Adam Falkenstein

Adam Falkenstein (born September 17, 1906 in Planegg , † October 16, 1966 in Heidelberg ) was a German Assyriologist .

Life

Falkenstein studied Assyriology in Munich and Leipzig . He dealt primarily with cuneiform writing , in particular with the finds from Uruk as well as with the Sumerians and their language . From 1930 Falkenstein taught as an associate professor for Assyriology at the University of Göttingen . In 1939 he joined the NSDAP . In 1940 he accepted a teaching position at the University of Heidelberg as a professor for Semitic languages . In 1941 he flew to Baghdad with Fritz Grobba when Mohammed Amin al-Husseini and Raschid Ali al-Gailani organized a brief pro-German putsch there, supported by arms deliveries from the Reich. Then he was employed in the diplomatic service in Turkey . From 1939 to 1944 he was the editor of the trade journal Orientalische Literaturzeitung .

Nothing is known about its denazification . From 1950 until his death in 1966 he edited the magazine for Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology . At the beginning of the 1950s it operated again under the label of the University of Heidelberg.

Works (selection)

As an author

• 1931: The main types of Sumerian conjuration
• 1936: Archaic texts from Uruk
• 1938: The Hittite-Akkadian bilingualism of Hattusili I. Labarna II. (With Ferdinand Sommer )
• 1941: Topography of Uruk
• 1953: Sumerian and Akkadian hymns and prayers (with Wolfram von Soden )
• 1956: The New Sumerian court documents, parts 1 - 3

As editor

• 1931: Literary cuneiform texts from Uruk
• 1960: Memorandum on the state of oriental studies

literature

• Dietz-Otto Edzard : On the death of Adam Falkenstein (September 17, 1906– October 15, 1966). In: Journal for Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology . Vol. 59 (1969), pp. 1-10, doi: 10.1515 / zava.1969.59.1.1 .
• Maria Keipert (Red.): Biographical Handbook of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945. Published by the Foreign Office, Historical Service. Volume 1: Johannes Hürter : A – F. Schöningh, Paderborn 2000, ISBN 3-506-71840-1 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Adam Falkenstein in the catalog of the German National Library
• Persecution and emigration of German-speaking linguists 1933-1945 Utz Maas

notes

1. ↑ He wrote the article Sumerer in the Lexikon der Frau (Vol. 2, Encyclios, Zurich 1954). It is noteworthy that this encyclopedia was mainly written by democratic and non-fascist authors and (a few) authors under the editorship of Gustav Keckeis . By then, Falkenstein had understood how to disguise his Nazi secret service activities.