author
Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge) Pinches
1856–1934
A pioneer of British Assyriology, he helped open up the world of cuneiform for modern readers through museum work, teaching, and a long list of publications. His career bridged careful scholarship and the excitement of some of the earliest major discoveries in Babylonian and Assyrian studies.
2 Audiobooks
The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia
by Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge) Pinches
The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria
by Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge) Pinches
About the author
Born in 1856, Theophilus Goldridge Pinches became one of the early British scholars to devote himself to Assyriology, the study of the languages and history of ancient Mesopotamia. He first worked in his father's business as a die-sinker, but his fascination with cuneiform inscriptions led him to join the British Museum in 1878, where he served in the Egyptian and Assyrian Department and later became a curator.
Pinches built his reputation through painstaking work on tablets and inscriptions from Babylonia and Assyria. He published widely, taught Assyriology in London after leaving the British Museum, and was remembered by contemporaries as part of the generation that helped turn cuneiform studies into a serious modern field. His work also contributed to the identification and publication of important texts connected with Babylonian history and literature.
He died in Muswell Hill, London, on June 6, 1934. Today he is remembered as a careful and energetic scholar whose books and translations helped bring the ancient Near East closer to English-speaking readers.