Harris Birkeland

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Harris Birkeland (born July 30, 1904 in Vikebygd , † September 1, 1961 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian Old Testament scholar and Semitist .

Life

Harris Birkeland was born to the farmer and merchant Ole Hansen Birkeland and his wife Kaia, née Veastad, in Vikebygd in the province of Hordaland . He was the oldest of eight children. This originally marked his career as a court heir. However, other talents showed up early on. As a child, he was already aware of linguistic structures and, for example, made himself aware of the importance of chronological sequences on an autodidactic basis. This talent prompted the family to enable him to attend grammar school in Haugesund . In 1923 he passed the Artium exam there.

Studies and university career

In the same year Birkeland began studying theology at the University of Oslo , which he completed in 1929 with the theological exam .

In 1933, Birkeland presented his doctoral thesis, Die Feinde des Individualums in the Israelite Psalm literature , which was supervised by Sigmund Mowinckel . He then worked as a lecturer in theology at the University of Oslo. In 1938 he was appointed a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences . In 1948 he was appointed professor for Semitic languages . With that he switched from the theological to the philological faculty. He expanded the seminar library extensively through book purchases in Cairo and Beirut .

Private life

Birkeland was married three times. In 1931 he married Astrid Bartmann. After the marriage was dissolved, he married Hjørdis Margrethe Hveding in 1939. After this marriage was also dissolved, he married Aina Elisabeth Karlson in 1953.

Birkeland was an alcoholic in later years, but found his way out of addiction and became involved in the Alcoholics Anonymous movement .

Birkeland died unexpectedly on September 1, 1961 and was buried on October 20, 1962 on Vestre Gravlund in Oslo (grave number 20.076.01.025).

Research priorities

The focus of Birkeland's academic work was on linguistic studies in the field of Hebrew studies . His scientific findings, especially on the Hebrew tense system, were incorporated into a textbook of the Hebrew language ( Lærebok i hebraisk grammatikk ) in 1950 .

From 1948 he turned to the Arabic language . He undertook text studies on individual suras of the Koran and examined their history of interpretation. In his linguistic research he was heavily influenced by Roman Ossipowitsch Jakobson . Birkeland revised Wilhelm Schencke's translation of the Koran and published a selection of them. He also published collections of medieval Arabic texts. This also includes reports from Arab travelers about their experiences in Scandinavia.

There are also studies on the Aramaic language , where he pursued a structuralist approach.

Birkeland attempted a connection between theological and Semitist questions in the monograph The Language of Jesus , trying to prove that - contrary to popular belief - Jesus did not speak Aramaic, but a kind of colloquial Hebrew .

Birkeland also endeavored to convey his scientific knowledge through popular science . He also gave the series Religions stormenn with depictions of the life and work of important personalities in the history of religion , to which he himself contributed three volumes.

As a scientist, he also expressed himself on a contemporary political issue with the article Palestinaproblemet og dets historiske bakgrunn in the magazine Tidens Ekko (1952).

At the time of his unexpected death, he was studying medicine as he planned to study Arabic medicine of the Middle Ages.

Works (selection)

  • The enemies of the individual in the Israelite psalm literature. A contribution to the knowledge of the Semitic literary and religious history. Grøndahl, Oslo 1933.
  • ʿAnî and ʿānāw in the psalms. Dybwad, Oslo 1933 (translation by Eugen Ludwig Rapp ).
  • To the Hebrew tradition. The composition of the prophetic books of the Old Testament. Dybwad, Oslo 1938.
  • Altarabic pausal forms. Dybwad, Oslo 1940.
  • Accent and vocalism in ancient Hebrew with contributions to comparative Semitic linguistics. Dybwad, Oslo 1940.
  • Muhammad, Allah's sendebud. Gylendal, Oslo 1942.
  • Zarathustra, Iran's professor. Gylendal, Oslo 1943.
  • The Syriac Phonematic Vowel Systems. Dybwad, Oslo 1947.
  • Jeremiah. Profet og dict. Gylendal 1950.
  • Lærebok i hebraisk grammatikk. Grøndahl & Søns, Oslo 1950.
  • Growth and Structure of the Egyptian Arabic Dialect. Dybwad, Oslo 1952.
  • Korans i utvalg. Aschehoug, Oslo 1952.
  • Stress Patterns in Arabic. Dybwad, Oslo 1954.
  • North history i middelalderen etter arabiske kilder. Dybwad, Oslo 1954.
  • The Language of Jesus. Dybwad, Oslo 1954.
  • Old Muslim Opposition Against Interpretation of the Koran. Dybwad, Odlo 1955.
  • The Lord Guideth. Studies on Primitive Islam. Aschehoung, Oslo 1956.
  • Muslim Interpretation of Surah 107. Aschehoung, Oslo 1958.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DIS Harris Birkeland - Gravminner i Norge ( Norwegian ) In: Oslo commune, Gravferdsetaten . disnorge.no. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ Gunvor Mejdell: Harris Birkeland ( Norwegian ) In: Store norske leksikon . nbl.snl.no. February 14, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  3. ↑ Gunvor Mejdell: Harris Birkeland ( Norwegian ) In: Norsk biografisk leksikon . nbl.snl.no. February 14, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  4. ↑ Harris Birkeland: Begravdeioslo ( Norwegian ) begravdeioslo.no. February 14, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Birkeland, Harris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian Old Testament scholar and Semitist
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Vikebygd
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1961
Place of death Oslo