H. V. (Hermann Vollrat) Hilprecht

Born in 1859 in Prussia, Hermann Volrath Hilprecht became a German-American scholar of Assyriology and archaeology. He is best known for his study of the languages, inscriptions, and material culture of ancient Mesopotamia, especially the cuneiform texts recovered from major excavations.

Hilprecht taught in the United States and became closely associated with the University of Pennsylvania and the Babylonian Expedition to Nippur. His research and publications helped introduce a wider public to the history of Babylonia and Assyria, and he played a major role in organizing and interpreting finds from some of the most important early American digs in the Middle East.

He died in Philadelphia in 1925. Although some parts of his career were debated by other scholars, he remains a notable figure in the early development of Near Eastern archaeology and Assyriology.