Ernst Herzfeld Online Resources

A foremost scholar in the field of Iranian studies, Ernst Herzfeld (1879–1948) explored all phases of Near Eastern culture from the prehistoric period to Islamic times. The collection documents Herzfeld's archaeological activities including Samarra, Persepolis, Pasargadae, Paikuli, and Aleppo and includes correspondence; field notebooks; drawings; sketchbooks; inventories of objects; squeezes of architectural inscriptions and details; and photographs.

Preservation, digitization, and cataloging has been made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation. The cataloging of this collection commenced in September 2009, and will be ongoing until Summer 2011. Please be advised that some of the Series are not represented, and some of the images are not available yet as we are in the process of putting them online.

Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. For inquiries on selecting images or appointments to research the collection, please contact the Archives.

Browse the thousands of digital images from the Ernst Herzfeld papers by viewing them in the Collections Search Center, or by touring the *NEW* Ernst Herzfeld Image Gallery. 

For a dynamic tour on how to search for Ernst Herzfeld records in the Collections Search Center, make sure to check out our youtube tutorial below. An iPhone version is also available on our youtube channel: youtube.com/FSArchives.




The Ernst Herzfeld Finding Aid is available, and will be reprocessed to reflect the further work done on the collection once the cataloging project has reached its conclusion.

If you are interested in reading previously written Ernst Herzfeld articles, please view this cache in the Smithsonian Collections Blog.  Speaking of blogs, make sure to check out mentions of Ernst Herzfeld at the Persepolis Fortification Archives Project blog, written by our peers at The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.

Stayed tuned in for more as we enter into the 100th anniversary of Ernst Herzfeld's excavation of Samarra!  More in-depth posts on the Samarra materials, and more online resources will be unveiled throughout the 2011 year.

Can't get enough Herzfeld? Make sure you're familiar with these related resources!

Online Resources

Archnet Digital Library: http://archnet.org/library/sites/sites.jsp?country_code=iq

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, The Creswell Archive: http://creswell.ashmolean.museum/

Gertrude Bell Archive at Newcastle University: http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/index.php

The Samarra Archaeological Survey, A. Northedge: http://www.dur.ac.uk/derek.kennet/samarra.htm

Museum Databases

British Museum Collections Database: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx

Louvre database: http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=crt_frm_rs&langue=en&initCritere=true

Metropolitan Museum Collection Database: http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/crdhome.aspx

Victoria & Albert Museum database: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/
Victoria & Albert, Samarra Finds: http://www.samarrafinds.info/infoEN/samarrafinds/index.htm

Rachael Cristine Woody
Freer|Sackler Archives