Jacob Obermeyer
Encyclopedia
Jacob Obermeyer was a Bavarian
Jewish oriental researcher
, scholar and a traveler, and the grandfather of the Israeli agent Meir Max Bineth
.
in Bavaria, modern-day Germany
. His intellectual and spiritual forming included men such as Chacham Bernajs R. Jacob, rabbi Jacob Ettlinger
and rabbi Seligman Bamberger
.
Throughout his youth he acquired Talmud
ic knowledge. In the early childhood he started to show a particular interest in the Jewish
orient life. In 1868 he traveled through the North Africa
from Morocco to Egypt and crossed the whole of Palestine
and part of Syria until Damascus
.
to be a teacher in a school of the Alliance Israélite Universelle
, a Paris-based organization for Jewish education. After three years, while still in Baghdad, he was hired to be a teacher and educator in the house of the exiled Persian
pretender
Naib al-Saltana, the brother of Nasir ad-Din, Shah
of Persia.
In the winter of 1875-76, Obermeyer was chosen by the Persian prince Abbas Mirza
to accompany them on a hunting trip. Obermeyer advised the party to go hunting in the region between the Euphrates
and Tigris
, where the two rivers are in their middle course next to each other. The territory is a former Jewish-Babylonian main settlement from the beginning of the Babylonian exile, and the homeland of the Babylonian Talmud and the Gaonic academies. Obermeyer himself later reported, that he was completely indifferent to the hunt. Rather to him the central issue was to take good looks at the historical landscape from time of the writing of the Babylonian Talmud, and at the sites where the Babylonian Amora
s unfolded their teaching. His eye peered mainly after the desolated ruin hills in the now-deserted steppe and after the dried canal runs. He was seeking to find connections to the geographical features described in the Talmud.
While in Baghdad Obermeyer clashed with the young Kabbalist Yosef Hayyim and was excommunicated, his cherem
being read in all the synagogues in Baghdad.
reconciled with his brother and in 1881 returned to Persia.
Obermeyer accompanied him first to Kaswin and then to Tehran
, where he replaced the teacher in the house of the Persian prince.
as a teacher of Arabic
and Persian language
and literature at the College of Oriental Languages, where he was active until 1915.
In 1907 he published the famous work of Modern Judaism in the morning and evening land . This work treats with expertise many current problems of the Jewish life, and is filled with special interest to the author of the Tora Devoted Judaism, in the spirit of which Obermeyer had led his whole life.
In 1929, at the age of 84, Obermeyer's life work The landscape in the era of the Babylonian Talmud and the Gaonats was published. This work is an indispensable reference work on the geography of the Babylonian Talmud. It differs from the work of the predecessors in that apart from the use and support of previous writers of antiquity and Arab geographers and historians, it rests on Obermeyer's personal experience and on his own views of the sites and spots of Babylonia
.
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
Jewish oriental researcher
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
, scholar and a traveler, and the grandfather of the Israeli agent Meir Max Bineth
Meir Max Bineth
Meir Max Bineth was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli Intelligence -Biography:Born in Hungary, he grew up in Köln, Germany from 1919 until 1935, when he and his parents left Nazi Germany and emigrated to Palestine.Meir's last duty and mission was as an Israeli intelligence agent in Egypt, from...
.
Early years
Jacob Oberymeyer was born in 1845, at Steinhardt, near Bad SobernheimBad Sobernheim
Bad Sobernheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Nahe, approx. 20 km south-west of Bad Kreuznach....
in Bavaria, modern-day Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. His intellectual and spiritual forming included men such as Chacham Bernajs R. Jacob, rabbi Jacob Ettlinger
Jacob Ettlinger
Jacob Ettlinger was a German rabbi and author, and one of the leaders of Orthodox Judaism.He was born at Karlsruhe and died at Altona...
and rabbi Seligman Bamberger
Seligman Baer Bamberger
Seligman Baer Bamberger was a Talmudist and a leader of Orthodox Judaism in Germany...
.
Throughout his youth he acquired Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic knowledge. In the early childhood he started to show a particular interest in the Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
orient life. In 1868 he traveled through the North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
from Morocco to Egypt and crossed the whole of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and part of Syria until Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
.
