文化记忆理论开创者扬•阿斯曼去世（7 July 1938 – 19 February 2024）

Johann Christoph"Jan"Assmann(7 July 1938 – 19 February 2024)[1]was a GermanEgyptologist.

Assmann studied Egyptology and classical archaeology inMunich,Heidelberg,Paris, andGöttingen. In 1966–67, he was a fellow of theGerman Archaeological InstituteinCairo, where he continued as an independent scholar from 1967 to 1971. After completing hishabilitationin 1971, he was named a professor ofEgyptologyat theUniversity of Heidelbergin 1976, where he taught until his retirement in 2003. He was then named an Honorary Professor of Cultural Studies at theUniversity of Constance.[2][3]

In the 1990s, Assmann and his wifeAleida Assmanndeveloped a theory of cultural and communicative memory that has received much international attention. He is also known beyond Egyptology circles for his interpretation of the origins ofmonotheism, which he considers as a break from earliercosmotheism, first withAtenismand later with theExodus from Egyptof theIsraelites.[4]

Assmann suggested that theancient Egyptian religionhad a more significant influence on Judaism than is generally acknowledged.[5]He used the term "normative inversion" to suggest that some aspects of Judaism were formulated in direct reaction to Egyptian practices and theology. He ascribed the principle of normative inversion to a principle established byManethowhich was used byMaimonidesin his references to theSabians. His book The Price of Monotheism received some criticism for his notion of The Mosaic Distinction.[6]He too no longer held this theory, at least not in its original form (specifically, the mosaic aspect).[7]