As a pioneer archaeologist, Albright wore many different hats, including linguist, biblical scholar, as well as showcasing his know-it-all talents regarding ceramics. Around the start of the 20th century until his passing, Albright served as the dean of biblical archaeologists and earned worldwide recognition as the founder of the Biblical archeology movement.
William Foxwell Albright (1891 , 1971)
He guided numerous notables in the world of archeology, including George Ernest Wright, who would follow Albright as the leader of the same movement. He also cultivated the minds of individuals that became international standouts in the study of ancient Near East. The information they covered in their work included such topics as Northwest Semitic epigraphy and paleography. Over the years, Albright’s concepts pertaining to biblical archaeology would influence a great deal of researchers to follow.
3 Facts
1) Albright’s birthplace was Coquimbo, Chile, where he was the oldest of six children of Wilbur Finley and Zephine Viola Foxwell Albright , evangelical Methodist missionaries from America.
2) In his lifetime, Albright earned many different awards, medals, as well as honorary doctorates. He was also given the title of “Worthy One of Jerusalem,” which marked the first time that this award was given to someone outside of the Jewish faith.
3) Albright participated in the editing of the Anchor Bible volumes regarding Matthew, Jeremiah, and Revelation.
Charles Ernest Beule (1826 , 1874)
This French archeologist and politician was born in Saumar and gained an education at the Ecole Normale. After assuming a position as rhetoric professor at Moulins for one year, he was sent to Athens in 1851 to become a teacher at the Ecole Francaise. Luck followed Beule, as he uncovered the propylaea of the acropolis and published “L’Acropole d’Athenes” with the blessing of the minister of public instruction.
Upon returning to France, the accolades and higher positions started to trickle in. Just some of the honors he was able to enjoy, included gaining the position of professor of archeology at the Bibliotheque Imperiale and the perpetual secretary of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Over the years, he became interested in politics and plunged deep into spending his time on this subject. Before his death, he was elected as a member of the National Assembly in 1871 and became Minister of the Interior within the Broglie ministry from May to November of 1873. Sadly, Beule took his own life in 1874. He was only 47 years old. He left behind a variety of written works, including “Ô°tudes sur le Peloponnese,” “L’Architecture au siècle de Pisistrate,” and “Fouilles àCarthage.”
In the next article of this series, you will learn about a rather interesting archeologist with a colorful past. Can you take a guess at what he did before he uncovered ancient Egyptian artifacts? Check out “Who is the Great Belzoni?” for more information.