Jeremy Black (Assyriologist)
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Allen Black, BA, BPhil, MA, DPhil (1 September 1951 – Oxford
28 April 2004) was a British
Assyriologist and Sumerologist, founder of the online Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
.
Black was born in Isleworth
, Middlesex
, England
, and was brought up in Buckinghamshire
, England. He was the only son of tea-taster
Dudley Black and Joan née Denton. At age two he was isolated for a whole year in hospital with polio
, then at age five he suffered the death of his mother.
After his attendance at Slough Grammar School for Boys, in 1969 Black went to Oxford University as Exhibitioner in Classics
to Worcester College. At Oxford he became interested in the ancient languages and cultures of Mesopotamia
, and after qualifying changed his studies to Sumer
ian and Akkadian
under Professor Oliver Gurney
. Black's (still unpublished) BA
dissertation was entitled “A History of Nippur
, from the Earliest Times to the End of the Kassite Period”: this work was utilised in the very beginning of S.W. Cole's book Nippur in Late Assyrian Times, ca. 745-612 B.C., 1996, where it is described as the “only systematic treatment of Nippur's early history”. In 1975 Black attained his BPhil in Cuneiform Studies.
For postgraduate studies, partly supervised by Edmond Sollberger of the British Museum
, and with the continuing guidance of Gurney at Oxford, Black wrote his DPhil dissertation on “Ancient Babylonian Grammatical Theory”, submitted in 1980 and later published under the title Sumerian Grammar in Babylonian Theory, Rome 1984, 2nd edition 1991. A.R. George has described it as “the only book-length examination of the linguistic thinking that underpinned the Babylonians´ understanding of Sumerian”.
While completing his DPhil dissertation, Black took a position with St Catherine´s Foundation at Cumberland Lodge
in Windsor Great Park
. In 1981, however, he was enabled to return full-time to the field of Assyriology
by his appointment to a Research Associate post at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
to work on the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary
Project (see acknowledgement of his contribution on the title pages of volumes 17/Š [1989-1992] and 14/R [1999]).
In 1982 Black took up the post of Assistant Director of the British Archaeological Expedition to Iraq, the Baghdad
wing of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq
, succeeding Michael Roaf
, who had been elevated to the directorship. Following the resignation of Roaf in late 1985, Black was appointed Director, which post he held until early 1988.
In Iraq
Black served as epigrapher on a number of archaeological expeditions, and in Baghdad carried out research in the Iraq Museum, where he worked especially on the tablet
s (cuneiform
documents) discovered in the earlier major British excavations at Ur
and Nimrud
; the latter were published in J.A. Black and D. J. Wiseman
, Cuneiform Tablets from Nimrud, 4: Literary Texts from the Temple of Nabû, London 1996. Black also collaborated on Assyriological works with Iraqi scholars, notably with Farouk Al-Rawi, and with other colleagues from the days in Baghdad: the book Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary (co-authored with Anthony Green
, illustrated by Tessa Rickards, London and Austin 1992, 2nd edition 1998) grew out of such an association. Also in Iraq, Black met and married the British archaeologist Ellen McAdam (later divorced).
Benefitting from the recommendations of the 1986 Parker Report into Asian and African Studies in Universities in the UK, in 1988 Oxford University was able to re-establish a full-time lectureship in Assyriology (absent since the retirement of Gurney in 1978). The new post, known as University Lecturer in Akkadian, was awarded to Black, who was also elected a Fellow of Wolfson College
.
Back in Oxford – apart from periods devoted to full administrative duties, first as Senior Proctor
of the University, 1995–1996, then as Chairman of the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies
, 1999–2001, Black was free to develop his studies in Sumerian literature
, literary criticism
and philology
. Most notable was the publication of his Reading Sumerian Poetry, Oxford 1988. In the assessment of A.R. George, this book “displays ... a real sensitivity to Sumerian imagery”. Black also collaborated with Andrew R. George
and J. Nicholas Postgate on A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 1999 (reprinted 2000). He actively participated in other scholarly projects, such as those of the international “Sumerian Grammar Group” and the Gröningen
-based “Mesopotamian Literature Group”.
