Thorkild Jacobsen (7 June 1904 – 2 May 1993) was a renowned historian specializing in Assyriology and Sumerian literature. He was one of the foremost scholars on the ancient Near East.

Biography

Thorkild Peter Rudolph Jacobsen (Danish pronunciation: yahkobsen) received 1927 an M.A. from the University of Copenhagen and then came to the United States to study at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, where he 1929 received his PhD.

He became a Field Assyriologist for the Iraq Expedition of the The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (1929-1937) and in 1946 became Director of the Oriental Institute. He served as Dean of the Humanities Division (1948-1951), as an Editor of the Assyrian Dictionary (1955-1959), and as Professor of Social Institutions (1946-1962).

In 1962, Jacobsen became a professor of Assyriology at Harvard University, where he remained until his retirement in 1974. Beyond being an expert translator, he was a brilliant interpreter whose insights led to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the institutions and normative references of Sumerian and Akkadian culture.