Åke W. Sjöberg

Åke W. Sjöberg (August 1, 1924 – August 8, 2014) was a leading Assyriologist, specialized in Sumerian language and literature.

Biography

Early years

Åke Waldemar Sjöberg, Emeritus Clark Research Professor of Assyriology and Emeritus Curator of the Tablet Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,^[1] Philadelphia, was born in Sala in the province of Västmanland, Sweden, on August 1, 1924, to his parents, postmaster Bernhard Waldemar Sjöberg and Mary Ingeborg Zetterberg. After elementary schooling in Sala, he was able to pursue an education at Fjellstedt School, a renowned boarding school in Uppsala. The curriculum there had a heavy emphasis on the study of languages, including Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

In 1946 he enrolled at

Together with Erle Leichty, Sjöberg managed to secure funding for a dictionary of the Sumerian Language, The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (PSD). The dictionary project was based on Sjöberg's extensive collection of file cards containing lexicographic information on Sumerian words and expressions, on which he had been working since his days as a student. The main work on the project began in 1976. The main sponsor was the National Endowment for the Humanities, but contributions also came from other institutions and individuals. Between 1984 and 1998, four volumes of the dictionary were published, covering the letters A and B. A large measure of inspiration for this project can be ascribed to Sjöberg's days in Chicago, as a contributor to the Assyrian Dictionary.^[3]

Sjöberg received a number of honours. Among them, an honorary doctorate in Theology at Uppsala University in 1994,

Åke Sjöberg's high standards of philological treatments of literary and religious texts, and his lexicographical expertise in Sumerian are widely acknowledged. Apart from his dissertation and the four volumes of the PSD, he published a monograph treating the collection of Sumerian Temple Hymns (based on notes and copies of Eugen Bergmann, with a chapter by Gene Gragg), and scores of academic articles in English, German and Swedish, treating a wide variety of linguistic and cultural matters related to Near Eastern societies.[7]

Return to Sweden

Åke Sjöberg's retirement in 1996 did not lead to his work coming to a halt; something that his long list of publications attests to. In early 2004 he and his wife Gunnil moved back to Uppsala. Despite his age Sjöberg regularly participated in seminars at Uppsala University, sharing his experiences and knowledge to younger generations of scholars and students.

Sjöberg died in Uppsala, Sweden, on 8 August 2014, one week after his ninetieth birthday.

Selected writings

• Behrens, Hermann; Loding, Darlene; Roth, Martha Tobi (1989), "DUMU-E2-DUB-BA-A: Studies in Honor of Åke W. Sjöberg", Occasional Publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund 9, Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Museum
• Sjöberg, Åke W. (1960), Der Mondgott Nanna-Suen in der sumerischen Überlieferung, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell

• Sjöberg, Åke W.; Bergmann, Eugen (1969), The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns, Locust Valley, New York: J.J. Augustin, pp. 3–154
• Sjöberg, Åke W.; et al. (1984–1998), The Sumerian Dictionary of The University Museum of The University of Pennsylvania, 4 Volumes (B, A/1, A/2, A/3)., Philadelphia: The Babylonian Section of the University Museum.
• Sassmannshausen, L. (2013), He Has Opened Nisaba's House of Learning: Studies in Honor of Åke Waldemar Sjöberg on the Occasion of His 89th Birthday on August 1st 2013. Cuneiform Monographs 46, Leiden: Brill

References