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Prof. Jan Assmann (2007)

Jan Assmann (born July 7, 1938) is a German Egyptologist who was born in Langelsheim.

Contents

Education and teaching [link]

He went to school in Lübeck 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).

Archeological work [link]

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 Archaeological Institute, the Institute for Historical Anthropology, the Egypt Exploration Society 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 [link]

Assmann suggests that the ancient Egyptian religion had a more significant influence on Judaism than is generally acknowledged.[citation needed] 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 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.[1]

Awards [link]

  • 1996 Max Planck Award for Research
  • 1998 German Historians’ Prize
  • 1998 Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the Theology Faculty, Munster

References [link]

This article is based on the short biography at litrix.de, referenced in the links section, below.

Publications [link]

  • 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 0-8014-8729-3
  • 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 0-521-18802-4, ISBN 978-0-521-18802-9
  • Monotheismus und Kosmotheismus (1993) ISBN 3-8253-0026-9
  • Egyptian Solar Religion (Studies in Egyptology) (1995) ISBN 0-7103-0465-X
  • Ägypten: Eine Sinngeschichte. Munich 1996.
  • Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-674-58739-1
  • Moses der Ägypter: Entzifferung einer Gedächtnisspur. Munich 1998.
Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism (1998) ISBN 0-674-58739-1
Religion and Cultural Memory: Ten Studies (Cultural Memory in the Present) trans. Rodney Livingstone, SUP (2005) ISBN 0-8047-4523-4
Death And Salvation In Ancient Egypt trans. David Lorton (2006) ISBN 0-8014-4241-9
  • Ma'at Griecht Und Unsterblikeit in Alte Egypten (2001) ISBN 3-406-45943-9
  • Altägyptische Totenliturgien, Bd.1, Totenliturgien in den Sargtexten (2002) ISBN 3-8253-1199-6
  • 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 0-8047-6160-4

Books in English:

  • The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs, trans. Andrew Jenkins (2003) ISBN 0-674-01211-9
  • Of God and Gods: Egypt, Israel, and the Rise of Monotheism (2008) ISBN 0-299-22554-2

Notes [link]

  1. ^ The God Question: Jan Assmann's "The Mosaic Distinction" And The Return Of The Repressed in the "Post-Secular" Age Hollweck, Thomas. "The God Question: Jan Assmann's "The Mosaic Distinction" And The Return Of The Repressed" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL, Sep 02, 2004

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jan Assmann

https://wn.com/Jan_Assmann

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