Amélie Kuhrt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Amélie Kuhrt
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| Born | 23 September 1944 |
| Died | 2 January 2023 (aged 78) |
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Amélie Kuhrt was a British historian who studied the history of the ancient Near East. This is a region in the Middle East that includes places like Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), Egypt, and Persia. She was born on September 23, 1944, and passed away on January 2, 2023, at the age of 78.
Amélie Kuhrt studied at King's College London, University College London, and SOAS. She became a respected professor at University College London. Her main focus was the history of the ancient Near East from around 3000 BC to 100 BC.
She looked at the social, cultural, and political lives of people in that time. She especially studied important empires like the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Seleucid empires.
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Studying Ancient History
Amélie Kuhrt helped organize special meetings called the Achaemenid History Workshops. She worked with Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenberg from 1983 to 1990. These workshops were held in Groningen.
These meetings were important because they used many different ways to study history. They helped people understand the Achaemenid Empire (an ancient Persian empire) better. Before this, people often only looked at it from a Greek point of view.
The workshops inspired other similar studies in the 1980s and 1990s. The discussions and findings from these workshops were published in eight books. These books were called Achaemenid History: I-VIII and came out between 1987 and 1994.
Awards and Special Recognition
Amélie Kuhrt received several important awards for her work.
James Henry Breasted Prize
In 1997, her book The Ancient Near East : c.3000-330 BC won a major award. It was the James Henry Breasted Prize from the American Historical Association. This prize is given to the best history book in English about any time before the year 1000 AD.
The award committee praised her book for its "enormous breadth and depth." They noted how well she explained difficult periods of history. They also liked how she included different ideas and problems with historical sources. Her clear writing made the book enjoyable to read. The committee said her work helped expand the study of world history.
British Academy Fellow
In 2001, Amélie Kuhrt was chosen as a Fellow of the British Academy. This is a very high honor for people who have done excellent work in the humanities and social sciences. She was also part of a committee that decided which new projects the British Academy should support.
American Oriental Society
In 2009, she was given Honorary Membership in the American Oriental Society. This is another special recognition for her contributions to the study of the ancient Near East.
