Edward Hincks

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Hincks.jpg

Edward Hincks (born August 19, 1792 in Cork , Ireland , † December 3, 1866 in Killyleagh ) was an Irish Egyptologist , Assyriologist and one of the earliest decipherers of cuneiform .

Life

Edward Hincks was the eldest son of the Presbyterian pastor Thomas Dix Hincks (1767-1857), who also made a name for himself as a classical philologist and later became a professor of oriental languages .

Fellow of Trinity College and Rector in Ardtrea

Edward Hincks studied theology ( Doctor of Divinity , DD) and Classical Philology (MA) at Trinity College in Dublin from 1807 to 1812 . Even as a student he caused a sensation with his versatile talents. In addition to his philological and theological studies, he dealt in particular with mathematics. In 1813, only 20 years old, he was elected a fellow .

In 1819 Trinity College gave Hincks the post of Rector in Ardtrea, County Tyrone . The local parish of the Anglican Diocese of Armagh of the Church of Ireland was subject to the right of presentation ("University Patronage") of Trinity College. This used to refer the position to a well-deserved fellow who wanted to distance himself from the strenuous teaching and devote himself to his research. Because a “church living” like the one in Ardtrea was not a sinecure in the strict sense, but the pastoral tasks remained manageable in such a “light duty parish”. The church living in Ardtrea was one of the most highly endowed in Ireland. In Ardtrea, Hincks primarily dealt with mathematical and cryptological problems and in 1822 won a cryptological competition published in the Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and the Arts of the Royal Institution .

Edward Hincks married Jane Dorothea Boyd (1792-1870) in 1824. They had four daughters.

Rector in Killyleagh and Egyptological and Assyriological research

However, due to the remote location in the north of the country, it proved difficult in the long run to participate in the academic and intellectual debates in distant Dublin from Ardtrea. This moved Hincks to move to the rectorate in Killyleagh in County Down, which was also endowed as a university patronage , in 1825 . He lived and worked there for 41 years, until his death.

Egyptological studies

Hincks came to Egyptology in two ways. Through mathematics he came to the computus and the chronology of ancient Egyptian history . Thanks to his cryptological experience, he had the tools for his hieroglyphic studies, which he had been engaged in since 1833. He published them in 12 papers in the Dublin University Review and in the memoirs of the Royal Irish Academy . When the mummy of Takabuti, a high-ranking young woman from the time of the 25th Dynasty , was opened in the Ulster Museum in Belfast on January 27, 1835, in the presence of numerous scientists , it was up to Hincks to read and translate the hieroglyphs. His study On the years and cycles used by the ancient Egyptians on the Egyptian calendar , published in 1838, was groundbreaking . His contributions to biblical chronology are also significant.

Assyriological Studies

The discovery of the remains of the city of Nineveh in 1846 and the resulting correspondence with Austen Henry Layard led Hincks to also turn to cuneiform writing , which he was pioneering in deciphering with ingenious acumen. He was the first to recognize the syllable character of the Assyrian script. He read the names Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar , as well as a large number of non-Assyrian proper names, and opened up many determinatives , words and phrases. Hincks book on Assyrian verb have so Archibald Sayce , the first professor of Assyriology at Oxford , "the basis for one Assyrian grammar set". When cuneiform scripts from the holdings of the British Museum were to be made accessible, copies or impressions of the tablets were sent to Henry Creswicke Rawlinson , Julius Oppert and Edward Hincks, the "Holy Trinity of cuneiform scripts", as they were jokingly and admiringly called. Their translations were then compared with one another. The sealed envelopes with the replies were not opened until the letter from Hincks arrived - an expression of the appreciation of his work.

A study in the province, networked worldwide

It is noteworthy that Edward Hincks accomplished his achievements in his study. If at all, he only left Ireland for study trips to the British Museum, including an extended 15-month stay to work on Assyrian grammar. He did not undertake any excavations, he lacked the fame of explorers. As a result, he was little known in public; However, it is all the more appreciated among the specialist colleagues. He corresponded with dozens of colleagues; his correspondence edited by Kevin J. Cathcart is an important historical source of science . Many archaeologists , such as Austen Henry Layard , and epigraphers traveled to Killyleagh and sought his advice in deciphering and interpreting texts. Hincks was a member of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society and the Royal Irish Academy . Because he also dealt with Irish history and with the interpretation of archaeological finds in Ireland. He published his essays on this in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy .

