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Georg GrotefendGerman linguist, antiquarian
Date of Birth: 09.06.1775
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Georg Friedrich Grotefend: Pioneer of Cuneiform Decipherment
- Teaching and Administrative Roles
- Decipherment of Cuneiform
- Later Career and Legacy
- Family and Honors
Georg Friedrich Grotefend: Pioneer of Cuneiform Decipherment
Early Life and EducationGeorg Friedrich Grotefend was born on June 9, 1775, in Münden, Germany. He received his education at the Gymnasium in Münden, where he developed a passion for classical philology.
Teaching and Administrative Roles
From 1797, Grotefend worked at the municipal school in Münden. In 1803, he became the vice-principal of the Gymnasium in Frankfurt am Main (today the Lessing Gymnasium Frankfurt). He later served as co-rector of the gymnasium from 1806 to 1821.
Concurrently, from 1812 to 1814, Grotefend held the position of professor of classical literature at the Lyceum Carolinum, one of the universities founded in Frankfurt by Grand Duke Karl Theodor von Dalberg.
Decipherment of Cuneiform
Grotefend's most significant achievement came in 1802 when he deciphered an inscription from Persepolis that had been discovered in 1621. He was motivated by a bet with an acquaintance that he could decipher the unknown script.
Drawing on his knowledge of ancient Greek, Grotefend recognized the names of Persian kings mentioned in the inscription. By comparing the names chronologically with the sequence of kings known from other sources, he was able to correctly identify the names of Xerxes, Darius, and Hystaspes.
Later Career and Legacy
Grotefend's discovery laid the foundation for the subsequent deciphering of Old Persian cuneiform. He also made contributions to the field of ancient history, including exposing the "Ancient History of the Phoenicians" by Sanchuniathon as a forgery.
In 1821, Grotefend became director of the lyceum in Hanover. He retired in 1849 and passed away on December 15, 1853, in Hanover. Grotefend is remembered today for his groundbreaking work in deciphering cuneiform and his contributions to linguistics and ancient history.
Family and Honors
Grotefend was the father of historian Karl Ludwig Grotefend and the grandfather of archivist and chronologist Hermann Grotefend. Streets in his hometown of Münden, as well as in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Göttingen, and Hanover, bear his name. The Gymnasium in Münden has also been named after him since 1976.
