Miriam Lichtheim

Miriam Lichtheim(3 May 1914,Istanbul– 27 March 2004,Jerusalem) was a Turkish-born American-Israeliegyptologist,known for her translations of ancient Egyptian texts.

Biography

Miriam was born in Istanbul on May 3, 1914, to Richard Lichtheim – a German-born Jewish politician, publicist, and notableZionist– and his wife Irene (néeHafter), aSephardicJew whose first language was Greek. Her older brother, born 1912, was the BritishMarxistjournalistGeorge Lichtheim.From 1913 to 1917, Richard Lichtheim was the successor to Victor Jacobson, representative of the Zionist World Organization in Istanbul. Due to suspicions of espionage, the Lichtheim family returned to Germany in 1919 following the end ofWorld War I.

In 1934, the family emigrated toPalestine,where Miriam studied underHans Jakob Polotskyin theHebrew UniversityinJerusalem.In a paper of recollections about her teacher,she recalls that, at the beginning of the year, in Polotsky's Egyptian class there were four students; at the end, only she remained. During Miriam's time at the Hebrew University, her father Richard became the representative of theWorld Zionist Organisationat theLeague of Nations,and relocated to Geneva with Irene.They would return in 1946 following the end ofWorld War IIand the founding ofIsrael.

After completing her studies, Miriam travelled to the United States in 1941 where she studied and received a Ph.D. inEgyptologyfrom theUniversity of Chicago.She worked as anacademiclibrarian first atYaleUniversity, and then at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles,where she wasNear EastBibliographerand Lecturer until her retirement in 1974.

In 1982 she returned toIsrael,where she taught at her old school theHebrew University of Jerusalem.She died in 2004.

Works

In 1973, she published the first volume of theAncient EgyptianLiterature(abbr.AEL),annotatedtranslations ofOldandMiddle Kingdomtexts. In this work, she describes the genesis andevolutionof differentliterary genresin Egypt, based onostraca,inscriptions engraved in stone, and texts ofpapyri.In 1976, the second volume ofAELcontainingNew Kingdomtexts appeared, followed in 1980 by the third dealing with the first millennium BCE literature. These widely usedanthologiesbecameclassicsin the field ofEgyptology,portraying the evolution ofliterature in ancient Egypt.

Publications (selection)

• With Elizabeth Stefanski, 1952:Coptic Ostraca from Medinet Habu.Oriental Institute Publications 71. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• 1963: "Ancient Egypt: A survey of currenthistoriography",The American Historical Review69 (1), 30–46. DOI: 10.2307/1904412.
• 1973–1980 (and reprints):Ancient Egyptian literature. A book of readings,3 volumes, The University of California PressVolume 1,Volume 2&Volume 3
• 1983:Late Egyptian wisdom literature in the international context: a study of Demotic instructions.Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 52. Freiburg (Schweiz); Göttingen: Universitätsverlag; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
• 1988:Ancient Egyptian autobiographies chiefly of the Middle Kingdom: A study and an anthology.Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 84. Freiburg (Schweiz); Göttingen: Universitätsverlag; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
• 1992:Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies.Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 120. Freiburg (Schweiz); Göttingen: Universitätsverlag; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
• 1997:Moral Values in Ancient Egypt.Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 155. Freiburg (Schweiz); Göttingen: Universitätsverlag; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
• 1999:Telling it Briefly: A Memoir of My Life.Freiburg (Schweiz): Universitätsverlag.