[Arno Poebel’s Portrait]

Arno Poebel (1881-1958) was an internationally esteemed scholar of ancient Near Eastern studies and a prolific writer especially in the field of Sumerian language and literature. He was a professor of Assyriology and Sumerology in the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago from 1930 to his retirement in 1946 and served as the editor of The Assyrian Dictionary published by the Institute. This collection, acquired in 1968 from his estate, is rich in cuneiform text illustrations and contains dictionaries of several ancient languages. Besides the published materials, the library received all of Professor Poebel’s private papers, two manuscripts and numerous cylinder seals.