John Henry Haynes
Encyclopedia
John Henry Haynes was an American
traveller, archaeologist, and photographer, best known for his archaeological work at the first two American archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia at Nippur
and Assos
. Haynes can be regarded as the father of American archaeological photography and his corpus remains an important record of numerous archaeological sites across Ottoman Anatolia
.
, and in 1892 he began at Williams College
in Williamstown
. He worked his way through college - nicknamed 'Daddy' by his younger classmates. In 1880 a chance encounter with Charles Eliot Norton
, the first president of the American Institute of Archaeology, led to a position on an archaeological expedition to Crete
. Arriving in Crete he met the photographer, William James Stillman
, from whom he began to learn the basics of Photography, assisting in Stillman's work documenting the Acropolis
in Athens
.
, where he worked under Joseph Thacher Clarke as an archeological photographer. At the end of 1881 he travelled to Istanbul
where he was hired as a tutor at Robert College
. In Istanbul he befriended the epigrapher John Robert Sitlington Sterrett
. The two travelled to Cappadocia
, and later in 1884 Haynes resigned his post at Robert College to join the Wolfe Exhibition, which travelled south into Mesopotamia
, and then back through Syria, stopping at Erbil
, Mosul
, Nippur
, Palmyra
, and Dura-Europos
, looking for a suitable site for an American Excavation in Babylonia. In 1887 Haynes set out again, this time with William R. Ware, revisiting Anatolian sites like Eflatunpinar
, Cappadocia
and Kayseri
, and heading for the rock-cut monuments of Phrygia
. On the way he made important records of the ruins at Binbirkilise
- Gertrude Bell
would later record the site, but there appears to have been an earthquake before her arrival.
launched an archaeological expedition to Mesopotamia, in Nippur
. Haynes was appointed field manager and photographer for the expedition and first American Consul in Baghdad. The expedition was led by John Punnett Peters
and Hermann Volrath Hilprecht
. The expedition was delayed waiting for a permit until 1889. Almost immediately it disintegrated due to clashes between Hillprecht and Peters. The following season (1889–90) Peters and Haynes returned to the excavation whilst Hilprecht remained in Istanbul. After two seasons Peters left the excavations and Haynes was left in charge. Overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, Haynes continued to work at the site, losing a close friend and assistant to dysentery along the way.
In 1896 Haynes returned to the United States
for a period of rest. In 1898 he returned to Mesopotamia, with his new wife Cassandria Artella Smith; their relationship deteriorated amongst the mudflats. However in 1900, Haynes discovered what was alleged to be the Temple Library of Nippur. 23,000 tablets were extracted from the excavation. Much of what we know about Sumerian literature
comes from this discovery. Almost immediately Hilprecht returned to the site 'rescuing' it from Haynes alleged incompetence. His quick action would make him a famous man, the hero of the dig at Nippur.
in Istanbul and the University of Pennsylvania
have also organised exhibitions of his photographs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
traveller, archaeologist, and photographer, best known for his archaeological work at the first two American archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia 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...
and Assos
Assos
Assos , also known as Behramkale or for short Behram, is a small historically rich town in the Ayvacık district of the Çanakkale Province, Turkey....
. Haynes can be regarded as the father of American archaeological photography and his corpus remains an important record of numerous archaeological sites across Ottoman Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
.
Family
The eldest son of John W. Haynes and Emily Taylor, Haynes came from humble beginnings. Haynes' father died when he was still young - he put off his education to care for his younger siblings.Early life
In 1870 at the age of 21 Haynes enrolled in Drury Academy in North AdamsNorth Adams
North Adams can refer to several places in the United States:* North Adams, Massachusetts* North Adams, Michigan...
, and in 1892 he began at Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
in Williamstown
Williamstown
Williamstown or Williamtown is the name of several places in the world:Australia*Williamtown, New South Wales**RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales*Williamstown, South Australia*Williamstown, Victoria**Williamstown railway line...
. He worked his way through college - nicknamed 'Daddy' by his younger classmates. In 1880 a chance encounter with Charles Eliot Norton
Charles Eliot Norton
Charles Eliot Norton, was a leading American author, social critic, and professor of art. He was a militant idealist, a progressive social reformer, and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries considered the most cultivated man in the United States.-Biography:Norton was born at...
, the first president of the American Institute of Archaeology, led to a position on an archaeological expedition to Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. Arriving in Crete he met the photographer, William James Stillman
William James Stillman
William James Stillman , United States was an American painter, journalist, and photographer.-Biography:Stillman was born in Schenectady, New York in 1828. His parents were Seventh Day Baptists, and his early religious training influenced him all through his life...
, from whom he began to learn the basics of Photography, assisting in Stillman's work documenting the Acropolis
Acropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
Excavations and the arts
From Athens, Haynes joined an American archaeological excursion to AssosAssos
Assos , also known as Behramkale or for short Behram, is a small historically rich town in the Ayvacık district of the Çanakkale Province, Turkey....
, where he worked under Joseph Thacher Clarke as an archeological photographer. At the end of 1881 he travelled to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
where he was hired as a tutor at Robert College
Robert College
Robert College of Istanbul , is one of the most selective independent private high schools in Turkey. Robert College is a co-educational, boarding school with a wooded campus on the European side of Istanbul between the two bridges on the Bosphorus, with the Arnavutköy district to the east, and...