The anecdotes that circulated in Killyleagh show how much he was a scientist as a rector. For example, he once briefly interrupted a service in order to write down in the sacristy the solution to a deciphering task that he had dealt with before the service and that had occurred to him during the service. He worked until the last day. On the day before his death, he had sent a contribution for their next monthly report to the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences , which was published posthumously.

Edward Hincks was buried in the cemetery next to "his" church in Killyleagh.

Honors

  • In 1848 the Royal Irish Academy awarded him their highest honor, the Cunningham Medal.
  • The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland elected him an honorary member in 1856.
  • At the suggestion of the British government, he was awarded a Civil List pension by Queen Victoria , a (modest) honorary pension paid from the royal family's civil list .
  • On May 31, 1863, Hincks was accepted as a foreign member of the Prussian order Pour le Mérite for science and the arts because of his scientific merits in deciphering the cuneiform script .
  • A painting in the manuscript reading room of Trinity College commemorates him.
  • In 1966, on the 100th anniversary of his death, a plaque was unveiled in Killyleagh. In the church there he is depicted on a church window.

Fonts (selection)

  • On the years and cycles used by the ancient Egyptians . R. Griasberry, Dublin 1838 ( special print from the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy , vol. 18).
  • Catalog of the Egyptian manuscripts in the library of Trinity college, Dublin . University Press, Dublin 1843.
  • On Assyrian verbs. In: Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record. Vol. 1, No. 2, July 1855, ZDB -ID 425949-x , pp. 381-393 ; Vol. 2, No. 3, October 1855, pp. 141-162 ; Vol. 3, No. 5, April 1856, pp. 152-171 ; Vol. 3, No. 6, July 1856, pp. 392-403 .
  • On Manetho's Chronology of the New Kingdom. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 18, 1861, pp. 378-392 .
  • Specimen Chapters of an Assyrian Grammar. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. NS Vol. 2, No. 2, April 1866, pp. 480-519, doi : 10.1017 / S0035869X00161155 , (special print: The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London 1866, ( digitized )).
  • On a newly discovered record of ancient lunar Eclipses . In: Monthly report of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin , year 1866, pp. 647–655.
  • Kevin J. Cathcart (ed.): The Correspondence of Edward Hincks. 3 volumes. University College Dublin Press, Dublin 2007-2009;

