author
Morris Jastrow
1861–1921
A pioneering scholar of ancient Mesopotamia, he helped bring Babylonian and Assyrian religion and literature to a wider English-speaking audience. His work combined deep academic research with a gift for explaining how the ancient Near East shaped later religious thought.
3 Audiobooks
An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
by Morris Jastrow, Albert Tobias Clay
Babylonian-Assyrian Birth-Omens and Their Cultural Significance
by Morris Jastrow
The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria
by Morris Jastrow
About the author
Born in Warsaw on August 13, 1861, he moved to Philadelphia as a child and went on to study at the University of Pennsylvania before continuing his education in Leipzig, Breslau, Paris, and Strasbourg. He returned to Penn in 1885, where he became a professor of Semitic languages and remained closely associated with the university for the rest of his career.
He became especially known for his scholarship on Assyriology and the religions of Babylonia and Assyria. Alongside his teaching, he wrote widely for both academic and general readers, helping to make ancient Near Eastern history, myth, and religion more accessible beyond specialist circles.
The son of the noted rabbi and scholar Marcus Jastrow, he was part of a family deeply engaged in Jewish learning and public life. He died in 1921, leaving behind a body of work that still marks him as an important early interpreter of the ancient Near East for modern readers.