John Garstang

John Garstang

John Garstang (* 5. May 1876 in Blackburn , county Lancashire ; † 12. September 1956 ) was a British archaeologist and antiquarian .

Life

Garstang first studied mathematics at Jesus College , Oxford . He became interested in antiquity at an early age and switched to Latin and Greek . He also dealt intensively with ancient oriental languages and archeology .

In 1899 and 1900 he took part in an expedition to Abydos in Egypt , which was led by W. Flinders Petrie . From him he also learned how to properly evaluate the finds.

In 1902 Garstang was appointed to the University of Liverpool , his field of activity was Egyptian archeology. In 1907 he began teaching there as a professor of archeology. During this time he also made two research trips to Anatolia . From 1907 to 1911 he began his own excavations in Saktschegözu and Aleppo and was able to recover and evaluate large quantities of painted ceramics . From 1910 to 1914 excavations took place in Meroe in Sudan under his direction .

From 1919 to 1926 he headed the British School of Archeology in Palestine . During this time he added numerous artifacts to the collection of the Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem . He carried out further excavations in Tell es-Sultan ( Jericho ) and Mersin ( Cilicia ).

Garstang became head of the British Institute of Archeology in Ankara in the post-war period .

Garstang's excavation methods and his very selective way of publishing were normal for his time , but do not come close to the accuracy of other contemporary colleagues, for which he is criticized today.

He was the brother of the zoologist Walter Garstang .

Publications (selection)

• The Foundations of Bible History. Joshua and Judges. Constable, London 1931.
• The Hittite Empire. Being a Survey of the History, Geography and Monuments of Hittite Asia Minor and Syria. Constable, London 1929, ( digitized ).
• Collaboration with: Leo A. Mayer (Ed.): Index of Hittite Names. Section A: Geographical. Part 1 (= British School of Archeology in Jerusalem. Supplementary Papers. 1, ZDB -ID 433302-0 ). With Notes by John Garstang. British School of Archeology in Jerusalem, London 1923.
• The Land of the Hittites. An Account of recent Explorations and Discoveries in Asia Minor, with Descriptions of the Hittite Monuments. Constable, London 1910, ( digitized version ).
• Mahâsna and Bêt Khallâf (= Egyptian Research Account. 7, 1901, ZDB -ID 423805-9 ). With a chapter by Kurt Sethe . Quaritch, London 1903.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See, for example, the comments in Harco Willems: Les Textes des Sarcophages et la Démocratie. Éléments d'une histoire culturelle du moyen empire egyptien. Editions Cybèle, Paris 2008, ISBN 978-2-915840-06-3 , p. 3.