literature

in order of appearance

  • William Benjamin Sarsfield Taylor: History of the University of Dublin (founded by Queen Elizabeth), its origin, progress, and present condition, with Biographical Notices of many Eminent Men educated therin . Cadell, London 1845, pp. 497-498 (paragraph Rev. Edward Hincks, DD ).
  • Edward Colebrooke: Obituary for Edward Hincks. In: Proceedings of the forty-fourth Anniversary Meeting of the Society, Held on the 20th May, 1867 . Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland , New Series, vol. 3 (1868), pp. XIX – XXIII.
  • C. Scott: Rev. Edward Hincks, DD In: Belfast Literary Society (Ed.): Belfast Literary Society 1801-1901. Historical sketch. With memoirs of some distinguished members . McCaw, Stevenson & Orr / The Linenhall Press, Belfast 1902, pp. 116-118.
  • Lewis Arthur Pooler: Edward Hincks, DD, Egyptologist and Assyriologist. In: The Irish Church Quarterly. Vol. 1, No. 1, 1908, pp. 38-51, doi : 10.2307 / 30066865 .
  • Edward F. Davidson: Edward Hincks. A selection from his correspondence, with a memoir . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1933.
  • Kevin J. Cathcart (ed.): The Edward Hincks bicentenary lectures . Trinity College Dublin Department of Near Eastern Languages ​​Corporation, Dublin 1994, ISBN 1-898473-15-3 .
  • Clive Scouler: Dr Edward Hincks: Modest Parson and world renowned Egyptologist . In: Ders .: Six famous sons of Killyleagh . Self-published, Killyleagh 2006, ISBN 0-9539601-5-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lewis Arthur Pooler: Edward Hincks, DD, Egyptologist and Assyriologist. In: The Irish Church Quarterly. Vol. 1, No. 1, 1908, pp. 38-51, here p. 38.
  2. ↑ Kevin J. Cathcart: Edward Hincks, 1792-1866. A biographical essay . In the S. (Ed.): The Edward Hincks bicentenary lectures . Trinity College Dublin Department of Near Eastern Languages ​​Corporation, Dublin 1994, pp. 1–29, here p. 2.
  3. ↑ Edward Colebrooke: Obituary for Edward Hincks. In: Proceedings of the forty-fourth Anniversary Meeting of the Society . Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland , New Series, vol. 3 (1868), pp. XIX – XXIII, here p. XIX.
  4. ↑ C. Scott: Rev. Edward Hincks, DD In: Belfast Literary Society (ed.): Belfast Literary Society 1801-1901. Historical sketch. With memoirs of some distinguished members . McCaw, Stevenson & Orr / The Linenhall Press, Belfast 1902, pp. 116-118, here p. 116.
  5. ^ William Benjamin Sarsfield Taylor: History of the University of Dublin (founded by Queen Elizabeth), its origin, progress, and present condition, with Biographical Notices of many Eminent Men educated therin . Cadell, London 1845, pp. 211-212.
  6. ↑ Hinck's Letter Published . In: The Irish Times , December 1, 2007 , accessed July 24, 2017.
  7. ↑ Edward Colebrooke: Obituary for Edward Hincks. In: Proceedings of the forty-fourth Anniversary Meeting of the Society . Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland , New Series, vol. 3 (1868), pp. XIX – XXIII, here p. XX.
  8. ^ The Dublin University calendar for the year 1868 . University Press, Dublin 1868, p. 252.
  9. ^ John Ray: Edward Hincks and the Progress of Egyptology . In: Kevin J. Cathcart (ed.): The Edward Hincks bicentenary lectures . Trinity College Dublin Department of Near Eastern Languages ​​Corporation, Dublin 1994, pp. 58-74.
  10. ^ National Museums Northern Ireland: Takabuti and her case , accessed July 24, 2017.
  11. ↑ Kevin J. Cathcart: Edward Hincks, 1792-1866. A biographical essay . In the S. (Ed.): The Edward Hincks bicentenary lectures . Trinity College Dublin Department of Near Eastern Languages ​​Corporation, Dublin 1994, pp. 1–29, here p. 3.
  12. ↑ Steven Winford Holloway: Aššur is King! Aššur is King! Religion in the Exercise of Power in the Neo-Assyrian Empire . Brill, Leiden 2002, ISBN 90-04-12328-8 , p. 430.
  13. ↑ Peter T. Daniels : Edward Hincks's decipherment of Mesopotamian cuneiform . In: Kevin J. Cathcart (ed.): The Edward Hincks bicentenary lectures . Trinity College Dublin Department of Near Eastern Languages ​​Corporation, Dublin 1994, pp. 30-57.
  14. ^ Peter T. Daniels: Methods of decipherment . In: Peter T. Daniels, William Bright (eds.): The world's writing systems . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1996, ISBN 0-19-507993-0 , pp. 141–159, here p. 144.
  15. ↑ Published in The Literary Gazette , London, June 27, 1846.
  16. ^ Archibald Henry Sayce: A Primer of Assyriology . Religious Tract Society, London 1894, pp. 18-41.
  17. ↑ Signed Manuscript Field Notes on Decrypting Cuneiform Script in Babylon , accessed June 24, 2017.
  18. ↑ C. Scott: Rev. Edward Hincks, DD In: Belfast Literary Society (ed.): Belfast Literary Society 1801-1901. Historical sketch. With memoirs of some distinguished members . McCaw, Stevenson & Orr / The Linenhall Press, Belfast 1902, pp. 116-118, here p. 117.
  19. ↑ Clifford Edmund Bosworth : Irish and British contributions to Arabic and Islamic studies since 1800 . In: Kevin J. Cathcart (ed.): The Edward Hincks bicentenary lectures . Trinity College Dublin Department of Near Eastern Languages ​​Corporation, Dublin 1994, pp. 178-194.
  20. ↑ A tourist Guide to Killyleagh and District , accessed July 24, 2017.
  21. ↑ Edward Colebrooke: Obituary for Edward Hincks. In: Proceedings of the forty-fourth Anniversary Meeting of the Society . Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland , New Series, vol. 3 (1868), pp. XIX – XXIII, here p. XXII.
  22. ↑ Orden Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts. The members of the order. Volume 1: 1842-1881 . Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1975, ISBN 3-7861-6189-5 , pp. 236-237.
personal data
SURNAME Hincks, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish Assyriologist and one of the earliest decipherers of the cuneiform script
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1792
PLACE OF BIRTH Cork
DATE OF DEATH December 3, 1866
Place of death Killyleagh