@book{2026:foster:a_short_hi,
title = {A Short History of Assyriology, 1850-1970},
year = {2026},
note = {B.R. Foster’s study provides the reader with a “Short History of
Assyriology”, concise and focused on a choice of trends and topics
set in a chronological narrative. Part 1 introduces the beginnings
from the earliest discoveries of Mesopotamian sites and the
decipherment of the Akkadian and Sumerian scripts and languages and
their subsequent distribution scholarly publications, followed by the
creation of Assyriology as a formal academic discipline in Part 2.
Provided with the ability to understand the text, the focus switches
to the exploration of divergent topics within the discipline:
political, social, and economic history – religion – culture and
literature (Part 3). Part 4 explores the historical setting of
Assyriology between First and Second World Wars and the development of
national schools within the discipline. Post-war generations of
Assyriologists and the role of women in Assyriology are in the focus
of Part 5. The narrative portion of the present study ends about 1970,
though note has been taken of the subsequent careers of some
Assyriologists who were active in the profession by then, and
concluding attention is given to certain larger trends that began to
develop about that time, with an overview of some more recent
generations. The study is supplemented by an essay on decorative
covers of Assyriological books by K. Polinger Foster (Appendix I). In
addition to the numerous illustrations of Assyriological books and
scholars within the main part of the study, Appendix II assembles a
portrait gallery of scholars. For ease of reference, biographical
notices on deceased Assyriologists mentioned in the text have been
assembled in Appendix III.                                           
                 Reihe                                wEdge - 4},
edition = {1},
publisher = {Zaphon},
address = {Münster},
series = {wEdge / Cutting-Edge Research in Cuneiform Studies},
volume = {4},
author = {Foster, Benjamin R.}
}