From 1997, with initial funding from the Leverhulme Trust
, and later from the Arts and Humanities Research Board, Black founded and administered what may well come to be considered his greatest legacy, the Internet
-based “Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature”. Work by the project team continued after Black's death, although active funding was ended in mid-2006.
The Jeremy Allen Black Trust for Assyriology, a fund to support young Assyriologists, was established by the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University in his memory.
Towards the end of his life Black had the pleasurable discovery of, and contact with, his half-brother, Peter Mitchell (the son of Dudley by his first wife), living in the British Virgin Islands
.
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
28 April 2004) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Assyriologist and Sumerologist, founder of the online Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature is a project that provides an online digital library of translations of Sumerian literature....
.
Black was born in Isleworth
Isleworth
Isleworth is a small town of Saxon origin sited within the London Borough of Hounslow in west London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of settlement, alongside the Thames, is known as...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and was brought up in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England. He was the only son of tea-taster
Tea tasting
Tea tasting is the process in which a trained taster determines the quality of a particular tea. Due to climatic conditions, topography, manufacturing process, and different clones of the Camellia sinensis plant , the final product may have vastly differing flavours and appearance...
Dudley Black and Joan née Denton. At age two he was isolated for a whole year in hospital with polio
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...
, then at age five he suffered the death of his mother.
After his attendance at Slough Grammar School for Boys, in 1969 Black went to Oxford University as Exhibitioner in Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
to Worcester College. At Oxford he became interested in the ancient languages and cultures of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, and after qualifying changed his studies to Sumer
Sumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian and Akkadian
Akkadian language
Akkadian is an extinct Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian, an unrelated language isolate...
under Professor Oliver Gurney
Oliver Gurney
Oliver Robert Gurney was an English Assyriologist and a leading scholar of the Hittites.- Early life :Gurney was born in London in 1911, the son of Robert Gurney, a zoologist, and a nephew of the archaeologist John Garstang...
. Black's (still unpublished) BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
dissertation was entitled “A History of Nippur
Nippur
Nippur was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind," ruler of the cosmos subject to An alone...
, from the Earliest Times to the End of the Kassite Period”: this work was utilised in the very beginning of S.W. Cole's book Nippur in Late Assyrian Times, ca. 745-612 B.C., 1996, where it is described as the “only systematic treatment of Nippur's early history”. In 1975 Black attained his BPhil in Cuneiform Studies.
For postgraduate studies, partly supervised by Edmond Sollberger of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, and with the continuing guidance of Gurney at Oxford, Black wrote his DPhil dissertation on “Ancient Babylonian Grammatical Theory”, submitted in 1980 and later published under the title Sumerian Grammar in Babylonian Theory, Rome 1984, 2nd edition 1991. A.R. George has described it as “the only book-length examination of the linguistic thinking that underpinned the Babylonians´ understanding of Sumerian”.
While completing his DPhil dissertation, Black took a position with St Catherine´s Foundation at Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge is a 17th century country house in Windsor Great Park located 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. It is now occupied by a charitable foundation which holds residential conferences, lectures and discussions concerning the burning issues facing society. The primary beneficiaries of...
in Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a large deer park of , to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century...
. In 1981, however, he was enabled to return full-time to the field of Assyriology
Assyriology
Assyriology is the archaeological, historical, and linguistic study of ancient Mesopotamia and the related cultures that used cuneiform writing. The field covers the Akkadian sister-cultures of Assyria and Babylonia, together with their cultural predecessor; Sumer...
by his appointment to a Research Associate post at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
to work on the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary
Chicago Assyrian Dictionary
The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary or The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is a nine-decade project at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute to compile a dictionary of the Akkadian language and its dialects, focusing on the New-Assyrian forms...
Project (see acknowledgement of his contribution on the title pages of volumes 17/Š [1989-1992] and 14/R [1999]).
In 1982 Black took up the post of Assistant Director of the British Archaeological Expedition to Iraq, the Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
wing of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq
British School of Archaeology in Iraq
The British Institute for the Study of Iraq is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia....
, succeeding Michael Roaf
Michael Roaf
Michael Roaf is a British archeologist, who specialized in ancient Iranian studies and Assyriology. He studied archaeology of Western Asia at the University College of London, and wrote his doctoral thesis, Sculptures and Sculptors at Persepolis at Oxford. From 1981 to 1985 he was director of the...
