James Henry Breasted

James Henry Breasted
James Breasted in Chicago, 1928.
Born	August 27, 1865 Rockford, Illinois
Died	December 2, 1935(1935-12-02) (aged 70) New York City
Nationality	United States
Fields	Archaeology Egyptology
Institutions	University of Chicago
Alma mater	North Central College Yale University University of Berlin
Doctoral advisor	Adolf Erman
Known for	Popularizing the term "Fertile Crescent"

James Henry Breasted (/ˈbrɛstɪd/; August 27, 1865 – December 2, 1935) was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he became director of the Haskell Oriental Museum at the university, where he continued to concentrate on Egypt. In 1905 Breasted was promoted to professor, and was the first chair in Egyptology and Oriental History in the United States. In 1919 he became the founder of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, a center for interdisciplinary study of ancient civilizations. Breasted was a committed field researcher, and had a productive interest in recording and interpreting ancient writings, especially from sources and structures that he feared may be lost forever.

James Henry Breasted was born on Aug. 27, 1865, the son of a small hardware business owner, in Rockford, Illinois. He was educated at North Central College (then North-Western College), graduated in 1888, and attended Chicago Theological Seminary but transferred to Yale University to study Hebrew. He received a master's degree from Yale in 1891 and, on the advice of William Rainey Harper, went to University of Berlin, where he studied under the instruction of Adolf Erman. Erman had just established a new school of Egyptology, concentrating systematically on grammar and lexicography. Breasted received his doctorate in 1894. He was the first American citizen to obtain a PhD in Egyptology.