Jacques de Morgan
Jean-Jacques de Morgan(3 June 1857 – 14 June 1924)[1]was aFrenchmining engineer,[2]geologist, and archaeologist.[2]He was the director of antiquities inEgypt[when?]during the 19th century,[3]and excavated inMemphisandDahshur,providing many drawings of manyEgyptianpyramids. He also worked atStonehenge,andPersepolis,and many other sites.
He also went toRussian Armenia,as manager of a copper mine atAkhtala."TheCaucasusis of special interest in the study of the origins of metals; it is the easternmost point from which prehistoric remains are known; older thanEuropeandGreece,it still retains the traces of those civilizations that were the cradle of our own. "
In 1887-89 he unearthed 576 graves aroundAlaverdiandAkhatala,near theTiflis-Alexandropolrailway line.[4]
Early life
[edit] | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(January 2016) |
He was born inHuisseau-sur-Cosson,Loir-et-Cher. His father Eugène, also called "Baron" de Morgan, was an engineer in mineral findings. His interests were inentomologyand prehistory. He named his two sons, Henry and Jacques. His sons later got into fieldwork, excavating the Campigny faults nearRouenwith him, which had lent its name to the first phase of theEuropean Neolithic.With his father Jacques became acquainted withGabriel de Mortillet,who was connected with the museum of national antiquities in Saint-Germain during investigations ofMerovingiancemeteries, and who showed him how to catalogue excavated objects. De Morgan's goal was to be a professional geologist like his father, and his personal lifestyle had given him a way to travel and study since his early youth. In 1879 he started to publish the results of his research, illustrated with drawings that were notable for their finesse and documentary precision.
Malaya
[edit]As a young man, de Morgan travelled toPerak,then a new BritishprotectorateinMalaya.In 1884, where he was commissioned byHugh Low,the Resident of Perak, to produce the first geological and mining map of the district of Kinta in exchange for atinconcession at Kliang Lallang nearGopeng.De Morgan studied the tin mines aroundLahat,Papan,PusingandGopeng.Aphotogravureof the map, which also showed the topography and drainage system of theKinta Valley,was enclosed in the Perak annual report of 1884.[5]
While in Kinta, de Morgan was guided by aMandailingprospector named Kulop Riau, usingOrang Asliguides and porters. De Morgan stayed with the Orang Asli and made ethnological observations and drawings in his travel journal.[6]De Morgan also metRaja Bilah,the headman of the Mandailing in Papan and the doyen of the Perak Mandailing. De Morgan observed Chinese, Mandailing and European mines in Papan, and remarked that the most important mine belonged to Raja Bilah.[7]
Tin mining in France
[edit]Upon his return to France, he formed a tin-mining company, but appears to have lost out on his financial interest when this was merged with the Société des Mines de'Etain de Pérak in 1886 to form theSociété des Etains de Kinta,better known as SEK, which became the longest-running mine inMalaysia.[8]
Travels in Iran and places nearby
[edit]De Morgan travelled toSusianaas he attempted to retrace the routes of theAssyriancampaigns inElam.He arrived inSusa,former capital ofElam,which had been explored six years previously by an expedition led byMarcel Dieulafoy.As he explored the ruins outside the small village ofShush,his curiosity was aroused by the high mound known as "the Citadel",at the foot of which he recovered some flints and old potsherds.
These finds led him to reopen excavations at the site. InTehranhe confided his plans to theFrenchminister, René de Balloy, who was eager to obtaina monopoly for France of archaeological researchinPersia.It took time, however, before these efforts, under de Morgan's guidance, were successful. In 1892 de Morgan noted that there werepetroleum seepagesin Iran which he believed could be commercially profitable.[9]In the meantime he published hisMission scientifique en Perse,with four volumes of geological studies; two volumes of archaeological studies on tombs and other monuments that were still seen; one volume dedicated toKurdishdialects and thelanguages of northern Persia;one volume ofMandaean texts;and two volumes of geographical studies.
