John P. (John Punnett) Peters

Born in New York City in 1852, John Punnett Peters was an Episcopal priest, educator, and Orientalist whose work ranged from theology to archaeology. He studied at Yale and later taught Hebrew before building a reputation as a scholar of the ancient Near East.

He is especially remembered for leading important expeditions to Nippur in Mesopotamia, part of present-day Iraq, where American teams helped uncover major remains from one of the region's oldest cities. Alongside his fieldwork, he wrote books and lectures that introduced broader audiences to biblical history, Assyriology, and the cultures of the ancient world.

Peters also served the church in prominent roles, including as a rector in New York, and his career shows how closely religious study and early archaeology could overlap in his era. He died in 1921, leaving behind a body of work that connected academic research with public curiosity about the ancient past.