Job Ludolf

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Job Ludolf.jpg

Job Ludolf (or Leutholf , Ludloff or Job Ludolph ; * June 24, 1624 in Erfurt ; † April 8, 1704 in Frankfurt am Main ) was the founder of Ethiopian Studies, a sub-area of ​​Oriental Studies (now sub-area of African Studies ).

In 1649 he stayed at the papal court in Rome in the diplomatic service of Duke Ernst the Pious of Saxe-Gotha and also served the ducal house as a prince tutor .

Life

Psalterium Davidis Aethiopice et Latine (Frankfurt, 1701)
Ludolf's epitaph at the Katharinenkirche

Job Ludolf comes from one of the leading Erfurt council families who, among other things, had gained wealth and reputation through the woad trade . He completed his studies in Erfurt and Leiden, deviating from the intended subject matter, mainly dealing with oriental languages. At the age of 20 he wrote a grammar for the Amharic language . He then traveled to France and England.

During a trip to Rome, where he was supposed to look for some lost documents for Queen Christina of Sweden, he met a black African theologian from Abyssinia , Abba Gorgoryos , in Rome in 1649 .

When Ludolf later entered the service of Duke Ernst the Pious of Saxe-Gotha and Arnstadt, Prince Gorgoryos invited them to Gotha, where he arrived on June 10, 1652. Ludolf and Ernst the Pious studied all available books and reports on Abyssinia that they found in the collections of the famous Gotha library. They prepared an extensive list of questions that they put to the guest. The Duke was particularly interested in the legendary Priest King John . Over the course of several months, Ludolf and Gorgoryos worked together on an Old Ethiopian lexicon and made detailed descriptions of the religious and cultural conditions in Abyssinia.

Duke Ernst was fascinated by his African guest of honor and offered him lifelong support. Together, plans were drawn up for a research trip to the still unknown Ethiopia, which was to start in 1663. However, since Abba Gorgoryos had died in a ship disaster in the Mediterranean on his return trip to Africa, the small tour group led by Ludolf's linguistically talented student Johann Michael Wansleben , a Thuringian from Sömmerda , lacked the “local” guide.

Wansleben, who had also learned the Arabic and Persian languages, first traveled to Lower Egypt in order to get used to the African climate and the local customs and traditions. They spent a whole year in Egypt, then Wansleben broke off an onward journey to Upper Egypt. He traveled back to Italy with the materials he had collected in Egypt, but the expedition had failed.

In addition to his research at the Gotha court, Ludolf had made a name for himself as a prince educator. After the death of his first wife, Ludolf devoted himself to his Ethiopian studies in Frankfurt am Main, but returned several times to the diplomatic service of the Gotha dukes and tried to contact Ethiopia by letter. From 1678 he settled in Frankfurt as a resident of the Electorate of Saxony . In addition, he was in lively intellectual exchange with the leading scholars of his time.

He was buried in the Katharinenkirche . His epitaph is on the outside wall of the church south of the east portal. According to him, which is Ludolfusstraße in Frankfurt-Bockenheim named.

Job Ludolf's works were considered the scientific standard for 200 years. His nephew Heinrich Wilhelm Ludolf was also a linguist, he studied Russian .

Works

  • Lexicon Aethiopico-Latinum (a dictionary of the classical ancient Ethiopian language ), 1st ed. London 1661 (Roycroft), ed. Johann Michael Wansleben, 2nd edition Frankfurt am Main 1699 (Zunner)
  • Lexicon Amharico-Latinum (the first dictionary of Amharic ), Zunner, Frankfurt am Main 1698
  • Historia Aethiopica , o. V., Frankfurt a. M. 1681

literature

Web links

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