James Henry Breasted

1865 - 1935

            James Breasted was born August 27, 1865 in Rockford, Illinois. He was an American Orientalist, archaeologist and historian. Breasted  attended the Chicago Theological Seminary, Yale University and the University of Berlin. After graduate studies at Yale and the University of Berlin, Breasted taught Egyptology at the University of Chicago in 1894.  He was appointed  Professor of Egyptology and Oriental History at the University of Chicago in 1905. From 1919 to 1920 he headed the University’s first archaeological survey of Egypt and western Asia. Breasted compiled a record of every known Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription. He led several other later expeditions. The institute, under his leadership, became one of America’s leading centers of archaeological study and Middle Eastern scholarship.

            After Breasted made a 1.000 mile trip up the Nile to the Fourth Cataract, through dangerous rapids, he ran out of money, but he got an idea. After his return to the United Stated, he wrote a letter to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the director of the General Education Board, about the importance of exploring Egypt. Rockefeller was so impressed by the letter that he provided Breasted with $10,000 a year for five years, out of his own pocket. The money allowed Breasted to make a very dangerous trip to Asia Minor, where the Arabs were in revolt. When he and his party returned tot the United States, he received money from both the General and the International Education Boards.

           James Breasted wrote twenty-one books, along with many articles and earned seven degrees. He was awarded the Rosenberg Medal, in 1929, for his contribution to civilization. In December, 1931, Time Magazine featured James Breasted on it's cover. James Henry Breasted died  December 2, 1935 in New York city.

             James Breasted wrote numerous books that include:

        A History of Egypt (1905)

        Egypt Through the Stereoscope: A Journey Through the Land of the Pharaohs (1905)

        Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt  (1912)

       Ancient Times: A History of the Early World which originated in 1916 and was later revised in 1944.

       The Dawn of Conscience (1934)

       The Conquest of Civilization (1938)

 

References:

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/centcat/fac/facch10_01.html, 2007

Written by: Students in an Introduction to Anthropology Class, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota

Edited by: Lillian Dolentz  2008