Scope and Contents

Papers (1899--1962) of German born archaeologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld (1879--1948), a preeminent scholar of Near Eastern and Iranian studies. The collection measures 150 linear feet (circa 30,000 items) and documents Herzfeld's work as a pioneer in the field and sheds light on his excavations at Samarra, Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Aleppo. Formats include correspondence; field notebooks; drawings; sketchbooks; inventories of objects; "squeeze" copies of architectural details; and photographs.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into seven series.

Biographical / Historical

The Ernst Herzfeld Papers document the career of Ernst Herzfeld (1879--1948), a German architect, archaeologist, and historian of Islamic and Pre-Islamic studies. After training as an architect he studied archaeology under Delitzch from 1903 to 1906 at the excavations at Assur in Mesopotamia. A student of Latin, Greek, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew, Herzfeld received a doctorate in Humanistic Studies at universities in Munich and Berlin in 1907. His work with Friedrich Sarre to survey the monuments of the Tigris-Euphrates valleys resulted in landmark studies in architectural history, published in 1911 and 1920.

In 1920 Herzfeld was appointed to the chair of Historical Geography in Berlin and began his excavation at Samarra. Herzfeld's work there led to a six-volume publication. He published widely throughout his life on the sources of Islamic architecture and ornament, including the Royal Palace at Persepolis.

From 1934 until the end of his life Herzfeld spent his time producing many books and articles, lecturing, and working at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (1936--1945.) Many of his works continue to be published post-humously.

Custodial History

It was his friend and colleague, Richard Ettinghausen, then curator of Near Eastern art at the Freer Gallery of Art, who encouraged Ernst Herzfeld to donate his papers to the Smithsonian Institution. Since the original gift in 1946, there have been a number of significant additions. Herzfeld's sister, Charlotte Bradford, arranged for several donations to be made from the estate in 1950 and 1951, and, at her request, papers left by Herzfeld in Cairo were given to the Freer Gallery by Prof. Murad Kamil of Fuad I University in 1952. After extensive investigation, Herzfeld's final edited manuscript of "The Persian Empire", thought to have been lost, was discovered and given to the Freer Gallery in 1965 by the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo. An old friend, the numismatist George C. Miles, added substantially to the papers in 1960 and 1970.