Heinrich Zimmer

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Friedrich David Heinrich Zimmer (* July 14, 1862 in Graben ; † February 17, 1931 in Leipzig ) was a German ancient orientalist and Semiticist and one of the founders of ancient oriental studies in Germany.

Life

Zimmer grew up near Karlsruhe , but then went to secondary school in Saarbrücken . From 1881 to 1883 he studied Protestant theology , especially the Old Testament, at the University of Leipzig with Franz Delitzsch . From his second semester he also studied Assyriology with his son Friedrich Delitzsch . In 1883 he studied for a semester at the University of Berlin with Eberhard Schrader . He then studied at the University of Erlangen , where he completed his theology studies in 1885 with the ecclesiastical exam. In 1885 he was awarded a doctorate in Leipzig with a thesis on Babylonian penance psalms phil. PhD. In 1885 he began his vicariate in Auenheim near Kehl , which he briefly interrupted in mid-1886 in order to work as a repeater at the theological faculty in Erlangen. In 1887 he got a position at the University Library of Strasbourg where he also studied with Theodor Nöldeke . In 1889 he completed his habilitation at the University of Königsberg for Semitic languages ​​with a thesis on nominal formation in Assyrian.

From 1890 Zimmer worked as a private lecturer at the University of Halle , from 1894 as an associate professor for Assyriology at the Ancient Near Eastern Institute of the University of Leipzig, succeeding Friedrich Delitzsch. In 1899 he was appointed professor for Semitic languages at the University of Breslau , again as the successor to Delitzsch, before becoming a full professor for oriental languages ​​at the University of Leipzig in 1900 . It was here that the Leipzig Semitic Institute was founded . In 1929 he retired. Since 1900 he was a full member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences . In 1918 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences .

Heinrich Zimmer was the first German ancient orientalist who offered his students an introduction to Hittite - shortly after it was deciphered by Bedřich Hrozný . In addition, he particularly promoted the later Hittitologist Johannes Friedrich and worked with Emil Forrer .

Publications (selection)

  • Babylonian Psalms of Repentance (=  Assyrian Library . Volume 6 ). Hinrichs, Leipzig 1885.
  • Contributions to the knowledge of the Babylonian religion. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1896–1901.
  • Comparative grammar of the Semitic languages. Reuther and Reichard, Berlin 1898.
  • Biblical and Babylonian prehistory . Hinrichs, Leipzig 1901 (The Old Orient, 2nd year, issue 3)
  • Choice of Babylonian hymns and prayers. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1905. (The Old Orient, 7th year, issue 3)
  • Babylonian hymns and prayers. Second choice . Hinrichs, Leipzig 1911 (The Old Orient, 13th year, issue 1)
  • Sumerian cult songs from ancient Babylonian times. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1912.
  • Akkadian foreign words as evidence of Babylonian cultural influence. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1915.
  • The Babylonian New Year . Hinrichs, Leipzig 1925 (The Old Orient, Volume 25, Issue 3)
  • Hittite laws from the Boghazköi State Archives . with the assistance of Johannes Friedrich, translated by Heinrich Zimmer (=  Der Alte Orient . Volume 23, 2 ). Hinrichs, Leipzig 1926.
  • Religion of the Hittites (=  picture atlas for the history of religion . Volume 5 ). Scholl, Leipzig 1925.

For a complete list of publications, see Franz Heinrich Weißbach : Zimmer Bibliography. In: Journal of Assyriology and Related Fields 40 = NF 6 (1931) pp. 144–162.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 268.
personal data
SURNAME Zimmer, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zimmer, Friedrich David Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ancient orientalist and Semiticist
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH dig
DATE OF DEATH February 17, 1931
Place of death Leipzig