Jan Assmann
Encyclopedia
Jan Assmann is a German
Egyptologist who was born in Langelsheim
.
and Heidelberg
before going on to study Egyptology
, Classical Archeology and Greek Studies in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris and Göttingen. He was professor of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg from 1976 to 2003, and is now at the University of Konstanz
. In addition, he worked as a guest professor in Paris (Collège de France
, École Pratique des Hautes Études
, EHESS), Jerusalem (Hebrew University, Dormition Abbey) and the US (Yale University
, University of Houston
, University of Chicago
).
and the Société Française d’Egyptologie. He is also a member of various advisory committees including those of the Institute for Cultural Studies in Essen, the Research Institute of the Protestant University Community and the Centre for Cultural Studies in Stuttgart.
than is generally acknowledged. He used the term "normative inversion" to suggest that some aspects of Judaism were formulated in direct reaction to Egyptian practices and theology. He ascribed the principle of normative inversion to was a principle established by Manetho
which was used by Maimonides
in his references to the Sabians
. His book The Price of Monotheism received some criticism for his notion of The Mosaic Distinction.
Books in English:
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...
Egyptologist who was born in Langelsheim
Langelsheim
Langelsheim is a town in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- Geography :The municipality is situated between the river Innerste and its tributary Grane, on the northern edge of the Harz mountain range and the Harz National Park, located about northwest of Goslar.- City subdivisions...
.
Education and teaching
He went to school in LübeckLübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
and Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
before going on to study Egyptology
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
, Classical Archeology and Greek Studies in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris and Göttingen. He was professor of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg from 1976 to 2003, and is now at the University of Konstanz
University of Konstanz
The University of Konstanz is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was founded in 1966, and the main campus on the Gießberg was opened in 1972. As one of nine German Excellence Universities today University of Konstanz is counted among Germany's most prestigious...
. In addition, he worked as a guest professor in Paris (Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
, École Pratique des Hautes Études
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions....
, EHESS), Jerusalem (Hebrew University, Dormition Abbey) and the US (Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
, University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
).
Archeological work
Since 1967 he has been conducting archaeological fieldwork in Western Thebes (on officials’ graves dating back to the Saite period and the time of the Ramesses). He is the author of numerous books and articles on Egyptian religion, history, literature and art. He has also published comparative studies focusing on cultural theory (Das kulturelle Gedächtnis) and religion (Monotheismus und Kosmotheismus). Jan Assmann is a member of the Heidelberg Academy, the German Institute for Archaeology, the Institute for Historical Anthropology, the Egypt Exploration SocietyEgypt Exploration Society
The Egypt Exploration Society is the foremost learned society in the United Kingdom promoting the field of Egyptology....
and the Société Française d’Egyptologie. He is also a member of various advisory committees including those of the Institute for Cultural Studies in Essen, the Research Institute of the Protestant University Community and the Centre for Cultural Studies in Stuttgart.
Writings on Egyptian and other religions
Assmann suggests that the ancient Egyptian religion had a more significant influence on JudaismJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
than is generally acknowledged. He used the term "normative inversion" to suggest that some aspects of Judaism were formulated in direct reaction to Egyptian practices and theology. He ascribed the principle of normative inversion to was a principle established by Manetho
Manetho
Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...
which was used by Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
in his references to the Sabians
Sabians
The Sabians of Middle Eastern tradition were a monotheistic Abrahamic religious group mentioned three times in the Quran: "the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians." In the Hadith they are nothing but converts to Islam, while their identity in later Islamic literature became a matter of...
. His book The Price of Monotheism received some criticism for his notion of The Mosaic Distinction.
Awards
- 1996 Max Planck Award for Research
- 1998 German Historians’ Prize
- 1998 Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the Theology Faculty, Munster
Publications
- Re und Amun: Die Krise des polytheistischen Weltbilds im Ägypten der 18.-20. Dynastie (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 51). Fribourg and Göttingen 1983.
- Ägypten: Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen Hochkultur. Urban-Bücherei, Bd.366, Stuttgart 1984.
- The Search for God in Ancient Egypt trrans. David Lorton (2001) ISBN 0801487293
- Maât: l'Égypte pharaonique et l'idée de justice sociale. Conférences, essais et leçons du Collège de France. Paris: Julliard, 1989. (Arabic Translation 1996).
- Ma`at: Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im alten Ägypten. Munich 1990.
- Stein und Zeit: Mensch und Gesellschaft im Alten Ägypten. Munich 1991.
- Das kulturelle Gedächtnis: Schrift, Erinnerung und politische Identität in frühen Hochkulturen. Munich 1992. ISBN 3-406-36088-2 ASIN B001C84TR4
- trans.: Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination. Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN-10 0521188024, ISBN-13 978-0521188029
- Monotheismus und Kosmotheismus (1993) ISBN 3825300269
- Egyptian Solar Religion (Studies in Egyptology) (1995) ISBN 071030465X
- Ägypten: Eine Sinngeschichte. Munich 1996.
- Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 0674587391
- Moses der Ägypter: Entzifferung einer Gedächtnisspur. Munich 1998.
- Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism (1998) ISBN 0674587391
- Ägypten. Eine Sinngeschichte (1999) ISBN 3596142679
- Weisheit und Mysterium: Das Bild der Griechen von Ägypten. Munich 2000. ISBN 3406458998
- Herrschaft und Heil: Politische Theologie in Altägypten, Israel und Europa. Munich 2000. ISBN 3596153395
- Religion und kulturelles Gedächtnis: Ten Studies. Munich 2000. ISBN 3406459153
- Religion and Cultural Memory: Ten Studies (Cultural Memory in the Present) trans. Rodney Livingstone, SUP (2005) ISBN 0804745234
- Der Tod als Thema der Kulturtheorie (2000) ISBN 351812157X
- Tod und Jenseits im Alten Ägypten. Munich 2001. ISBN 3406497071
- Death And Salvation In Ancient Egypt trans. David Lorton (2006) ISBN 0801442419
- Ma'at Griecht Und Unsterblikeit in Alte Egypten (2001) ISBN 3406459439
- Altägyptische Totenliturgien, Bd.1, Totenliturgien in den Sargtexten (2002) ISBN 3825311996
- Die Mosaische Unterscheidung oder Der Preis des Monotheismus. Munich 2003.
- Full title trans.: The Mosaic Distinction or The Price of Monotheism
- The Price of Monotheism, trans. Robert Savage, SUP (2009) ISBN 0804761604
- Ägyptische Geheimnisse (2003) ISBN 3770536878
- Theologie und Weisheit im alten Ägypten (2005) ISBN 3770540697
- Die Zauberflöte (2005) ISBN 3446206736
- Thomas Mann und Ägypten, Mythos und Monotheismus in den Josephsromanen, Munich 2006.
- Monotheismus und die Sprache der Gewalt (2006) ISBN 3854525168
- Of God and Gods: Egypt, Israel, and the Rise of Monotheism (2008, University of Wisconsin PressUniversity of Wisconsin PressThe University of Wisconsin Press is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It primarily publishes work by scholars from the global academic community but also serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and...
)
Books in English:
- The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs, trans. Andrew Jenkins (2003) ISBN 0674012119
- Of God and Gods: Egypt, Israel, and the Rise of Monotheism (2008) ISBN 0299225542
External links
- Short biography at litrix.de, German Literature Online