1829'' After visiting the
Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
they reached China on December 27, 1828. In late July, 1829, the ''Heros'' returned to Le Havre. On January 5, 1830, Botta defended his doctor's thesis. In 1831 he sailed to
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, where he met
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...
. Some historians think the French traveler Marigny in Disraeli's novel ''Contarini Fleming'' was based on Botta. In 1836 Botta was sent to Yemen to collect plants on behalf of the Paris Natural History Museum. The French Government appointed Botta as Consul at Mosul in 1842. While there he discovered the ruins of the ancient Assyrian capital of
Dur-Sharrukin Dur-Sharrukin (, "Fortress of Sargon"; , Syriac Language, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul. ...
, and on his return to France in 1845 brought with him many artifacts from it. This achievement earned him a spectacular reputation as an Orientalist. In 1848 after the French Revolution of 1848, Botta became French consul in
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 ...
, and, after his failed diplomatic mission in
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
in 1851, he was consul in Tripoli from 1855 to 1868. Due to his bad health he returned to France. He died on March 29, 1870, in Achères, France.


Mosul

Botta was chosen as French Consular Agent in part because of Julius von Mohl's inspiration. Mohl, of the French Asiatic Society, had read Claudius Rich's ''Memoirs'' and ''Narrative'', concluding Mosul held possibilities for excavation. Botta's skills as a naturalist, historian, languages and diplomatic service made him an obvious choice to lead such an investigation. Arriving in 1842, Botta first bought antiquities, bricks and clay fragments, and then initially investigating the Nabi Yunus mound before he faced opposition. He then turned his attention on Kuyunjik in December, where he spent a year with only a few inscribed bricks and pieces of alabaster. Then, in March 1843, an Arab described
Khorsabad Dur-Sharrukin (, "Fortress of Sargon"; , Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul. The great city ...
and numerous inscribed bricks to be found there. His workers soon turned up limestone walls with relief sculpture containing Assyrian figures. This was
Dur-Sharrukin Dur-Sharrukin (, "Fortress of Sargon"; , Syriac Language, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul. ...
, or "Sargon's Town", the capital of King Sargon II. Botta sent a dispatch to Mohl stating, "I believe myself to be the first who has discovered sculptures which with some reason can be referred to the period when Nineveh was flourishing." Botta uncovered chambers, halls, and corridors, walls of
bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
Assyrian scenes and gods, plus doorways flanked by winged bulls with human heads The French government, highly gratified at the surprising success of its consul, supplied him with ample means for further research as well as the artist Eugène Flandin to document Botta's discoveries. Flandin arrived in May 1844, illustrating alabaster sculptures before they were ruined by the desert heat. Botta continued excavating from 1843 until 1846, and attempted to ship some down the Tigris, the first a failure but the second a success. These were exhibited in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
a few months later. Botta continued excavating until 1846, when nine other archaeologists took over. This group included
Austen Layard Sir Austen Henry Layard (; 5 March 18175 July 1894) was an English Assyriologist, traveller, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, politician and diplomat. He was born to a mostly English family in Paris and largely raised in It ...
and Emile Burnouf. Botta published his Ninevah findings in his ''Monuments de Ninive découverts et décrits par Botta, mesurés et dessinés par Flandin''. The Consulate at Mosul was suppressed by the
French Second Republic The French Second Republic ( or ), officially the French Republic (), was the second republican government of France. It existed from 1848 until its dissolution in 1852. Following the final defeat of Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle ...
, and Botta was sent to the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
.


Legacy

*Botta was also a
naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
. He collected
mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...
, birds, reptiles, and
insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...
in California in the 1820s and 1830s, as well as in Mesopotamia. The rubber boa (''Charina bottae''), a Western United States
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
, is named in his honor.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Botta", p. 33). *
Botta's pocket gopher Botta's pocket gopher (''Thomomys bottae'') is a pocket gopher native to western North America. It is also known in some areas as valley pocket gopher, particularly in California. Both the specific and common names of this species honor Paul-Émi ...
described by
Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux (23 April 1802 – 6 July 1841) was a French naturalist. Biography Eydoux and Louis François Auguste Souleyet were surgeon naturalists on the expedition ship "La Favorite" which made a circumnavigation in 1830-32 ...
and Paul Gervais commemorates his name.


References


Further reading

* Paul-Émile Botta and Eugène Flandin, ''Les Monuments de Ninive'' (Paris 1849-1859) * Glyn Daniel, ''A short history of archaeology'' (London, Thames and Hudson 1981). * , ''Khorsabad. Les découvertes de V. Place en Assyrie'', (Paris 1918). * (French) * (translation of French)


External links

*
Botta in the Louvre

Khorsabad
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Botta, Paul-Emile 1802 births 1870 deaths Scientists from Turin Immigrants to France Diplomats from Turin French naturalists French entomologists Archaeologists of the Near East 19th-century French writers 19th-century French archaeologists 19th-century French diplomats French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French male writers People associated with the Louvre Italian expatriates in the Ottoman Empire French expatriates in the Ottoman Empire