Joseph Halévy
Encyclopedia
Joseph Halévy was an Ottoman
born Jewish-French
Orientalist
and traveller.
He did his most notable work was done in Yemen
, which he crossed during 1869 to 1870 in search of Sabaean inscriptions, no European having traversed that land since AD 24; the result was a most valuable collection of 800 inscriptions etc.
While a teacher in Jewish schools, first in his native town and later in Bucharest
, he devoted his leisure to the study of Oriental languages and archeology, in which he became proficient. In 1868 he was sent by the Alliance Israélite Universelle
to Abyssinia to study the conditions of the Falashas
. His report on that mission, which he had fulfilled with distinguished success, attracted the attention of the French Institute (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres), which sent him to Yemen to study the Sabaean inscriptions. Halévy returned with 686 of these, deciphering and interpreting them, and thus succeeding in reconstructing the rudiments of the Sabaean language
and mythology. In 1879 Halévy became professor of Ethiopic in the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, and librarian of the Société Asiatique.
Halévy's scientific activity has been very extensive, and his writings on Oriental philology and archeology, which display great originality and ingenuity, have earned for him a worldwide reputation. He is especially known through his controversies with eminent Assyriologists concerning the non-Semitic Sumerian
idiom found in the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions. Contrary to the generally admitted opinion, Halévy put forward the theory that Sumerian is not a language, but merely an ideographic method of writing invented by the Semitic Babylonians themselves.
Halevy was a professor at the University of Paris
.
and his descendants, however, although considerably embellished, he regards as fundamentally historical, and as the work of one author. The contradictions found in these narratives, and which are responsible for the belief of modern critics in a multiplicity of authors, disappear upon close examination. The hypothesis
of Jahwist
ic and Elohist
ic documents is, according to him, fallacious.
The following are Halévy's principal works, all of which have been published in Paris:
In the earlier part of his life he was a regular contributor to the Hebrew periodicals, the clarity of his Hebrew being greatly admired.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
born Jewish-French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Orientalist
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...
and traveller.
He did his most notable work was done in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, which he crossed during 1869 to 1870 in search of Sabaean inscriptions, no European having traversed that land since AD 24; the result was a most valuable collection of 800 inscriptions etc.
While a teacher in Jewish schools, first in his native town and later in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, he devoted his leisure to the study of Oriental languages and archeology, in which he became proficient. In 1868 he was sent by the Alliance Israélite Universelle
Alliance Israélite Universelle
The Alliance Israélite Universelle is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 by the French statesman Adolphe Crémieux to safeguard the human rights of Jews around the world...
to Abyssinia to study the conditions of the Falashas
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
. His report on that mission, which he had fulfilled with distinguished success, attracted the attention of the French Institute (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres), which sent him to Yemen to study the Sabaean inscriptions. Halévy returned with 686 of these, deciphering and interpreting them, and thus succeeding in reconstructing the rudiments of the Sabaean language
Sabaean language
Sabaean , also known as Himyarite , was an Old South Arabian language spoken in Yemen from c. 1000 BC to the 6th century AD, by the Sabaeans; it was used as a written language by some other peoples of Ancient Yemen, including the Hashidites, Sirwahites, Humlanites, Ghaymanites, Himyarites,...
and mythology. In 1879 Halévy became professor of Ethiopic in the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, and librarian of the Société Asiatique.
Halévy's scientific activity has been very extensive, and his writings on Oriental philology and archeology, which display great originality and ingenuity, have earned for him a worldwide reputation. He is especially known through his controversies with eminent Assyriologists concerning the non-Semitic Sumerian
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
idiom found in the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions. Contrary to the generally admitted opinion, Halévy put forward the theory that Sumerian is not a language, but merely an ideographic method of writing invented by the Semitic Babylonians themselves.
Halevy was a professor at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
.
Biblical researches
For the student of specifically Jewish learning the most noteworthy of Halévy's works is his "Recherches Bibliques," wherein he shows himself to be a decided adversary of the so-called higher criticism. He analyzes the first twenty-five chapters of Genesis in the light of recently discovered Assyro-Babylonian documents, and admits that Gen. i.-xi. 26 represents an old Semitic myth almost wholly Assyro-Babylonian, greatly transformed by the spirit of prophetic monotheism. The narratives of AbrahamAbraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and his descendants, however, although considerably embellished, he regards as fundamentally historical, and as the work of one author. The contradictions found in these narratives, and which are responsible for the belief of modern critics in a multiplicity of authors, disappear upon close examination. The hypothesis
Documentary hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis , holds that the Pentateuch was derived from originally independent, parallel and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of redactors...
of Jahwist
Jahwist
The Jahwist, also referred to as the Jehovist, Yahwist, or simply as J, is one of the sources of the Torah. It gets its name from the fact that it characteristically uses the term Yahweh for God in the book of Genesis...
ic and Elohist
Elohist
The Elohist is one of four sources of the Torah described by the Documentary Hypothesis. Its name comes from the term it uses for God: Elohim; it is characterised by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using "Horeb" instead of "Sinai" for the mountain where Moses received the laws of...
ic documents is, according to him, fallacious.
Works
His works are numerous, and deal with various branches of Oriental study.The following are Halévy's principal works, all of which have been published in Paris:
- Mission archéologique dans le Yemen (1872)
- Essai sur la langue Agaou, le dialect des Falachas (1873)
- Voyage au Nedjrân (1873)
- Études berbères, Epigraphie Lybique (1873)
- Mélanges d'épigraphie et d'archéologie sémitiques (1874)
- Études sabéennes (1875)
- Études sur la syllabaire cunéiforme (1876)
- Recherches critiques sur l'origine de la civilisation babylonienne (1877)
- Essai sur les inscriptions du Safa (1882)
- Mélanges de critique et d'histoire relatifs aux peuples sémitiques (1883)
- La Prétendue Langue d'Accad, Est-Elle Touranienne? (1875)
- La Nouvelle Evolution de l'Accadisme (1876–78)
- Prières des Falachas, Ethiopic text with a Hebrew translation (1877)
- Documents Religieux de l'Assyrie et de la Babylonie, text with translation and commentary (1882)
- Essai sur les Inscriptions du Safã (1882)
- Aperçu Grammatical sur l'Allographie Assyro-Babylonienne (1885)
- Essai sur l'Origine des Ecritures Indiennes (1886)
- (1891–93)
- Les Inscriptions de Zindjirli, two studies, 1893, 1899.
- Nouvelles Observations sur les Ecritures Indiennes (1895)
- Recherches Bibliques, a series of articles begun in "R. E. J."; continued, after 1893, in the Revue Sémitique d'Epigraphie et d'Histoire Ancienne, founded by Halévy; and published in book-form in 1895.
- Meliẓah we-Shir, Hebrew essays and poems (Jerusalem, 1895)
- Tobie et Akhiakar (1900)
- Le Sumérisme et l'Histoire Babylonienne (1900)
- Taazaze Sanbat, Ethiopic text and translation, (1902)
- Le Nouveau Fragment Hébreu de l'Ecclésiastique (1902)
- Les Tablettes Gréco-Babyloniennes et le Sumérisme (1902)
- Essai sur les Inscriptions Proto-Arabes (1903)
- Etudes Evangéliques (1903).
In the earlier part of his life he was a regular contributor to the Hebrew periodicals, the clarity of his Hebrew being greatly admired.