The excavations atSusawere headed by Jacques de Morgan in 1897 and carried on by others until the outbreak of World War I. Among their many discoveries are eight perforated plaques, three of them whole or nearly whole, and the rest fragmentary.[10]
The most important find, however, was the famousVictory Stele of Naram-Sin,brought to Susa as war booty by the Elamite kingShutruk-Nahhunte.
Work in Egypt
[edit]He was the director of antiquities in Egypt from 1892 to 1897, and excavated inMemphisandDahshur,[3]providing many drawings of many Egyptian pyramids.
References
[edit]- ^David, A. Rosalie(2000).The Experience of Ancient Egypt.London: Routledge. p. 137.ISBN978-0415032636.
- ^abKouchoukos, Nicholas (2001). "Satellite Images and Near Eastern Landscapes".Near Eastern Archaeology.64(1–2). University of Chicago Press: 80–91.doi:10.2307/3210823.JSTOR3210823.S2CID163950004.
- ^abDawson, Warren Royal;Hill, Eric Parrington (1972) [1951].Who was who in Egyptology: A Biographical Index of Egyptologists; of Travellers, Explorers and Excavators in Egypt; of Collectors of and Dealers in Egyptian Antiquities; of Consuls, Officials, Authors, Benefactors and Others Whose Names Occur in the Literature of Egyptology, from the Year 1700.Egypt Exploration Society. p. 82.
- ^Kurkjian, Vahan M. (2018) [1964].A History of Armenia.Indo European Publishing. p. 8.ISBN978-1604449112.
- ^Khoo Salma Nasution and Abdur-Razzaq Lubis,Kinta Valley: Pioneering Malaysia’s Modern Development,Ipoh: Perak Academy, 2005, p. 21, 89.
- ^Khoo Salma Nasution and Abdur-Razzaq Lubis,Kinta Valley: Pioneering Malaysia’s Modern Development,Ipoh: Perak Academy, 2005, p. 354.
- ^Abdur-Razzaq Lubis and Khoo Salma Nasution,Raja Bilah and the Mandailings in Perak: 1875-1911,Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2003, p. 89.
- ^Khoo Salma Nasution and Abdur-Razzaq Lubis,Kinta Valley: Pioneering Malaysia’s Modern Development,Ipoh: Perak Academy, 2005, p. 89-90.
- ^Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, P.; Hambly, G. R. G.; Gershevitch, Ilya; Melville, C.; Boyle, John Andrew; Frye, Richard Nelson; Yarshater, Ehsan; Jackson, Peter (1968).The Cambridge History of Iran.Cambridge University Press. p. 412.ISBN978-0-521-20095-0.
- ^Pelzel, Suzanne M. (January 1977). "Dating the Early Dynastic Votive Plaques from Susa".Journal of Near Eastern Studies.36(1). The University of Chicago Press: 1–15.doi:10.1086/372527.JSTOR544122.S2CID162066962.
Bibliography
[edit]- Idem, "Exploration dans la presqu'île malaise. Moeurs, coutumes et langages des Negritos Sakayes et Seumangs,"
- L'humanité préhistorique: esquisse de préhistoire générale
- “Note sur les gîtes de naphte de Kend-e Chirin,” Annales des mines, February 1892, pp. 1–16
- Morgan, Jacques de (1895–1904),Mission scientifique en Perse,vol. 3 parts II–IV, Etudes géologiques. Paléontologie, Part II. Echinides fossiles byGustave CotteauandVictor Gauthier;Part III. Echinides fossiles (supplément) byVictor Gauthier;Part IV. Mollusques fossiles by H. Douvillé, Paris: E. Leroux
- Mission scientifique au Caucase (2 vols., 1889)[1]
- Mission scientifique en Perse (5 tomes, 1894–1904)[1]
- Histoire et travaux de la délégation en Perse, 1897-1905 (1905)[1]
- Manuel de numismatique Orientale de l’antiquité et du moyen-âge (1923–36)[1]
