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James Henry Breasted From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Breasted in Chicago, 1928.James Henry Breasted (August 27, 1865–December 2, 1935) was born in Rockford, Illinois and was an archaeologist and historian. He was educated at North Central College (then North-Western College) (1888), the Chicago Theological Seminary, Yale University (MA 1891) and the University of Berlin (PhD 1894). He was the first American citizen to obtain a PhD in Egyptology. Breasted was in the forefront of the generation of archeologist-historians who broadened the idea of Western Civilization to include the entire Near East in Europe's cultural roots. Breasted coined the term Fertile Crescent to describe the area from Egypt to Mesopotamia.
He became an instructor at the University of Chicago in 1894 and was appointed Professor of Egyptology and Oriental History at in 1905 (the first such chair in the United States). In 1901, he was appointed director of the Haskell Oriental Museum, forerunner of the Oriental Institute, which had opened at the University of Chicago in 1896. Though the Haskell Oriental Museum contained works of art from both the Near East and the Far East, his principal interest was in Egypt; he began to work on a compilation of all the extant hieroglyphic inscriptions, which was published in 1906 as Ancient Records of Egypt, which remains an important collection of translated texts; as Peter A. Piccione wrote in the preface to its 2001 reprint, it "still contains certain texts and inscriptions that have not been retranslated since that time."
In 1919, funding was obtained from John D. Rockefeller for the Oriental Institute of Chicago, under whose auspices Breasted headed the University’s first archaeological survey of Egypt. In 1923 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He died in 1935 from pneumonia, while returning from a trip to Egypt. He is buried in Greenwood cemetery, Rockford, Illinois. His grave site is marked with a large marble obelisk, which was a gift from the Egyptian government.Posts: 315 | From: Deep Earth | Registered: Feb 2007
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^ Interesting. I didn't know he was the first American to get a PhD in Egyptology.
It's a shame though that the guy was an obvious racist who used his profession to try to prove that ancient Egyptians were "caucasians" or a form of white man, and he even went so far to translate the Egyptian term for Nubian, Nehesi into "negro". While purposefully distorting the Egyptians names for themsselves-- Kememu, which means black. LOLPosts: 26361 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^ Interesting. I didn't know he was the first American to get a PhD in Egyptology.
It's a shame though that the guy was an obvious racist who used his profession to try to prove that ancient Egyptians were "caucasians" or a form of white man, and he even went so far to translate the Egyptian term for Nubian, Nehesi into "negro". While purposefully distorting the Egyptians names for themsselves-- Kememu, which means black. LOL
Why do I get the impression from your statements, that you feel that everyone who does not share your narrow point of view, is a racist? There are NO HUMAN RACES, so stop trying to make everyone fit into your little colored racial boxes.
Posts: 315 | From: Deep Earth | Registered: Feb 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Glider: Why do I get the impression from your statements, that you feel that everyone who does not share your narrow point of view, is a racist?
There are people who see racism where none exists (think those who think the orcs in Lord of the Rings were racist caricatures), but in the case of Breasted the charge is justified. Which isn't surprising considering the social context he lived in.
Posts: 7124 | From: Fallbrook, CA | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: ^ Interesting. I didn't know he was the first American to get a PhD in Egyptology.
It's a shame though that the guy was an obvious racist who used his profession to try to prove that ancient Egyptians were "caucasians" or a form of white man, and he even went so far to translate the Egyptian term for Nubian, Nehesi into "negro". While purposefully distorting the Egyptians names for themsselves-- Kememu, which means black. LOL
Why do I get the impression from your statements, that you feel that everyone who does not share your narrow point of view, is a racist? There are NO HUMAN RACES, so stop trying to make everyone fit into your little colored racial boxes.
And why do I get the impression from YOUR statements, that not only did not understand a word I wrote but all of a sudden project your thoughts and views which you admit it or not are racist also!
First of all, do you not understand that Breasted was indeed a racist when he not only classified Egyptians as "caucasian" but blatanlty mistranslated Nhsi into "negro"?? Do you not understand that Breasted was one of very 'fathers of Egyptology' who not only promoted the idea of human races, but did exactly what you accuse me of -- fit people into little colored racial boxes-- in his case the Egyptians into white and their Nubian relatives into black! This was also the same man, that whenever the skull of an ancient Egyptian proved to be too "negroid" in appearance as opposed to the 'typical' Egyptian skull (of mild "negro" appearance which he still identified as "white"), he would identify it as a black slave!
But judging from your ridiculous accusations of me, I think that rather you share the same mentality as Breasted.
quote:Originally posted by Tyrann0saurus: There are people who see racism where none exists (think those who think the orcs in Lord of the Rings were racist caricatures), but in the case of Breasted the charge is justified. Which isn't surprising considering the social context he lived in.
Rasol has already explained about the racist undertones in Tolkien's mythology since Tolkien was also a man of his time and social context, but your link proves my point about the man in discussion as well.
Posts: 26361 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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And why do I get the impression from YOUR statements, that not only did not understand a word I wrote but all of a sudden project your thoughts and views which you admit it or not are racist also!![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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