. In Istanbul he befriended the epigrapher John Robert Sitlington Sterrett
John Robert Sitlington Sterrett
John Robert Sitlington Sterrett was an American classical scholar and archeologist. He was Professor of Greek at Cornell University from 1901. He was known for his expeditions, to present-day Turkey and other places in the Near East. Some of his work was illustrated by photographers by John Henry...
. The two travelled to Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
, and later in 1884 Haynes resigned his post at Robert College to join the Wolfe Exhibition, which travelled south into Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, and then back through Syria, stopping at Erbil
Erbil
Arbil may refer to:* Arbil, fourth largest city in Iraq* Arbil Governorate* Arbil International Airport...
, Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
, 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...
, Palmyra
Palmyra
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
, and Dura-Europos
Dura-Europos
Dura-Europos , also spelled Dura-Europus, was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 m above the right bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today's Syria....
, looking for a suitable site for an American Excavation in Babylonia. In 1887 Haynes set out again, this time with William R. Ware, revisiting Anatolian sites like Eflatunpinar
Eflatunpinar
Eflatun Pınar is the name given to a spring which rises up from the ground, creating an oasis and fountain. The spring lies 80 miles west of Konya, and drains into Lake Beyşehir in Anatolian peninsula at ancient Pisidia region. In ancient times a small temple was built here to honor one of the...
, Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
and Kayseri
Kayseri
Kayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...
, and heading for the rock-cut monuments of Phrygia
Phrygia
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
. On the way he made important records of the ruins at Binbirkilise
Madenşehri
Madenşehri is a village in the central district of Karaman Province, Turkey. At it is situated in northern slopes of Karadağ, an extinc volcano. The distance to Karaman is . The population of the village is 289 as of 2010. As it is true with some other locations of Karadağ, Madenşehri is full...
- Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along...
would later record the site, but there appears to have been an earthquake before her arrival.
Nippur
In 1888, the Babylon Exploration Fund at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity 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...
launched an archaeological expedition to Mesopotamia, in 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...
. Haynes was appointed field manager and photographer for the expedition and first American Consul in Baghdad. The expedition was led by John Punnett Peters
John Punnett Peters
John Punnett Peters was an American Episcopal clergyman and Orientalist, born in New York City. He graduated from Hopkins School in 1868 and then from Yale in 1873. He studied at Berlin and at Leipzig...
and Hermann Volrath Hilprecht
Hermann Volrath Hilprecht
Hermann Volrath Hilprecht was a German-American Assyriologist and archaeologist.Hilprecht was born in 1859 at Hohenerxleben, Germany. He graduated from Herzogliches Gymnasium at Bernburg in 1880. Afterwards he went on to the University of Leipzig where he studied theology, philology, and law,...
. The expedition was delayed waiting for a permit until 1889. Almost immediately it disintegrated due to clashes between Hillprecht and Peters. The following season (1889–90) Peters and Haynes returned to the excavation whilst Hilprecht remained in Istanbul. After two seasons Peters left the excavations and Haynes was left in charge. Overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, Haynes continued to work at the site, losing a close friend and assistant to dysentery along the way.
In 1896 Haynes returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for a period of rest. In 1898 he returned to Mesopotamia, with his new wife Cassandria Artella Smith; their relationship deteriorated amongst the mudflats. However in 1900, Haynes discovered what was alleged to be the Temple Library of Nippur. 23,000 tablets were extracted from the excavation. Much of what we know about Sumerian literature
Sumerian literature
Sumerian literature is the literature written in the Sumerian language during the Middle Bronze Age. Most Sumerian literature is preserved indirectly, via Assyrian or Babylonian copies....
comes from this discovery. Almost immediately Hilprecht returned to the site 'rescuing' it from Haynes alleged incompetence. His quick action would make him a famous man, the hero of the dig at Nippur.
Retirement and Death
Haynes left Nippur a broken man. He had come away empty handed, his marriage was failing. He returned to Massachusetts in 1900 and in 1905 had a mental breakdown and was institutionalised. His obituary of 27 June 1910 called him 'Broken in Body and Spirit.' He is buried in North Adams, Massachusetts, his tombstone a replica of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III.Legacy
Haynes career was largely ignored by the academic establishment until 2011, with the publication of John Henry Haynes. A Photographer and Archaeologist in the Ottoman Empire by Robert G. Ousterhout, Professor of at the University of Pennsylvania. The Pera MuseumPera Museum
The Pera Museum , is a private art museum and gallery located in Istanbul, Turkey, which was established in 2005 by the "Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation". Suna Kıraç is the youngest daughter of the late Turkish tycoon Vehbi Koç, and İnan Kıraç her husband...
in Istanbul and 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...
have also organised exhibitions of his photographs.
See also
- NippurNippurNippur 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...
- Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
- American Institute of Archaeology
- William James StillmanWilliam James StillmanWilliam James Stillman , United States was an American painter, journalist, and photographer.-Biography:Stillman was born in Schenectady, New York in 1828. His parents were Seventh Day Baptists, and his early religious training influenced him all through his life...
- John Robert Sitlington SterrettJohn Robert Sitlington SterrettJohn Robert Sitlington Sterrett was an American classical scholar and archeologist. He was Professor of Greek at Cornell University from 1901. He was known for his expeditions, to present-day Turkey and other places in the Near East. Some of his work was illustrated by photographers by John Henry...
Further reading
- Ousterhout, Robert G. John Henry Haynes. A Photographer and Archaeologist in the Ottoman Empire. London and Istanbul: Caique Publishing Ltd, 2011 (ISBN 0978-605-62429-0-8).