This is a partial list of Assyriologists. An Assyriologist is a person who specializes in the archaeological, historical, cultural and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq).
A Arthur Amiaud (French, 1849–1889), known for early researches into Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions.
B
Zainab Bahrani (Iraqi, born 1962), Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology at Columbia University. Taha Baqir (Iraqi, 1912–1984), former curator of the National Museum of Iraq, translated the Epic of Gilgamesh into Arabic. Paul-Alain Beaulieu (Canadian, born 1955), Professor of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto. Behnam Abu Alsoof (Iraqi, 1931–2012), anthropologist, historian and writer, known for excavations in the Tigris valley. Carl Bezold (German, 1859–1922), known primarily for research in Akkadian, catalogued the Library of Ashurbanipal. Robert D. Biggs (American, born 1934), editor of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Riekele Borger (Dutch, 1929–2010), famous for his cuneiform sign lists. Jean Bottéro (French, 1914–2007), expert on the Ancient Near East.
C Dominique Charpin (French, born 1954), professor at the Collège de France specializing in the "Old-Babylonian" period. Henry Adrian Churchill (British, 1828–1886), diplomat and archaeological explorer of ancient Mesopotamia. Muazzez İlmiye Çığ (Turkish, 1914–2024), archaeologist specialising in Sumerian civilisation. Miguel Civil (American, 1926–2019), expert on Sumer (including the Sumerian language) and Ancient Mesopotamian studies at the University of Chicago. Albert T. Clay (American, 1866–1925), professor at Yale University, historian and expert on Semitic languages.
D Stephanie Dalley (British, born 1943), known for cuneiform texts and investigation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Friedrich Delitzsch (German, 1850–1922), expert on Middle Eastern languages who maintained that much of Old Testament was derived from ancient Babylonian tales. Manfried Manfried Dietrich (German, born 1935), known for Ugaritic studies and the foundation of Ugarit-Verlag. Georges Dossin (Belgian, 1896–1983), archaeologist who worked on excavation of sites in Syria. Jean-Marie Durand (French, born 1940), whose research mainly concerns texts found in the ruins of the ancient city of Mari.
E Dietz Otto Edzard (German, 1930–2004), scholar of the Ancient Near East and grammarian of the Sumerian language. Joseph Epping (German, 1835–1894), astronomer who undertook a mathematical investigation of the Babylonian astronomical observations and tables.
F
Irving Finkel (British, born 1951), philologist who specializes in cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia. Daniel E. Fleming (American, born 1957), biblical scholar whose work centres on Hebrew Bible interpretation. Fulgence Fresnel (French, 1795–1855), Orientalist scholar who led one of the first archaeological teams to excavate in Mesopotamia.
G Gwendolyn Leick Lamia Al-Gailani Werr (Iraqi, 1938–2019), specialist in ancient Mesopotamian antiquities. Paul Garelli (French, 1924–2006), lecturer and professor at the Sorbonne who taught history of the peoples of the Semitic East. Joseph Étienne Gautier (French, 1861–1924), archaeologist who uncovered several overlapping stages of cultures that predated the time of Sargon of Akkad. Andrew R. George (British, born 1955), linguist who translated and annotated of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Ignace Gelb (Polish, American, 1907–1985), linguist who published editions of Akkadian texts and a grammar and dictionary of Old Akkadian Jean-Jacques Glassner (French, born 1944), historian specializing in the Mesopotamian world and cuneiform script. Georg Friedrich Grotefend (German, 1775–1853), epigraphist and philologist known for his contributions to deciphering cuneiform. Oliver Gurney (British, 1911–2001), expert on the Hittites.
H
Joseph Halévy (Ottoman-French, 1827–1917), Orientalist and traveller who crossed Yemen in search of Sabaean inscriptions. William W. Hallo (German-American, 1928–2015), professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature, and curator of the Babylonian collection at Yale University. Richard Hallock (American, 1906-1980), former editorial secretary of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary Hendrik Arent Hamaker (Dutch, 1789–1835), philologist and Orientalist who worked on Oriental languages. Paul Haupt (German-American, 1858–1926), Semitic scholar, one of the pioneers of Assyriology in the United States. Hermann Volrath Hilprecht (German-American, 1859–1925), archaeologist who carried out excavations in Iraq. Edward Hincks (Irish, 1792–1866), one of the decipherers of Mesopotamian cuneiform. Paul Y. Hoskisson (American, born 1943), professor of Ancient scripture who has published research on the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament. Thomas Hyde (English, 1636–1703), Orientalist and linguist who mastered Turkish, Arabic, Syriac, Persian, Hebrew and Malay, and coined the word "cuneiform".
J Thorkild Jacobsen (Danish, 1904—1993), director of the Chicago Oriental Institute and professor of Assyriology at Harvard University, produced an English translation of the Sumerian King List. Liane Jakob-Rost (German, born 1928), focussed on editing and publishing cuneiform sources in the collection of the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin. Morris Jastrow Jr. (Polish-American, 1861–1921), Orientalist and librarian who made linguistic studies of Semitic languages. Alfred Jeremias (German, 1864–1935), pastor and expert on the religions of the ancient Near East. Claude Hermann Walter Johns (British, 1857–1920), lecturer in Assyriology at Cambridge University, as well as in Assyrian at King's College, London.
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