, who had been elevated to the directorship. Following the resignation of Roaf in late 1985, Black was appointed Director, which post he held until early 1988.
In Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
Black served as epigrapher on a number of archaeological expeditions, and in Baghdad carried out research in the Iraq Museum, where he worked especially on the tablet
Clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age....
s (cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
documents) discovered in the earlier major British excavations at Ur
Ur
Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
and Nimrud
Nimrud
Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris in modern Ninawa Governorate Iraq. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after the Biblical Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero .The city covered an area of around . Ruins of the city...
; the latter were published in J.A. Black and D. J. Wiseman
Donald Wiseman
Donald John Wiseman OBE, FBA was a Biblical scholar, archaeologist and Assyriologist. He was Professor of Assyriology at the University of London from 1961 to 1982.-Early life and beliefs:...
, Cuneiform Tablets from Nimrud, 4: Literary Texts from the Temple of Nabû, London 1996. Black also collaborated on Assyriological works with Iraqi scholars, notably with Farouk Al-Rawi, and with other colleagues from the days in Baghdad: the book Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary (co-authored with Anthony Green
Anthony Green (Near Eastern archaeologist)
Dr Anthony Green is an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in Near Eastern Archaeology at the Freie Universität Berlin, and a former Baghdad Fellow of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania and G. A....
, illustrated by Tessa Rickards, London and Austin 1992, 2nd edition 1998) grew out of such an association. Also in Iraq, Black met and married the British archaeologist Ellen McAdam (later divorced).
Benefitting from the recommendations of the 1986 Parker Report into Asian and African Studies in Universities in the UK, in 1988 Oxford University was able to re-establish a full-time lectureship in Assyriology (absent since the retirement of Gurney in 1978). The new post, known as University Lecturer in Akkadian, was awarded to Black, who was also elected a Fellow of Wolfson College
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
.
Back in Oxford – apart from periods devoted to full administrative duties, first as Senior Proctor
Proctor
Proctor, a variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam or dormitory.The title is used in England in three principal senses:...
of the University, 1995–1996, then as Chairman of the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
, 1999–2001, Black was free to develop his studies in Sumerian literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, literary criticism
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
and philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
. Most notable was the publication of his Reading Sumerian Poetry, Oxford 1988. In the assessment of A.R. George, this book “displays ... a real sensitivity to Sumerian imagery”. Black also collaborated with Andrew R. George
Andrew R. George
Andrew R. George is a British academic best known for his translations of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Andrew George is Professor of Babylonian, Department of the Languages and Cultures of Near and Middle East at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.-Books by Andrew...
and J. Nicholas Postgate on A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 1999 (reprinted 2000). He actively participated in other scholarly projects, such as those of the international “Sumerian Grammar Group” and the Gröningen
Gröningen
Gröningen is a town in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It lies approx. 40 km south-west of Magdeburg, and 10 km east of Halberstadt. It has 4,180 inhabitants . Gröningen is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Westliche Börde....
-based “Mesopotamian Literature Group”.
From 1997, with initial funding from the Leverhulme Trust
Leverhulme Trust
The Leverhulme Trust was established in 1925 under the will of the First Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, with the instruction that its resources should be used to support "scholarships for the purposes of research and education."...
, and later from the Arts and Humanities Research Board, Black founded and administered what may well come to be considered his greatest legacy, the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-based “Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature”. Work by the project team continued after Black's death, although active funding was ended in mid-2006.
The Jeremy Allen Black Trust for Assyriology, a fund to support young Assyriologists, was established by the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University in his memory.
Towards the end of his life Black had the pleasurable discovery of, and contact with, his half-brother, Peter Mitchell (the son of Dudley by his first wife), living in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
.
External links
- The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature can be found at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL).
Sources
- Obituary by Andrew R. George in Iraq (Journal of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq) 66 (2004), pp. vii-ix.
- Obituary by Irving Finkel and Stephen Roe in College Record (Wolfson College Oxford) 2003-2004, pp. 23–25 (republished from The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
). - Personal reflections by Jay Lewis in College Record (Wolfson College Oxford) 2003-2004, pp. 21–23.