James Henry Breasted
Sign in to saveAlso known as J. H. Breasted, H. J. Breasted
American archaeologist, Egyptologist and historian (1865–1935)
Key facts
- Born
- James Henry Breasted , ( 1865-08-27 ) August 27, 1865, Rockford, Illinois , U.S.
- Died
- December 2, 1935 (1935-12-02) (aged 70), New York City , U.S.
- Education
- North Central College ( BA ) Chicago Theological Seminary Yale University ( MA ) University of Berlin ( PhD )
- Known for
- Popularizing the term " Fertile Crescent ", Founder of the Oriental Institute
- Fields
- Archaeology Egyptology
- Institutions
- University of Chicago
- Thesis
- De hymnis in Solem sub rege Amenophide IV conceptis (1894)
- Doctoral advisor
- Adolf Erman
- Doctoral students
- Robert John Braidwood
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Henry
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Rockford
- Place of death
- New York City
- Occupation
- pharmacist
- Position held
- professor
- Employer
- University of Chicago
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Academic degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Doctoral advisor
- Adolf Erman
- Student of
- Adolf Erman
- Field of work
- Egyptology
- Image
- Smithsonian Institution Archives - SIA2007-0364.jpg
- Work location
- tomb of Tutankhamun
Show 12 more facts
- Commons Creator page
- James Henry Breasted
- member of
- American Historical Association
- Commons category
- James Henry Breasted
- date of death
- 1935-12-02
- date of birth
- 1865-08-27
- cause of death
- pneumonia
- writing language
- English language
- archives at
- University of Wisconsin–Madison
- writing system
- Latin script
- name in native language
- James Henry Breasted
- manner of death
- natural causes
- professorship
- full professor
Sources (6)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
James Henry Breasted (/ˈbrɛstɪd/; August 27, 1865 – December 2, 1935) was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894 – the first American to obtain a doctorate in Egyptology – he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901, he became director of the Haskell Oriental Museum at the university, where he continued to concentrate on Egypt. In 1905, Breasted was promoted to full professor and held the first chair in Egyptology and Oriental History in the United States.
Breasted was a committed field researcher in Egypt and the Levant and had a productive interest in recording and interpreting ancient writings, especially from sources and structures that he feared may be lost forever. In 1919, he founded the Oriental Institute (later known as, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures) at the University of Chicago, a center for interdisciplinary study of ancient civilizations. That same year, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “James Henry Breasted” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.