George Aaron Barton
Encyclopedia
Reverend George Aaron Barton Ph.D.
(b. 12 November 1859 in East Farnham, Quebec
, Canada
- d. 28 June 1942 (age 83) in Weston
, Massachusetts
) was a Canadian author, Episcopal
clergyman and professor of Semitic languages
and the history of religion.
, George A. Barton became a minister in the Religious Society of Friends
and continued his education at Haverford College
, completing a M.A. in 1885. He taught in Rhode Island
from 1884 to 1889 then earned a Ph.D. at Harvard and became a professor of Semitic languages at Bryn Mawr College
in 1891.
In 1922 Barton moved to the University of Pennsylvania
, where he was professor of Semitic languages and the history of religion. He retired in 1931 and held the title of professor emeritus
until his death. He specialised in many subjects, particularly in Semitic languages. His many publications cover a wide range of topics in areas such as biblical studies
, religion, and linguistics
along with translations of Sumerian cuneiform
tablets. He was fascinated by bible archeology and wrote a text book on the subject, published in 1916, along with other publications on similar subjects.
Barton specialised in translations of Sumerian
& Akkadiann
tablets, seals and cylinders. He notably translated a set of Sumerian tablets recovered in 1896-1898 by The University of Pennsylvania's excavation at Nippur
initially labelled as "Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions", including creation myths known as the Barton Cylinder
and the Debate between sheep and grain
. These were later revised by Samuel Noah Kramer
.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
(b. 12 November 1859 in East Farnham, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- d. 28 June 1942 (age 83) in Weston
Weston, Massachusetts
Weston is a suburb of Boston located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Boston metro area. The population of Weston, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, is 11,261....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
) was a Canadian author, Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
clergyman and professor of Semitic languages
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
and the history of religion.
Biography
After attending Oakwood Seminary in Pougheepise, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, George A. Barton became a minister in the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
and continued his education at Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
, completing a M.A. in 1885. He taught in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
from 1884 to 1889 then earned a Ph.D. at Harvard and became a professor of Semitic languages at Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
in 1891.
In 1922 Barton moved to the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, where he was professor of Semitic languages and the history of religion. He retired in 1931 and held the title of professor emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
until his death. He specialised in many subjects, particularly in Semitic languages. His many publications cover a wide range of topics in areas such as biblical studies
Biblical studies
Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. For Christianity, the Bible traditionally comprises the New Testament and Old Testament, which together are sometimes called the "Scriptures." Judaism recognizes as scripture only the Hebrew Bible, also known as...
, religion, and linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
along with translations of Sumerian cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
tablets. He was fascinated by bible archeology and wrote a text book on the subject, published in 1916, along with other publications on similar subjects.
Barton specialised in translations of Sumerian
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
& Akkadiann
Akkadian language
Akkadian is an extinct Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian, an unrelated language isolate...
tablets, seals and cylinders. He notably translated a set of Sumerian tablets recovered in 1896-1898 by The University of Pennsylvania's excavation at Nippur
Nippur
Nippur was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind," ruler of the cosmos subject to An alone...
initially labelled as "Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions", including creation myths known as the Barton Cylinder
Barton Cylinder
The Barton Cylinder is a Sumerian creation myth, written on a clay cylinder in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC, which is now in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology...
and the Debate between sheep and grain
Debate between sheep and grain
The Debate between sheep and grain or Myth of cattle and grain is a Sumerian creation myth, written on clay tablets in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC...
. These were later revised by Samuel Noah Kramer
Samuel Noah Kramer
Samuel Noah Kramer was one of the world's leading Assyriologists and a world renowned expert in Sumerian history and Sumerian language.-Biography:...
.
Positions, awards and accolades
- 1891 - 1922 Professor of Semitic languages, Bryn Mawr College, .
- 1922 - 1931 Professor of Semitic languages and the history of religion, University of Pennsylvania.
- 1932 - 1942 Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania
- 1921 - 1934 Director of the American School of Oriental Research, Baghdad.
Books
- Barton, G.A., 1894, Native Israelitish Deities, Oriental Club of Philadelphia.
- Barton, G.A., 1902, A sketch of Semitic origins: social and religious, The Macmillan Company.
- Barton, G.A., 1904, A year's wandering in Bible lands, Ferris & Leach.
- Barton, G.A., 1905–14, The Haverford Library Collection of Cuneiform Tablets, or Documents from the Temple Archives of Telloh. Parts 1-3. New Haven.
- Barton, G.A., 1906, Traces of the Diatessaron of Tatian in Harclean Syriac lectionaries, s.n.
- Barton, G.A., 1908, A critical and exegetical commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, T & T Clark Ltd, Edinburgh.
- Barton, G.A., 1909, Haverford Library Collection of Cuneiform Tablets or Documents from the Temple Archives of Telloh, Volumes 1-3, The John C. Winston Company.
- Barton, G.A., 1911, Commentary on the book of Job, The Macmillan Company.
- Barton, G.A., 1912, The heart of the Christian message, The Macmillan Company.
- Barton, G.A., 1913, The Origin and development of Babylonian writing, J. C. Hinrichs.
- Barton, G.A., 1915, Sumerian business and administrative documents from the earliest times to the dynasty of Agade, Harvard University Museum.
- Barton, G.A., 1916, Archæology and the Bible, American Sunday School Union. Re-printed BiblioBazaar (November 26, 2009) ISBN 1-117-13138-6
- Barton, G.A., 1917, New Babylonian Material concerning Creation and Paradise, The University of Chicago Press.
- Barton, G.A., 1918, The religion of ancient Israel, The Macmillan Company.
- Barton, G.A., 1918, Miscellaneous Babylonian inscriptions, Volume 1, Yale University Press.
- Barton, G.A., 1919, The religions of the world, The University of Chicago Press.
- Barton, G.A., 1922, Jesus of Nazareth: a biography, The Macmillan Company.
- Barton, G.A., 1926, The annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, American Schools of Oriental Research.
- Barton, G.A., 1928, Studies in New Testament Christianity, University of Pennsylvania press.
- Barton, G.A., 1928, Hittite studies, Volumes 1-2, P. Geuthner.
- Barton, G.A., 1929, The royal inscriptions of Sumer and Akkad, Yale University press.
- Barton, G.A., 1930, A history of the Hebrew people from the earliest times to the year 70 A.D.: largely in the language of Bible, The Century co.
- Barton, G.A., 1932, A Hittite chrestomathy with vocabulary, P. Geuthner.
- Barton, G.A., 1934, Christ and evolution: a study of the doctrine of redemption in the light of modern knowledge, University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Barton, G.A., 1934, Semitic and Hamitic origins: social and religious, University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Barton, G.A., 1936, The apostolic age and the New Testament, University of Pennsylvania Press.
See also
- CuneiformCuneiformCuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
- The History of Religion
- Christian O'BrienChristian O'BrienChristian Arthur Edgar "Tim" O'Brien C.B.E was a British exploration geologist and author. In 1936 he was also involved in the discovery of the Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat in Southern Iran...
- Samuel Noah KramerSamuel Noah KramerSamuel Noah Kramer was one of the world's leading Assyriologists and a world renowned expert in Sumerian history and Sumerian language.-Biography:...