Taha Baqir

Doctor
Taha Baqir
طه باقر
Born1912
Died28 February 1984
Resting placeNajaf, Iraq
NationalityIraqi
Occupation(s)Assyriologist, author, historian, linguist, academic
Years active1938–1983
Organization(s)Iraqi Department of Antiquities, Iraqi National Museum, University of Baghdad, Iraqi Academy of Sciences
Known forDiscovering the 4000-year-old Laws of Eshnunna
Notable workAkkadian to Arabic translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh

Taha Baqir (Arabic: طه باقر Taha Baqir) (born 1912 in Babylon, Ottoman Iraq – 28 February 1984) was an Iraqi Assyriologist, author, cuneiformist, linguist, historian, and former curator of the National Museum of Iraq.[1][2]

Baqir is considered one of Iraq's most eminent archaeologists. Among the works he is remembered for are his Akkadian to Arabic translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, his decipherment of Babylonian mathematical tablets,[1] his Akkadian law code discoveries, and his excavations of ancient Babylonian and Sumerian sites; including the ancient Sumerian city of Shaduppum in Baghdad.[3][4]

Baqir was proficient in the four historical Iraqi languages (Arabic, Aramaic, Akkadian, Sumerian), as well as English, French and German.

  1. ^ a b Robson, Eleanor (2008). Mathematics in Ancient Iraq: A Social History. Princeton University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-691-09182-2.
  2. ^ Saudi Aramco World, Volume 30, Number 5, September/October 1979.
  3. ^ Taha Baqir, Excavations at Harmal, Sumer 4, pp 137-39, 1948.
  4. ^ Taha Baqir, Tell Harmal, The Republic of Iraq Directorate of Antiquities, 1959.