Teacher in Baghdad
In 1869 he was summoned to BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
to be a teacher in a school of the Alliance Israélite Universelle
Alliance Israélite Universelle
The Alliance Israélite Universelle is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 by the French statesman Adolphe Crémieux to safeguard the human rights of Jews around the world...
, a Paris-based organization for Jewish education. After three years, while still in Baghdad, he was hired to be a teacher and educator in the house of the exiled Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
Naib al-Saltana, the brother of Nasir ad-Din, Shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
of Persia.
In the winter of 1875-76, Obermeyer was chosen by the Persian prince Abbas Mirza
Abbas Mirza
Prince, Field-Marshal Abbas Mirza born Amol city , was a Qajar crown prince of Persia. He developed a reputation as a military commander during wars with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as an early modernizer of Persia's armed forces and institutions, and for his death before his father, Fath Ali...
to accompany them on a hunting trip. Obermeyer advised the party to go hunting in the region between the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
and Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
, where the two rivers are in their middle course next to each other. The territory is a former Jewish-Babylonian main settlement from the beginning of the Babylonian exile, and the homeland of the Babylonian Talmud and the Gaonic academies. Obermeyer himself later reported, that he was completely indifferent to the hunt. Rather to him the central issue was to take good looks at the historical landscape from time of the writing of the Babylonian Talmud, and at the sites where the Babylonian Amora
Amora
Amoraim , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara...
s unfolded their teaching. His eye peered mainly after the desolated ruin hills in the now-deserted steppe and after the dried canal runs. He was seeking to find connections to the geographical features described in the Talmud.
While in Baghdad Obermeyer clashed with the young Kabbalist Yosef Hayyim and was excommunicated, his cherem
Cherem
Cherem , is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning, and is similar to excommunication in the Catholic Church...
being read in all the synagogues in Baghdad.
Return to Bavaria
After his return to home in the summer of 1876 he published a series of articles entitled My trip to the ruins of Babylon in the Hebrew weekly Ha Magid.Teacher of the Persian royalty
From that time until his final return to Europe in 1884, Obermeyer often found the opportunity to travel even further through the scenery between the Euphrates and Tigris, and to explore and to extend his knowledge on the Babylonian Talmud. In the meantime the prince Abbas MirzaAbbas Mirza
Prince, Field-Marshal Abbas Mirza born Amol city , was a Qajar crown prince of Persia. He developed a reputation as a military commander during wars with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as an early modernizer of Persia's armed forces and institutions, and for his death before his father, Fath Ali...
reconciled with his brother and in 1881 returned to Persia.
Obermeyer accompanied him first to Kaswin and then to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, where he replaced the teacher in the house of the Persian prince.
Teacher in Vienna
In 1884 he received an invitation to come to ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
as a teacher of Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Persian language
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and literature at the College of Oriental Languages, where he was active until 1915.
In 1907 he published the famous work of Modern Judaism in the morning and evening land . This work treats with expertise many current problems of the Jewish life, and is filled with special interest to the author of the Tora Devoted Judaism, in the spirit of which Obermeyer had led his whole life.
In 1929, at the age of 84, Obermeyer's life work The landscape in the era of the Babylonian Talmud and the Gaonats was published. This work is an indispensable reference work on the geography of the Babylonian Talmud. It differs from the work of the predecessors in that apart from the use and support of previous writers of antiquity and Arab geographers and historians, it rests on Obermeyer's personal experience and on his own views of the sites and spots of Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
.
Books
- Die landshaft Babilonian,1929
- Jacob Obermeyer at Google books
- Modernes Judentum in Morgen- und Abendland in Google Books (table of contents)
Other
- Jacob Obermeyer: 90th Birthday, written by Prof. Dr. Isaac Markon, Hamburg
- Jacob Obermeyer, Jewish Virtual LibraryJewish Virtual LibraryJewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise . Established in 1993, it is a comprehensive website covering Israel, the Jewish people, and Jewish culture.-History:...
article - Rabbi Yoseif Chaim and the Community
- Journal of the American Oriental Society 126.3 (2006),381