oi.uchicago.edu News & Notes MEMBERS’ MAGAZINE ISSUE 241 | SPRING 2019 | TRAVEL oi.uchicago.edu THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE 1155 East 58th Street Chicago, IL, 60637 WEBSITE oi.uchicago.edu FACSIMILE 773.702.9853 MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION 773.702.9513
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[email protected] MUSEUM GALLERY HOURS Mon: Closed Sun–Tue, Thu–Sat: 10am–5pm Wed: 10am–8pm CREDITS Editors: Matt Welton, Charissa Johnson, Rebecca Cain, Steve Townshend, & Tasha Vorderstrasse Designers: Rebecca Cain, Matt Welton, & Charissa Johnson Additional photos: Judith R. Kolar, Sara Jean Lindholm, & George Surgeon News & Notes is a quarterly publication of the Oriental Institute, printed exclusively as one of the privileges of membership. ON THE COVER: View of the Nile from the Old Cataract Hotel, Aswan Egypt. BACKGROUND: Castelli drawing of a wondrous pear in human form. Biblioteca Communale di Palermo, Ms.3 Qq E 94, fol. 36r. oi.uchicago.edu From the DIRECTOR’S STUDY REMEMBERING MIGUEL CIVIL (1926–2019) Miguel Civil’s scholarly contributions are simply monumental—more than any other scholar, he shaped the modern, post-WWII, study of Sumerology. Our understanding of Sumerian writing, lexicography, grammar, literature, agriculture, and socio-economic institutions all bear his deep imprint. He was a mentor, teacher, and friend to two generations of Sumerologists, Assyriologists, and archaeologists. It remains the greatest honor of my career to have come to Chicago to replace Miguel after he retired in 2001. Born outside of Barcelona in 1926 and trained in Paris, Miguel came to the US in 1958 to take the position of associate researcher under Samuel Noah Kramer at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania.